There happen to be lots of well documented success stories in poker’s history, perhaps none more noteworthy than that of Chris Moneymaker, an average Joe who turned a $39 investment in a PokerStars satellite tournament in to a $2.5 million win look at here the World Series of Poker in 2003. It was his first major live tournament, and therefore he was a virtual unknown in the poker world before the tournament.

His win is often cited as one of the driving forces behind the mass universal appeal of poker and online poker within the years since, as it gave players from across the globe hope to dream that they too could one day accomplish a similar feat. While such a victory is 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’ll need to continue to practice and improve your game. Most importantly, you may need to actively seek out the weaknesses in your game and endeavor to improve them. Don’t be passive about your game and operate under the assumption that the more you play, the higher you certainly will get by default. This may be true to some small extent, but if you truly want to get better, you will need to actively work and improve to make it happen.

As Chris proved, you do not need a great 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 likely 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 exact same can even be said of low limit real money games. The higher up the cash ladder you may go, the higher experience you are going to earn from playing online poker, however the potential risks will likely be greater of course.

The way you decide to play and learn is ultimately up to you. You might wish to fill your head with as much knowledge as you can and 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 keep your head relatively clear and concentrate on playing a simple, effective game.

Whatever the case could be, know that with some dedication, hard work, and just a little luck, you too may be the next great success story in the poker world.