What's the easiest way to win at online poker?

My professional 'career' began several years ago, but it wasn't until 2004 that poker began to seriously pay its way.

My strategy is blindingly simple. Most of the best theories are simple. But before I tell you how it works, let me tell you what I was doing before.

Every day was a poker day. I had all the time in the world to play. Sometimes I had good results. Other times I suffered. This is probably sounding rather familiar to most of you!

I realised that the worst times were not the big, down-starting days that began badly and got worse. The worst times were those times I was significantly ahead, but ended up quits or down.

Most poker pros have borrowed money management principles from other investment spheres, like the stockmarket. I don't believe in stop-loss: instead, why not QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD?!

Believe me, I wasn't convinced at first. But I've been doing this for two years now and it's never failed me. Try it and you'll understand.

Approach your poker from a new perspective

Plan for days off in your weekly schedule. Don't be a slave to your online poker lifestyle: it's supposed to support you, not the other way around!

Set your bankroll at a fixed amount. Let's say $5000, for the sake of argument, if you're playing up to $200 NL.

On your first day, you should aim to win money and withdraw it. In an ideal world, this would happen within half an hour, leaving you the rest of your day free!

By taking the excess cash from your roll, you have given yourself a cashflow -- you need to eat, pay the rent or mortgage, go out occasionally... You know. All the things money can buy for you. Enjoy!

It also feels great to be banking somebody else's cash. You 'earned' that by being a better player. Enjoy that feeling.

Once you've cashed out, you cannot lose that money later. It's already in your pocket!

Obviously you won't be building your bankroll up, which is one of the downsides for some players. But let me remind you: this has paid my way for two years so far, and counting!

Being a poker professional can be a difficult lifestyle. It never hurts to have a solid, regular income stream from your game.