Keeping on Top of Your Situation
As much as poker on its face can seem a game of aggression and pressure, in the background it is equally a game of balance, method, and care. A player with a careful knack for managing his bankroll, choosing the right level of game play, and good time management will find himself that much more set up to make the moves necessary to be a successful, winning online poker player.
Among the elements important to this kind of balance, perhaps the most important is recognizing and defining your limits, and learning to stay on top of them. This is meant less as an in-hand kind of advice (as in, it is always good to test the limits of your ability within the game on a hand selection kind of level, to some extent), and more as a fiscal, bankroll, and time oriented concern. Knowing how much you can comfortably afford to risk at one time, and then not allowing yourself to overextend that amount, gives you will the amount of leeway and rope that you need to bring your best game to the online poker table.
Jumping to limits that exceed your bankroll can seem fun and a good idea in the short term, but the best idea is giving yourself room to breathe, and avoiding long term slumps by being prepared to handle the short term ones.
