When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you're at the table, forget it.

Throughout a poker tournament, your table image will help determine how much action you'll get and, ultimately, how you can manipulate your opponents into making big calls or big laydowns at the wrong times.

I tend to land on the other side of the fence in this debate. My pre-flop strategy is this - its raise or its fold, there's no in between. I'm not injured - I don't have a sprained ankle or a broken leg - so why would I limp? There's nothing wrong with seeing flops, but why let your opponents get in cheap with an inferior hand?

When trying to steal pots in No-Limit Texas Hold'em, you have to ask yourself questions like: "How likely is it that my opponent has a hand?" and "Does my bet (bluff) make sense in the context of the way the hand played out?" Asking these questions is important. Answering them accurately is critical.

The key to succeeding in a poker tournament play is being able to handle the ups and downs, because it's not always going to go perfectly. Your chip stack is not always going to shoot upwards, which means you'll often need to make good decisions when you don't have a lot of chips

It's amazing the difference that two cards can make. As opposed to Hold'em where players have two hole cards at the start of each hand, Omaha starts each player off with four cards, which makes both pre-and post-flop play much more challenging, especially for those who are new to the game.

If you want to explore being a professional poker player, you have to start out doing it part time. Spend your off hours thinking about poker and studying the game. Read and play and learn.