Do you know someone who plays online poker or do you maybe even play yourself? Well, you might say "Of course, I do" which is obviously fine, but when I started to play poker in 2005 it was not popular at all. When I told people that I play online poker I only received strange looks as if I would have a gambling problem.

Only five years later you can see all kind of people talking about poker and the strange looks have mostly disappeared. There was a real poker boom going on and the boom has not finished yet. There is also a lot of potential for the market in India and China what could give online poker another boost.

Lots of success poker stories have been written in the recent years. Ordinary people like you and me started playing poker and after putting in some efforts they suddenly were able to make thousands of Dollar every month. I know a couple of people who have even won over a million Dollar in just a couple of years, but I want to say it as it is. The really good times are over and the competition has increased a lot. It is now tougher than ever and many of the big winners during the boom can be very thankful for being at the right place in the right time. Though, it is still possible to make a lot of money playing online poker and I want to tell you what it takes to be successful.

One very great fact about poker is, that anyone could be successful at it. You do not need to have a master degree or rich parents and you also neither need to be a superbrain nor do you need to invest much to be able to play. A simple computer and an internet connection is enough. Of course, there might be some expenses like a bigger display, books or tracking software if you really want to become more seriously, but they have time until you have had some success and do not need to be bought right away.

Skill is the only thing that matters at poker in the long run. What is required for a successful poker career is patience, dedication, intuition and it can only be a benefit if you are able to live a modest lifestyle and do not have the demands to cash out all your winnings right away to get the latest mobile.

Patience

Strangely almost every person who is not familiar with poker thinks it is all about bluffing. It is definitely not. Pure Bluffs are very rare and people who do them often are probably losing a lot of money. What is extremely important in different ways is patience. The most important foundation for a successful poker career is a solid bank roll management. When you have a $500 bank roll it would be a disaster to join a No Limit Hold'em table with $1/$2 blinds, buying in with a $200 stack and start playing just because you consider playing for $10 at a $0.05/$0.10 table worthless. You always need a damper for bad periods, because do not forget, even though poker is a game that requires a lot of skill, the variance can be very high. Even the best players have bad periods and can lose.
Usually a bank roll management of 30 buy-ins for lower limits is fine and should keep you out of big trouble assuming your skill is good enough. Some players prefer a more passive bank roll management and prefer to play with 50-100 buy-ins for a limit. Patience is also very important at poker when sitting at the tables. Poker is not an action game, it is a strategic game so you have to wait for good spots to make money, what can be a little bit boring sometimes, but is extremely important.