I share my plans for “The Month of Profits” and give 4 tips on increasing profits and cutting costs.

Bookmark this page because it's your #1 source for poker profit-related content.  Everything I create this month can be found below, as well as links to some useful items from the past.

In case you missed episode 238, I discussed how to handle an opponent who can “read your soul” and ways to avoid revenge tilt.

The Month of Poker Profits

I came up with this theme after I created my new SPS Motto:

Earn more money, study more effectively and be 1% better every day.

That’s the goal and the reason behind everything here at SPS.

I know you want to make money playing this game we all love. Sure, you enjoy the game, but everyone enjoys it more when they are winning. And as one of my listeners I want to help you do more winning and earn more profits from this game.

Let's treat this like a business. Businesses bring in revenues from their customers, they pay out all of their costs and then what's left over at the end are their profits. The goal for every business is to continuously increase their revenues and decrease their costs as much as possible.

For each of the episodes this month, I'm going to help you with increasing your revenues and decreasing your costs. I'll talk about my plans for each episode in a little bit, but I want to continue with this poker as a business analogy and dive into increasing revenues and cutting costs right now.

Increasing Poker Profits (1:50)

Good Preflop Hand Selection

Businesses rely on the money that their customers bring in. Some customers buy more than others, and some customers just walk in the store don't spend a cent and then walk out. I like to think of each hand that you are dealt as one of your customers.

Some hands have much more revenue potential than other hands. AA > JTs, AK > AT.

Businesses can't choose their customers, although they can market towards them to entice more big spenders to walk through their doors.

This kind of holds true for you as well. You can't control which hands come your way. But, what you can control is who you let walk into your business or in other words, you control the hands you choose to play. 

There is a reason why the loosest players are your targets at the table. The more hands they choose to play, the weaker those hands are and the more likely they will lose money as a result. Choosing better hands and staying tight is more likely going to earn you chips.

What about that J7s you sometimes play? That’s like letting a shoplifter into your store. Same as T2s, K8o and 54o.

The lesson here: choosing strong starting hands is like only letting the best customers into your store.

Play IP As Much As Possible

Another way to increase your revenues is to play in position as much as possible. This is like a convenience store being located in a perfect corner lot with great parking and plenty of office or medical businesses within or apartment complexes within walking distance. Contrast this with a convenience store located in the middle of a city block, pushed to the back of the shopping center and surrounded by other businesses that sell a lot of the same products. Their location, or position, is not as favorable as that convenience store on the corner.

Position = Power = Profits.

The lesson here: playing in position will lead to increased profits.

Cutting Costs (4:00)

Keeping costs low is vital to the profitability of any business.

Disney can afford to buy 2-ply toilet paper for all of its parks. But, if doing so would add maybe $1 to the cost of each big roll, and if they go through 1,000 rolls a day around the world, using 2-ply saves them $365,000 per year. This goes directly to their bottom line.

Well, we must do the same thing and save on costs as much as possible.

Calling too often preflop

A potentially costly play is calling preflop. Just filter in your database for Preflop 2bet Calls. My guess is that in at least one of the non-blind positions, you’re a loser when calling. If you had just folded every single one of these instead of calling, you would’ve saved all those losses, and they’d be in your bottom line instead.

The lesson here: stop calling so frequently.

Stop Calling with Poor Draws and Bad Odds

Another huge error that costs you money is calling with weak draws and bad odds. If I told you that yesterday I called on the turn with the low-end gs draw on a 3-flush board versus a full pot-sized bet, what would you say to that? Yep, totally bone-headed play that just flushes money down the drain.

The lesson here: stop calling with bad odds in unlikely to win situations.

June's Podcast Episodes (7:00)

#240 – 11 Profit Boosting Solutions to Poker Losses

I share 11 ways you’re losing money and 1 simple profit boosting solution for each.  Let’s get to work, people!

#241 – 3 Off-the-Felt Poker Tactics for Increased Profits

I discuss 3 off-the-felt poker tactics you must do to increase your profits: hand reading, daily study and game tape review.

#242 – Q&A: Passive Poker, $40 Profit per Day and Play the Player

I answer 3 profit-related questions about passive poker, earning $40 per day and playing the player.

Bread & Butter Poker for More Profits

I discuss strategies for hunting more profits with Bread & Butter Poker.  It boils down to more aggression, less passivity.

Poker Profit Blasts From the Past

#207: 5 Essential Concepts for Poker Profitability – Here are the 5 essential concepts for poker profitability: EV, play the player, bankroll management, table selection and the mental game.

#42: Poker Study Apathy – Poker study apathy is preventing you from improving your game. Get beyond it with a little motivation and developing study as a new habit.

Up Next…

In episode #240, I’ll share 11 ways you’re losing money and 1 simple profit boosting solution for each.  Let’s get to work, people!

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.