I've played poker now for approximately 13 years. I started playing online poker roughly six years ago, after I walked into a business client's office and noticed he was playing a poker game on his computer. Being someone who loved the game and played it live regularly, I was naturally interested, and asked him about the software he was using. I thought at the time that he was just playing an online game of poker against the computer, like Hoyle's Texas Hold'em. I had no idea that he was playing interactively with other players from around the world, let alone for real money.

When he explained it wasn't just a "video game," I was so excited about the prospect of playing online from home, rather than in the smoke-filled poker rooms in Calgary, that I ended my day early and rushed home to download the poker site. I promptly deposited $500 into my real money account and proceeded to turn that into roughly $2,500 within a short period of time. I thought I had died and gone to poker heaven.

Within a couple of weeks, however, I was down over $10,000 and realized that, obviously, internet poker was rigged. I mean, what else could be the reason for my sudden loss? I continued to play, despite knowing in my heart that it was fixed, figuring I was good enough to beat the game anyway. After losing and losing and complaining about "the cash out curse" and all the other things that players choose to blame for their losses online, I finally went back to complain to the guy who had originally introduced me to the site.

After he stopped laughing at me, he showed me his track record over the previous few months. Then he made a comment that really stuck with me: "Jim," he said, "maybe you aren't as good a player as you think you are."

Maybe, he suggested, the tilt factor, the speed of play, the number of hands seen, and all the other reasons that make internet poker different from brick and mortar poker were making me lose. After realizing that almost all of the blame rested on my own shoulders, I went home with the knowledge that I had to learn how to play better and adjust. Lesson number one was learned. Internet poker is not rigged; it just forces you to evaluate your own game, make adjustments and become a better player.

There are so many factors that can turn a winning live player into a losing online player. The simple fact that you are betting with your mouse button can make it all seem less real. Picking up real chips that you know are of a certain value and making a bet in live play carries weight to it. Clicking a mouse button can become all too easy, and you can easily forget the importance of each bet you make. It's scary how you can be sitting at your computer and it feels just like a video game: Call, call, call, raise, chase, chase again, and you keep on doing it.

So if you are going to play online, you had better take what you are doing seriously, because you can bleed through your bankroll so fast it will make your head spin. You need to learn discipline. Minimize distractions and get yourself into an environment that helps you to concentrate on the game. It's all too easy to play from home with the TV on, stereo blaring, kids running around, and your spouse yelling at you to take out the garbage. If you are playing to win, you need to isolate yourself from as many distractions as you can. I'm not saying you should shut out your life completely to play online poker. It's just that trying to play your A-game and balancing other distractions around you is damn near impossible. Little distractions affect your decisions and that costs you money. The accumulative effect of many bad decisions over time can be very expensive.

The reality is that online poker can make you a better player much quicker than playing live can. The simple speed of internet play will either force you to get better faster or blow through your bankroll at lightning speed. If you realize early that the key to improving your results rests fully on your own shoulders, rather than believing that the sites rig the flops, then you are on your way to much better play and greater financial reward.

Knock 'em dead,

James "KrazyKanuck" Worth