The explosion of online poker is luring more and more players to play the game on the internet far more than they would at a casino or in private games at a friend's house.

Online poker is on the minds of many people on a daily basis. There are thousands of poker players logging on every hour of the day to the numerous available online poker rooms all eagerly awaiting their next fix.

Many of these players can be a great source of income for you if you are prepared to work at your game and become a better, stronger and more consistent player. You need to know what is required to become a fierce competitor every time you log on to your favourite poker website or pull up a chair in a nearby traditional casino.

Here are the top five tips that can help you improve your game and put more money into your account.

1. Practice patience. If you can't exercise patience in your game, you should not be playing. Shrewd players will take your chips in no time at all so stick to the top 10 hands while you are improving your gameplay.

2. To become a better player nothing beats experience. You should try and play some poker and practice every day if possible, especially when preparing for a big game or tournament.

3. Don't underestimate the importance of playing online. If you can win online, particularly in the tougher poker rooms and qualifying tournaments, then you can win live games at a casino.

4. Play ring games and tournaments. If you are going to be a successful poker player you need to be familiar with both types of games. The ring games (also known as cash games) will help you get to know some of the other players who you may come up against at a later date in a tournament scenario.

5. Read and watch everything you can on the subject of poker and find some good tutorial DVDs. Poker programmes dominate the late night satellite listings so whether it's celebrities or poker professionals that interest you, tune in and watch how they play.

To summarise, if you want to become a better poker player there is no alternative to reading, watching and most important of all, playing poker! Never has there been so much money available to the average online player, how badly do you want it?