Is Joe McKeehen the Right Choice for a CLC Poker Coach?

At the end of 2016, Chance Kornuth launched his training site called Chip Leader Coaching, which offers executive performance coaching to mid-stakes grinders looking to become high-stakes crushers. Last week, the site’s twitter page then announced the addition of Joe McKeehen to its stable of coaches, with the Pennsylvania pro having famously won the WSOP Main Event back in 2015 for $7,683,346.
In total, the 26 year-old has earned $13,862,958 throughout his live tournament career, as well as a further $1,173,693 online playing under the screen name Dude904. Needless to say, McKeehen’s poker pedigree is beyond question, but following his joining Chip Leader Coaching, many have questioned his ability as a poker coach, and that’s putting it nicely.
In fact, McKeehen has shown a lack of willingness to engage with the poker community since winning the most prestigious tournament in poker, with even his Twitter profile kept “private”, and a follow request first needing approval before anyone is permitted to read his messages. Furthermore, he has succeeded in isolating himself from the poker media, having accused them of treating poker players “like slaves”, prompting a backlash from some of poker’s most recognizable pros at the time, including Daniel Negreanu, and Jason Mercier, who tweeted:
“If you don’t wanna play- stay home.”
Needless to say, Joe McKeehen hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the poker community over the years, which accounts for some of the unflattering reactions he received after recently being appointed as a poker coach. For example, one twitter responder pointed out that McKeehen was hardly a “personable brand ambassador”, while another stated that “I guess I’ll look at coaching elsewhere.” In the meantime, a number of posters reserved harsher comments for the 2-times WSOP bracelet winner, although most can be summed up in the words of StokersPoker, who wrote:
“coaching and playing are 100% NOT the same thing and he doesn’t present himself in a manner where most would want him as a friend let alone a coach”.
Whether or not McKeehen may now attempt to reach out to the poker community as a representative of Chip Leader Coaching remains to be seen, but in the meantime some of the flack that he has been receiving hasn’t gone unnoticed by the training site. Announcing news of Ryan Jones joining the site a few days later, while making light of McKeehen’s private twitter account, the site tweeted:
“Welcome new #CLCsquad coach Ryan Jones (@grindonmind)! With $871K in live tournament earnings, two WSOPc Main Event titles, and nobody blocked on Twitter, he can help elevate your game.”