The largest sector of the internet gambling industry continues to be the game of poker. Even with U.S. laws clamping down on offshore gaming operations, reports show that U.S. players continue to successfully deposit, gamble and withdraw real money funds at online casinos and poker rooms. Poker also looms large in all of Europe, thus bringing together hundreds of thousands of players from throughout the world. There is plenty of money in the poker industry and with plenty of good opportunities for players to take home their fair share.

If you are thinking about playing poker at online poker rooms, the very first thing you need to do is honestly self-assess your level of skill. The reason being is that in order to prevent better skilled players - especially card sharks - from robbing you blind, you need to start off playing at tables with other players of the same caliber of skill, not to mention bankroll. Although this is not a rule of thumb for highly skilled players looking to take advantage of weaker players (something which any ethical player will not participate in), this should always be the case for intermediate players.

If you are an intermediate poker player - whether you have or have not played at an online casino or poker room already - you should be aware of a few simple rules of thumb in addition to the aforementioned tip: "determine and play at your own caliber of skill". Two of the most important principles you should put into practice when playing poker at the casinos is to play with a bankroll at least fifty times the table limit and to fold the majority of your hands.

If your bankroll does not cut it at the $5 tables, then move down to the $1 tables and work your way up to higher tables. If you are playing the majority of your hands through the river (last betting round), then make an effort to slow down and reconsider only playing higher ranked starting hands. In fact, top casino poker players will agree that players should have at least fifty times the table limit in their bankroll and should be playing no more than 30% of their starting hands. These are two of the big ones. In our next tip, we will explain the importance of studying other players at the table and how to keep them guessing.