There have been lots of well documented success stories in poker’s history, perhaps none more notable than that of Chris Moneymaker, a normal Joe who turned a $39 investment in a PokerStars satellite tournament in to a $2.5 million win at the World Series of Poker in 2003. It was his first major live tournament, therefore he was a virtual unknown within the poker world prior to the tournament.

His win is often cited as one of the driving forces behind the mass universal appeal of poker and online poker in the years since, as it gave players from throughout the world hope to dream that they too could one day accomplish a similar feat. While such a victory will be improbable, it really is in no way impossible, as we have seen, so what must one do to follow in the path of Mr. Moneymaker himself?

In other words, you may need to continue to practice and improve your game. In particular, you’ll need to actively seek out the weaknesses within your game and try to improve them. Don’t be passive about your game and operate under the assumption that the better you play, the higher you will get by default. This might be true to some small extent, but if you truly need to get better, you may need to actively work and improve to make it happen.

As Chris proved, you don’t need a great deal of live poker experience to perform well in live events, your knowledge of the game is much more important. Of-course how you play online may also affect simply how much you improve. Naturally, playing in play money games is of virtually no benefit, as it doesn’t accurately represent how real poker is played. The same can even be said of low limit real money games. The higher up the cash ladder you can go, the higher experience you’ll earn from playing online poker, however the risks can even be greater of course.

How you choose to play and learn is ultimately up to you. You may wish to fill your head with as much knowledge when you can and use Missouri read the playing advice of the many pros who have written books (and virtually all of them have by this point). Or you may choose instead to maintain your head relatively clear and concentrate on playing a simple, effective game.

Whatever the situation may be, know that with some dedication, serious effort, and a little bit luck, you too may very well be the next great success story in the poker world.