Meet Mike D. -- Poker Coach

Creator of The Winner's Circle

Author

Mike Deckard
May 11, 2025

I’m a 15+ year professional poker player, engineering graduate, and former high school math teacher — a rare mix that lets me both play the game well and teach it clearly. I worked my way up from the bottom to mid-high stakes, both live and online, and I’ve coached hundreds of players who felt stuck, overwhelmed, or just one insight away from a breakthrough.

📈 Why I Built The Winner’s Circle

This game rewards clarity. A lot of poker content out there is click-bait at best, focusing on rare, unique situations instead of big picture thinking. I built The Winner’s Circle to help people think sharper, maximize their winnings, and just make the game feel easier. Common themes of these daily newsletters are to:

  • Understand a key spot better (like flop c-bets in multiway pots)

  • Break down a common mistake (like over-betting thin value)

  • Sharpen your mental game and range discipline

It’s the newsletter I wish I had when I was grinding small stakes at 1am.

♠️ My Coaching Focus

I help players:

  • Build rock-solid fundamentals, learning to focus on what matters most

  • Develop a winning default game, then layer on exploits to maximize edge and profit

  • Understand the WHYs and HOWs of the game, instead of just imitating a chart or solver

  • Fix their redline leaks and stop giving up on non-showdown pots

While the newsletters will absolutely get you going in the right direction, there is no substitute for 1-on-1 help from an experienced professional. I will be able to quickly diagnose the areas of your game that are holding you back, fill the information gaps so that you excel in those areas, and analyze any hands that you have questions about.

A Few Testimonials From Students

You can also see my profile and reviews on Wyzant, the largest tutoring platform on the planet, where over 100 poker players found me for coaching.

👇 Ready to Work Together?