In early 2017, one year after I created Poker Detox, I started an experimental coaching for profits (CFP) group with only losing players. Within six months, that group had completed a six-figure profit goal. Around that time, our group took a trip to Amsterdam. Naturally, we talked about poker nonstop. But what I remember the most is the conversations we had about how different their lives were now that they were proven winners.

Six months prior, they were grinding it out at low stakes and seeing no results. But in almost no time, the team had generated over $100,000.

It wasn’t just the money or the stakes that had changed. Their attitudes toward the game were completely different. They were more confident and positive than they had ever been. Poker was fun again.

CFP ‘Loser’s Only’ Group in Athens, 2017

At that point I realized we had created something special. Coaching For Profits became the company’s flagship program. Since then, we have continued to refine our training program and expanded the team to over thirty members.

I sat down with two of my biggest winners from the 2017 group and asked them about their experience. Here’s what they had to say…

“When I came into this program I was losing at micros. I made a choice to just put one foot in front of the other and do what I was told would work. About 3 months into the program my results began to skyrocket and I haven’t looked back. This course is truly transformational for anyone who is done with placing blame on outside factors and genuinely open to change. I have developed a brotherhood with my teammates and the support and appreciation we’ve developed from going through this process together is unreal.”

– Yves D, CFP ‘Loser’s Only’ Group, +$100k

“When I joined the program I was a losing player. I decided I was going to put all of my faith into this program and follow it to a T. 6 months later I was up over $100,000 and I couldn’t recognize myself as a player or a person. Detox has completely changed the trajectory of my future, and the brotherhood I’ve developed with my team members is irreplaceable.”

– Simon B, CFP ‘Loser’s Only’ Group, +$100k

Now, I know what you’re thinking…

NOBODY can go from losing at micros to high stakes in just six months.

I used to tell myself that the success story wasn’t for me—it can’t be for me. At least not at this stage.

It’s very difficult to get yourself on a motivated path if you’re still telling yourself the same self-defeating story:

“This can’t work. Poker is solved. There are too many good players out there. There is not enough edge to beat the game.”

It’s the narrative that holds you in a state of paralysis. You keep wondering if you should apply yourself to poker and you keep rationalizing against it because you think failure is inevitable.

If someone hears that they can be a losing micro-stakes player and move up to high stakes in six months, I have to be transparent about the fact that these players are getting very delicate care and are putting in massive amounts of work to improve. 

My students are successful because they have a systematic game-plan that they execute every day. They have a support system of coaches and teammates to answer their questions. They have a group of peers who are all trying to achieve the same goal and who challenge and appreciate one another.

 Poker Detox Team in Kefalonia, Greece, 2018

Every day your game gets better. Every day is a new opportunity to be a better version of you. To learn and grow. You won’t settle for less, and your teammates won’t let you settle.

This is the kind of environment that turns losing players into high stakes crushers.

Are you truly happy with your results?

My courses today are a blend of theory and exploitative play, but I also incorporate the theme of independent learning. If you can walk away from my coaching knowing that you can train yourself from that point on, then I feel my job is done.

I have seen many players who don’t understand the nature of futility in the learning process. Futility means you are insistently pushing in a direction that isn’t purely incentivized. There actually is no solution in this direction. You’re just being stubborn and needing the solution to work the way you think it should work.

What we see as a result is a community that stagnates. We have a bunch of players who got this idea that the magic pill is to play GTO. They’ve become so attached to this idea that they can’t let it go, even when it’s hurting them.

I get emails from coaching applicants like this on a daily basis:

Sound familiar? We’ve all been there. But many players remain stuck in this mindset.

It was my biggest weakness. Everything changed when I stopped being so determined about the path I thought I needed to take. The clarity came once I balanced my stubbornness with a healthy dose of humility.

So I’d like you to be honest for a moment. Ask yourself: 

   What have you done in the past six months to really improve your game?

   You have all the tracking programs and software, but how well do you use them?

   You watch hundreds of videos online, but what do you really learn from them?

Maybe you’ve tried hiring a coach. He looks at some of your hands and says what he would have done differently. But it never leads anywhere. You get the sense that he doesn’t really care about you.

It all seems so inefficient. In the modern poker era, there is endless information, but how do you connect the dots? What can we do?

The first step is acknowledging that you don’t have the results that you want.

Most people don’t even get this far. They blame variance forever. Once you admit this, you’ve already taken the first step toward making real change.

The second step is figuring out what elite players have that you don’t.

Let’s face it: there are players out there who have spent less time playing this game than you and have seen 10x, even 100x your results.

It’s hard to stomach, but deep down you know it’s true. The winners are out there. You have seen them on all the podcasts, they must be doing things differently...

Do they have better information than you? Are they more talented? Are they just luckier?

Or is it something else?

Unlocking the power of a community

“My close friends, my poker friends, my network; they have been of so much help to me. Some of the things I’ve learned from them over the years have been so valuable I can’t even go into detail. It’s just been really a very mutually beneficial relationship, and I think we’re all very grateful that we met and connected in such an intense way.” – Fedor Holz

The best players in the world understand the power of a community. It’s the secret weapon that elite players have and struggling players don’t.

To be successful you need passion for the game and a strong independent drive but very few succeed without the help of others. A community provides so much more than just a contact list of other poker players.

This is what you can expect from being a part of an elite community:

• Accountability and motivation – this ensures that you are putting in the necessary effort required to see results, and puts you in a positive, supportive environment with other students who are doing the same.

• Friendship and camaraderie – the opportunity to be a part of something bigger, to build memories and bonds that will last a lifetime.

• Trust – you no longer have to feel like you are doing everything on your own. You can give a share of the responsibility to coaches who are more experienced and better at connecting the dots than you are

Without a community you have to consistently maintain high levels of motivation and performance, fight off the loneliness of grinding in isolation, and manage crushing self doubt during downswings. With a community there is no longer any worry about whether you are doing the right thing. Each day, you put in the work, check off the boxes, and leave it to the experts to make the necessary tweaks and adjustments.

Even better, you feel like you’re a part of something bigger. A community provides a strong sense of connection, collaboration, new experiences, travel, diversity, and the opportunity to help others succeed.

This is the secret weapon that has made Coaching For Profits such a success. It’s not just the course content, it’s the environment of support and accountability that propels students to high stakes at speeds they never thought possible.