About Stoa Poker
Stoa Poker is a poker training app built on one idea: learn the game one decision at a time.
What is Stoa Poker?
Most poker training assumes you already know the fundamentals. It throws solver output, range charts, and 40-hour video libraries at you and hopes something sticks. For recreational and home-game players, that’s overwhelming, and it doesn’t work.
Stoa Poker takes the opposite approach. We break poker into 12 discrete skills, each focused on a single type of decision. You start with the basics (is this hand playable?) and build progressively to advanced concepts (opponent reads, bet sizing, bluffing). Each skill uses interactive drills with instant, specific feedback.
It’s how good players actually learned to play. We just made it an app.
Who it’s for
- Home-game players who want to stop being the one who “just calls”
- Recreational players who’ve watched the YouTube videos but still freeze at the table
- Anyone who wants structured improvement without the cost and complexity of GTO solvers
Why it’s called Stoa Poker
The Stoa was the colonnade in Athens where the Stoics taught a single, durable idea: you control your choices, not what happens after them. At a poker table that’s the whole game: you can play a hand perfectly and still lose it to the river. Stoa Poker trains the part you own: making the decision well, then staying unshaken when the card doesn’t cooperate.
Who I am
Stoa Poker is built by Evan Maxon, a poker player and software developer who got tired of watching smart people make bad decisions at the table, including himself. I believe the best learning happens through structured practice, not passive consumption. If you have questions, feedback, or ideas, I’m at hello@stoapoker.com.
Common questions
Is this for beginners or experienced players? Both, but it shines for advancing beginners and intermediate players. You start with the fundamentals (is this hand worth playing?) and the drills get harder as you do. Never played? You’ll build a real foundation. Been losing to the same leaks for years? You’ll find and fix them.
How is it different from GTO solvers like GTO Wizard? Solvers hand you the mathematically “perfect” play and assume you already understand why. That’s powerful for pros and overwhelming for everyone else. Stoa Poker teaches the decisions a recreational player actually faces, in plain language, one skill at a time, until the right play becomes intuition instead of a chart you memorize.
Do I need to be good at math? No. The few shortcuts that matter, pot odds and counting outs, are taught as simple, repeatable drills. You’ll do the math without realizing it’s math.
What does it cost? Nothing while the beta runs. Every skill is unlocked. At launch it’s $9/month or $60/year, a fraction of solver tools ($35–116/mo) or video courses ($99/mo), with hands-on practice instead of passive watching.
Will this make me win? No app can promise results, and anyone who does is selling something. What we can promise: you’ll stop making the obvious mistakes that cost recreational players the most, and you’ll start making decisions on purpose instead of on feel.
What devices does it run on? Stoa Poker is a mobile app, iOS first, currently in open beta. On iPhone you can install it now, and it takes about a minute. On Android we’re still adding testers by hand; the download page explains how to ask. It isn’t on the App Store or the Play Store yet.
Contact
Questions, feedback, or partnership inquiries: hello@stoapoker.com