It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. ~ Harry S. Truman. I've been playing online poker for about 10 years now and I have to admit my game has improved a lot since starting. By reading the blogs, forums, hand postings, courses or getting inside the head of some of the better players here, I think we can all elevate our game. There's a few tips that have stuck in my head and I try to follow them for the most part. So without further ado, here's a small portion of what I've learned:
Fold more than you raise. Patience is the key here, wait for a decent hand, stop playing any two cards. Sure, steal the occasional blind, play your position but even if you consider yourself an aggressive player, you should still be folding more then you're raising. Amateurs look for an excuse to call, Pros look for an excuse to fold. Related to this is...
Raise more than you call. Limping in is usually not a good idea. You don't really know where you are, you could be up against anything. I think it's best to keep the field of players your playing against low to better your chances of winning the hand. Don't be afraid to 3 bet to show some strength.
When you're down to less than 10 BBs, you've got two choices, all-in or fold. OK, you've got yourself into trouble here and your stack is down to less than 10 Big Blinds. Do you keep limping in and hope for a good flop? No, you want to maximize your fold equity and jam it with a decent hand. You could raise 3X but then you can't even make a pot size bet on the flop, so you're in deep trouble if you don't catch. Best to put it all-in or get out of that hand.
Stay in Emotional Control. Sometimes your large pocket pairs are going to get beat, they're only two cards..you play holdem with 7. If you've been practicing good bankroll management losing a game shouldn't be too upsetting so don't get all worked up about it. Just make sure you played the hand correctly, if not, learn from it and move on. Newmonitors can get expensive ;)
Find a game you're successful at and use that to build a bankroll. Everyone loves the large multi-table tournaments but it can be a big drain on your bankroll if those are all you play. Find a game that you can consistantly win, whether it's HU games, bounty games or even Badugi. Build your bankroll and then play that large MTT. Good luck everyone!