Online poker was forever thrust into the limelight when Accountant Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker main event, beating 838 other players to scoop the $2.5 million first prize. After entering for only $40, he cleared the path for poker players all around the world to chase the dream and life-changing winnings in one big poker tournament. Suddenly, everyone wanted in.

The poker phenomenon slowly kicked into gear, Late Night Poker on the discovery channel showcased British talent, while the World Poker Tour emerged as the 'seasonal' version of the World Series, offering legitimate tournaments with a high buy-in to entice players into chasing that elusive big win.

As a natural continuation, professional players started to cash in on peoples thirst for knowledge of poker and created many strategy books teaching players the tools for them to 'make a living' online. Many people are now quitting their jobs to become a full-time online poker player. The BBC in the UK, have profiled more than one person who does just that.

Both the good and bad thing about online poker is that there are so many players. Entering a tournament with twenty entrants is tricky enough, how about one of the $100 + $9 entries which are run daily in various poker rooms that have in excess of 1,500 entries? Even the best players struggle to continually place in these events, but of course there is big money to the winners.

The big question is, can a new player make a living online? The answer is yes, but certain factors must be taken into account. Firstly there is the strategy part of the game which links to the players overall emotional make-up. Professionals talk about making good decisions. When the food money, and bankroll are up for grabs does the player always make these good decisions? Will you call the all-in if you are on a marginal hand but have what you think is a good read? Also, there is the factor that a pro poker player really does not contribute much to society whilst they earn their living. Some people get terribly effected by this. There is also the social aspect, anyone who thrives on conversation may get pretty lonely playing in front of a computer all day at home. Winning poker folds a lot of hands, are you patient enough to keep folding, day after day? To win, you simply have to have this quality.

The standard of online poker improves everyday. You will notice good play everyday in your poker contests. It has never been more important to practise and study the basics, and advanced strategy. You always need to be working out pot odds, chip stacks, implied odds and drawing outs, because you can bet that your opponent is. Play Sit N Go's to increase your bankroll, these single table tournaments can be mastered and there are some good books out assisting you on strategy.

There is a large collection of poker DVD's, tutorial websites claiming to get you into the winning mentality. The truth is that there is are a lot of new players who gamble, especially in the lower stakes up to $3 - $6 limit holdem that really do not know what they are doing. The biggest tip I heard was "learn to play limit!" as this is a different game to No-Limit. By playing a good limit game, you are giving yourself a good chance to be a long-term winning player. Then you just need discipline and good bankroll management. Peronally, the tools I use is plenty of practise on the freeplay games. Play is very loose and if you can show winning here (but whilst playing properly and not calling everything) I think you have a good chance of succeeding when the real money tightness comes into play. The freeplay MTT's become competitive and play is on the whole realistic when it gets down to the final 50 or so entries. This is good practise. I use Poker Academy for practising good limit play, do not be one of these players who excel in No-Limit Holdem but cannot afford the risk so play lower staked limit holdem instead, you are easy pickings!

The new player must be honest with themselves. Anyone can say they are good at poker, and there are not many players, who despite losing, will admit that they still have a way to go to master strategy. But by learning the strategy and that 10,10 is better than 2,2 only gets you in the game. That is like saying anyone who can Ice skate can play Ice Hockey. You can run around the rink but can you compete? Learn to read people for live play, play the person more than the cards. But online, stay playing the cards and look for the long-term correct decisions to send you in the right direction. Think about the game, and learn each type of flop and be able to analyse and categorize each position you find yourself in.

Finally, to sum up, be realistic in your goals. I work in Property, and enjoy it. I enjoy also the extra 300 or so I earn on average from poker. It's a nice little something extra. Don't try and make a million from cash games unless you are playing within your bankroll. Avoid 'tilting' after the elusive big-win, until you can afford to do so. As with anything else, paying your dues and low staking it to prove you are a winning player before really going for the gold is very important. I wish you luck.

Finally, blog about your efforts, this helps you to keep good records and entertain whilst doing it. My personal blog is a great tool for me to share my learning, and gets you into the poker playing community, also read others work, they can sometimes give you that little piece of information that really helps your game. Check it out.