A common mistake made by amateurs is that they fail to take advantage of players who bluff excessively. Instead of playing possum and letting their aggressive opponents continue to bet, beginners raise too early with monster hands, allowing their opponents to fold.

Playing tricky poker doesn't have to mean making bizarre moves or playing way out of character. Rather, it's simply about taking advantage of what you know about your opponents and how they perceive your style of play.

If you are in a poker game for money and are taking it easy on one of your buddies, you are cheating yourself, your friend, and every other player in the game.

Poker is not a team sport. It's every man for himself. It's perfectly okay to root for your buddies and hope they do well, but when it's time to play the game, you have to give it your all. All by yourself, that is.

The world's most successful tournament competitors - like me, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Phil Hellmuth, and countless others - like to play small ball poker. It's a style that we use to steadily increase our stacks in no limit hold'em tournaments without having to assume significant risk.

Playing middle pairs like 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, and 7-7 can be difficult but only if you overvalue them and mistakenly play them as you would premium hands.

Tournaments are won by aggressively going after smaller pots with a range of starting hands. The trick is learning how to do that without becoming reckless.

Premium hands are simply few and far between when large pots are at stake.

In small ball poker, you'll need to widen your starting hand requirements beyond pocket pairs and A-K.

The secret behind playing small ball poker isn't so much in the hands you choose to play. It's more about the amount you choose to bet with the hands you end up playing.

I seldom reraise before the flop no matter what my hand is. By so doing, I'm able to disguise the strength of my hand and can trap unsuspecting opponents who interpret my smooth call as a sign of weakness.

Always keep in mind that poker is about limiting your losses and maximizing your gains on every hand you play.

Check-raising with a drawing hand on the turn is simply a kamikaze gamble. It might work once in a while, but if you consistently attempt it, too often you'll find yourself watching the rest of the tournament from behind the rail.

When you play No Limit Hold'em, the ideal strategy is to take minimal risk, do little bluffing, and hope that weaker players call you when you have a strong hand. But that's the perfect world. Sometimes you'll face opponents that play very conservatively and will rarely pay you off when you have the goods.

Beating a tight game requires focus. You'll need to seek out every opportunity where you can steal a big pot. One way is by representing a hand that your opponents probably can't beat.

Playing Limit Hold'em will certainly improve your No Limit game. There are subtleties to the Limit game that will enhance your technique at the No Limit tables. Mastering these uniquely aggressive Limit tactics will enable you to steal more pots when you sit down to play No Limit Hold'em.

Less control can be exerted in Limit games because it's more difficult to force players out of pots with structured betting. In No Limit, though, hands can be protected from being outdrawn by making large bets that force opponents to fold weak draws.

Limit Hold'em is the game for you if you bore easily and crave fast action. Conversely, in No Limit, the game will often slow to a halt when someone is faced with a big decision. That's uncommon in Limit games because all-in bets are rare.

Common wisdom in Texas Hold'em suggests that you should raise before the flop if you're planning to play a hand. The saying goes, 'Raise or fold,' but is that correct? Well, it's not the worst advice, but limiting yourself to one of these two options would be a mistake.

Limping in - entering a pot by calling rather than raising - is more complicated than raise-or-fold poker because you'll end up playing more hands. Also, it's difficult to put players on a hand when they're in the pot without making a pre-flop raise.

In No Limit Hold'em, much like video games and karate lessons, you need to master one level before you can move on to the next.

In karate, as your skill level increases, your instructor presents you with the next belt. But in poker, only you can decide when it's time to graduate to the next level. That's a tricky proposition for some players because it's difficult to assess your own progress.

In poker, you've got to start at the bottom level and work your way up. This advice applies to the limits that you play and the sizing of the bets that you make.

Swallow your pride and be completely objective about your own poker skill level. Only then can you implement an effective betting strategy.

In poker, position is power. When you've got position, play more hands and apply more pressure before the flop.

I'm terrible at golf, but I love the game with a passion.

