Your JAKA Coaches

Learn from poker players you can relate to! Your poker coaches are professionals who are crushing the live & online felts, battling in the same stakes you play! Get to know them:

Thomas Boivin

Thomas Boivin

Thomas Boivin is widely recognized as one of the top High-stakes MTT players in the world, excelling in both live and online mid-to-high-stakes tournaments. He is a regular competitor in some of the toughest high-roller games around. He is extremely well studied knowing the optimal lines in just about every part of the game tree, but also well versed at understanding population tendencies and how to exploit just about every player type. What makes Thomas even more special is that he’s incredibly good at taking his high-level approach and finding ways to simplify strategies, making them accessible to those grinding lower buy-in games.

Born in Belgium, Boivin has amassed over $7M in winnings and is particularly known for his first-place finish in the 2018 €25k EPT High Roller. His impressive track record and strategic approach make him a formidable opponent in any tournament he enters.


Scott Baumstein

Scott Baumstein

Baumstein has been one of the most prolific players in the mistakes local scene in South Florida, winning over a dozen trophies in the last couple years, $6m+ in live earnings, and is recently coming off a $1.5m score at the WPT Wynn last year.

He’s bringing exclusively his secrets to beating those games and navigating these fields. His practical knowledge is invaluable. It’s truly unique to find high-stakes players who can navigate mistakes so craftily and bring out incredibly valuable to our students with hand breakdowns and concept lessons.

Alexander Fitzgerald

Alexander Fitzgerald

Alexander "Assassinato" Fitzgerald turned pro in 2006 out of high school. Since then he has won WCOOP and SCOOP events while also final tabling WPT and EPT events. He has amassed over $4.5 million in tournament earnings.


Off the felt, Alex is considered one of the most influential coaches in the game, specializing in teaching low-to-mid stakes players.

Jeremy Menard, SoAppalled

Jeremy Menard, SoAppalled

Our online grinder, who you will find on ACR under the guise of SoAppalled, has been a professional player for over 15 years, particularly crushing the online felts lately.

Primarily playing $50-$215 buy-in tournaments, big-guaranteed $630 $1k, and occasionally $2650s, SoAppalled has gathered over $8M in winnings, grinding from California, with a wife & two dogs. Ask him about his latest ACR $1K tournament takedown.

Fausto Valdez

Fausto Valdez

Fausto Valdez is an accomplished poker coach specializing in cash games, but also quite well-versed in tournaments. The born and raised New Yorker takes pride in helping players who are losing or breaking even become winners. His lessons are very structured, making it easy for students to follow along, and have tools to implement post-lesson.


Valdez has a unique ability to break down complex concepts into simple, easy-to-understand terms, making his coaching highly effective for players of all levels. You can bump into Valdez in LA grinding at the Commerce casino tables. Maybe even ask him for some bankroll management tips, as he used to work as a banker.

Sylvain Loosi

Sylvain Loosi

Loosli is a prolific tournament French player who has gathered over $7.5 million in his career. And he has a knack for running deep in the WSOP! In 2013, he finished 4th for over $2.7 million and placed 18th 5 years later.

Amongst his incredible runs, he was also crowned champion of the EPT Barcelona $50,000 High-Roller for over $1.3 million in 2015.

His lessons will bring the latest trends in the high roller scene broken into digestive pills that we can apply to our mistakes game. Take advantage of his first-hand experience to cement your poker skills.

Michael Gathy

Michael Gathy

With 4 WSOP bracelets, 7 PokerStars titles (WCOOP/SCOOP), and over $13 million in tournament cashes ($8M online, $5M live), Michael Gathy is a true force in the poker world. Known online under the screen names "merla888" and later "BolivianSWAG," he has dominated high-stakes tables on PokerStars and beyond. Originally from Belgium and now living in Mexico City, he competes at the highest levels both online and at premier events like the WSOP, WPT, and EPT.


A former medical student, Michael left med school to pursue poker full-time after early successes at the tables. His disciplined approach and passion for the game have cemented his status as one of the top tournament players in the world.

Dara O'Kearney

Dara O'Kearney

Having studied electronic engineering, Dara started his poker journey at the age of 42, switching over from a successful 20-year-long career in IT. Since then, he’s accumulated over $5.8 Millions in winnings, playing a mix of live and online games. 


A record-breaking ultra-marathon runner, O’Kearney is used to running good. He's become one of the most prolific ICM experts, writing two of the most popular books on Final Table ICM and satellite strategy. You’ll find his lessons a lot more theory and technical-based. 

Lachezar Petkov

Lachezar Petkov

From playing for pennies in his dorm to chopping the EPT Barcelona Main event for about 1.1 Million, this Bulgaria native has made a name for himself in the poker circuit. He’s been a full-time pro since 2010 and is now specializing in MTTs, both live and online. Having cashed over $2M so far, Petkov is now living in Colombia, where he plays primarily online full-time with the occasional trip to a large main event series, and is sharing his secrets to here at jakacoaching.com