There happen to be plenty 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 into a $2.5 million win at 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 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 around the world hope to dream that they too could one day accomplish a similar feat. While such a victory is improbable, it is by no means impossible, as we’ve seen, so what must one do to follow within the path of Mr. Moneymaker himself?

Simply put, you’ll need to continue to practice and enhance your game. Mainly, you may need to actively seek out the weaknesses in your game and make an effort to improve them. Do not be passive about your game and operate under the assumption that the more you play, the better you certainly 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 knowledge of the game is far more important. Of course how you play online poker online can even affect just 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 same can even be said of low limit real money games. The larger up the money ladder you can go, the greater experience you will earn from playing online poker, though the risks may also 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 that have written books (and practically all of them have by this point). Or you may choose instead to keep 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 a little bit luck, you too might be the next great success story in the poker world.