Profitability Online

Finding it difficult to make a profit playing on sites like Poker Stars, Bodog or Full Tilt?
Relax. You're not alone. Most players lose money playing online poker. In fact, some articles suggest that 95 percent of all players lose money online.
That seems like a staggering number, but poker, especially online poker, is full of pitfalls. Even the good players suffer suckouts (more, actually, than the bad ones), coolers and dead cards.
Chip Reese, perhaps the greatest cash game player of all time, said that even the best cash game players lose almost half the time.
So should you give up? No. That's why I'm here.
I'm a profitable player. Now, granted, I wouldn't be able to make a living playing poker. But I do win enough to afford the big-screen TV we just bought and take a trip to Vegas with my wife every winter. That's pretty cool to earn that much playing a game I love.
Here's how you can too.
1. Improve yourself - There are probably many leaks in your game that you may not even recognize. It's time to study the game. I know, reading books, watching videos and analyzing hands through a program such as Poker Tracker isn't as much fun as playing, but that's exactly why most players aren't profitable. They haven't bothered to study the game. Even reading a few books will put you ahead of most of the other players online.
2. Play within your level and build from there - Chris Ferguson is becoming as well-known for turning $0 to $10,000 in a few months as the many bracelets he's won at the World Series of Poker. The point is to start small and stay there until you're ready to move up. And you'll need to make sure you have at least 20 buy-ins for that level before you're ready to move up.
3. Keep the losses to a minimum - Cut down on trying to catch bluffs, the aw-fuk-its and the calls "just to see what he has." The idea is to keep your losses when you're card dead down to a minimum, so when you do get the good stretches, you'll be enjoying profits rather than trying to make up for losses.
4. Avoid tilt at all costs - You'll need to learn that suckouts will happen, as will coolers and that bad play by others will get rewarded. It's a tough lesson to learn, one I haven't fully accepted myself. But tilt destroys bankrolls. At the very least, you need to recognize when you're on tilt and learn how to stop playing when you're on it.
If you could avoid those sessions when you're mad or drunk and blow off a bunch of money, chances are you may start to become profitable right away.
5. Set a stop-loss limit - This is really important and goes hand-in-hand with avoiding tilt. I believe the biggest reason why most players lose their bankrolls is because of the nights they keep losing and can't turn off the computer. You need to make a promise to yourself that you will shut it down for the night once you reach your stop-loss limit. For me that's two buy-ins at whatever level I'm playing. This goes along with being disciplined, and bankroll management and discipline are just as important as your skill in playing the game. Yes, bankroll management is JUST as important as your actual skill playing poker. Many of these tips are about saving yourself from big losses as they are about winning big pots. Controlling your losses in poker is equal to winning big.
6. If it doesn't feel right, shut off the computer - I'm guilty of knowing that I'm going to lose a buy-in and yet continuing to play until I do. I'm starting to tilt, or I'm tired or distracted by a baby crying, and my attention isn't on the game. If you feel this, shut the game down until you're ready to play again.
7. Maximize your premium hands - You can't expect to pull ahead unless you actually get paid off on the hands you do get. Learn how to trap, slow-play and also mix up your play so it's hard to tell what you have. Make them pay for draws. And bet your hands hard if you think your opponent is on a draw. Bet as much as you can over what you think the fair price is for your opponents to call. Don't be afraid to over bet the pot.
I could go on and on, but this is a crucial part of profitability, and you're going to have to learn to adjust to the table. It means betting when you've got calling stations and trapping when you're playing with aggressive players.
8. Select the right table and target a few players - You make most of your money from a few players, not a lot of them. Try to find tables that have a high percentage of people seeing the flop and a large average pot size. That means the table is loose, and it also means you'll probably get paid when you do hit a hand. Unfortunately, tight tables with low pots are the norm these days, so you'll have to search for them. Once you're there, study the hand histories of people if they show down a hand. That will tell you a lot about what kind of players they are. If they're calling raises with mediocre hands, for instance, think about loosening your calling range for those players and put a lot of pressure on them.
9. Read blogs, Web sites and articles - Hello, self-serving comment! But the Web is chock full of free advice from players who have played hundreds of thousands of hands. Like, um, me! And everyone here. So stop by regularly and let us know how you're doing.
10. Set goals and have fun building your bankroll - Set a goal for yourself and have fun trying to match that goal. It's truly rewarding to see your bankroll grow from $100 to $400 to well into the thousands. Track your progress. Follow these steps, and I'm pretty sure you'll start to see the line inch into the green.