There happen to be plenty of well documented success stories in poker’s history, perhaps none find more information notable than that of Chris Moneymaker, the average Joe who turned a $39 investment in a PokerStars satellite tournament into a $2.5 million win at the World Series of Poker in 2003. It was his first major live tournament, and as such he was a virtual unknown within the poker world prior to the tournament.

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

Basically, you need to continue to practice and improve your game. In particular, you’ll 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 more 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’ll 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 much more important. Of course the way you play online will also affect how much you improve. Naturally, playing in play money games is of virtually no benefit, as it does not accurately represent how real poker is played. The exact same can even be said of low limit real money games. The higher up the cash ladder you can go, the greater experience you’ll earn from playing online poker, however the potential risks will likely be greater of-course.

The way you choose to play and learn is ultimately up to you. You could wish to fill your head with as much knowledge while you can and 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 focus on playing a simple, effective game.

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