There have been lots of well documented success stories in poker’s history, perhaps none more significant than that of Chris Moneymaker, the average 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, and as a result he was a virtual unknown within the poker world ahead of 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 around the globe hope to dream that they too could one day accomplish a similar feat. While such a victory is certainly improbable, it’s in no way impossible, as we’ve seen, so what must one do to follow in the path of Mr. Moneymaker himself?

In other words, you will need to continue to practice and improve your game. Specifically, you need to actively seek out the weaknesses within your game and attempt to improve them. Do not be passive about your game and operate under the assumption that the greater you play, the higher you will get by default. This might be true to some small extent, but if you truly would like to get better, you may need to actively work and improve to make it happen.

As Chris proved, you don’t need a good deal of live poker experience to perform well in live events, your understanding of the game is far more important. Of course the way you play online can even affect just 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 larger up the cash ladder you can go, the greater experience you are going to earn from playing online poker, however the risks will also be greater of course.

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

What ever the case could possibly be, realize that with some dedication, hard work, and slightly luck, you too could be the next great success story in the poker world.