How to Make Money With Online Poker

 When Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Anytown, USA, won the 2003 World Series of Poker he instantly became rich and famous. Many people who saw this happen decided that if he could do it that they should have a decent shot too.  That having happened, millions of people flocked to online poker sites everywhere and began losing money faster than you can say "suck out".  Many professionals enjoyed this new phenomenon and padded their bankrolls heftily.  Unfortunately, these days, online poker is made up of above average players.  Thanks to the extensive books, videos, magazines and software that are out there now educating the young players, the online games today are not as easy as they once were.  However, if you love poker, have a lot of time, patience and money, there is still the possibility of making money playing online poker.  Here is how!

1. Research!  Learn the game if you haven't already and if you have learned it then master it.  You must know your poker math and it wouldn't hurt to read a variety of books so you may identify the numerous strategies out there that other players will be using.
2. Download the poker software needed to play and also a Heads Up Display program such as PokerTracker3 or Holdem Manager.  You will need the site to play on and the tracking software to track your statistics along with, and more importantly, your competitions statistics.  You will need to become very familiar with your poker tracking software and shouldn't invest too much of your hard earned money until you have done so.
3. Make sure you are familiar with the term "Bankroll Management".  If you are not, you should seriously consider putting off your attempt to make money playing poker until you are comfortable with this concept.  This is probably the most important step.  Many people, notably Victor "Islider1" Blumm, have made lots of money only to piss it away due to poor bankroll management.
4. Find your game.  It is not recommended that you play Sit N Go tournaments as competition is tough.  Those who play them have already mastered them and it is very tough to finish in the top 3 places consistently enough to make money due to poor payout structures.  I recommend playing low stakes cash games to start out.  AS you win and find you have mastered each stake, you may slowly climb the ranks.
5. Multitabling is a very important part of making money playing online.  By playing more than one table at one time you are able to decrease the variance that comes along with playing poker.  Find a number of tables you are comfortable with and set up shop.  Your tracking software will help you manage so many tables and still be able to know individual players tendencies.