In golf, no one learns to hit a draw, a fade, or a cut shot until they've been taught how to hit the ball straight. Similarly, novice poker players need to learn how to 'hit it straight' before taking on more difficult concepts.

While sophisticated plays can work in poker, if attempted by an inexperienced player, they'll usually backfire. Elaborate bluffs and check-raises are best left to experienced players. It's just like golf: don't try to hit a tricky flop shot with that 25-handicap of yours!

Playing correctly from the small blind can be frustrating and confusing. On the one hand, you already have half the bet in the pot, which should entice you to play more hands. On the other, you'll have to play out of position on every street, which suggests that you should actually play fewer hands.

The best advice when playing from the small blind is to mix up your play. The general rules are to fold garbage hands, limp with marginal hands, and raise with hands that are strong enough to play big pots with. Don't allow your opponents, however, to pick up patterns in your play.

Before you even consider making a value bet, try to determine if the bet will have any value at all. Attempt to put your opponent on a hand that he'd likely call a bet with on the river. To do this, you'll have to mentally play back the details of the hand. Think about your opponent's playing tendencies.

In cash games, you're apt to see more players staying in to see the flop. If you have a hand worth playing, your best options are to either limp in or make a slightly larger pre-flop raise to build the pot and narrow the competition. A raise of four times the big blind should do the trick.

In tournaments, you want to steal the blinds as cheaply as possible without risking a high percentage of your chips.

Powerful drawing hands, like a pair with a flush draw or even conventional straight and flush draws, are often good opportunities to try a semi-bluff - making a bet or raise that you hope will not be called, but leaves you some outs if it is.

Don't try to make a big bluff on the turn with a drawing hand. With only one card to come, even a big draw is an underdog against a made hand. Keep the betting small.

Here's one general rule that applies to No Limit Hold'em tournaments: Avoid playing coin flip situations for all of your chips.

Table talk is a part of the game, and frankly, it's the part of the game that I enjoy most.

How players react to questions that you ask can give definitive information as to the strength of their hand. Even an opponent who says nothing at all might be sending a silent signal. A mere shrug, an awkward smile, or even a frozen stare can be meaningful.

Never underestimate the importance of preparation for any single poker session or tournament.

In the world of poker, it's not heroic to try to function on a couple hours of sleep.

Missing even one night of shuteye will impact your ability to concentrate the next day. And it only gets worse if you deprive yourself of sleep night after night.

We've all heard stories about poker players grinding it out for two days straight. Believe me; I've got stories like that of my own. But the bottom line is that these stories usually don't have great endings. That's because the mind starts playing tricks after a marathon poker session, especially after a losing session.

The best tournament players actually try to avoid risky plays altogether. They prefer to wait for their opponents to make the risky moves. They'll wait patiently until they catch a strong hand. When they do, they'll take down their overly aggressive foes.

To be sure, playing it safe isn't a flashy style of poker. Some even claim that it's too weak and passive. That being said, playing safe poker is still a proven recipe for success in the world's biggest poker tournaments.

Success at poker is ultimately the result of solid fundamentals and the ability to read your opponents' betting patterns. This is especially true when playing online. But playing live poker is a completely different animal. In this venue, the presence of physical tells can not be overlooked.

Picking up a tell - a hint that a player unknowingly gives that reveals the strength of his hand - often means the difference between winning and losing a big pot.

The art of reading physical tells isn't an exact science.

In order to maximize your profits at the poker table, your goal should be to play completely opposite of the way other players at the table perceive you. Simply put, if opponents label you a conservative player who never bluffs and only plays premium hands, you'll do better playing aggressively and bluffing frequently.

To be a great poker player, you're going to have to learn this fact: Everything that's said at a poker table is worth listening to. It's all information that you can use to make better decisions, whether people are talking about baseball, politics, or, oh yeah, poker.

If you want to make money playing poker, find a game with a few suckers, fish, donkeys, live ones, or whatever you choose to call a bad player. Just don't let that sucker be you.