Some repeats, but same principle:

#1 - Bankroll. This is number one for a reason. If you lose your money, you're gone. Playing Limit Hold 'em, your bankroll should consist of at least 300 big bets. So if you play $1/$2 Hold 'em, have $600. Some people like even more, and would need $1000 to play comfortably at that level. For No Limit, it's recommended you have 2,000 Big Blinds, and play with 100 at a time.

#2 - Play tight. The fewer starting hands you play, the less money you lose. It's that simple. If you only play AA, KK, QQ and AK, you will win more than you lose. But astute players will see what you're up to, so mix it up. However, that doesn't mean raising with 93o after people say you're tight. There's about 35 hands I'll play, consisting of all the pocket pairs, Ax, any cards that add up to 20 in Blackjack and suited connectors 65 or higher. Disregarding suits, there are 169 possible hands you can make with two cards. This means that I play less than 25% of my hands, and I'll only consistently play about 7%. Also, there's only one hand I'll always play from any position, AA. This means that of the 169 starting hands, I play less than 1% of them 100% of the time!

#3 - Play aggressive. Raise. Re-raise. Put all your money on the line. Don't EVER be afraid to move all-in if you think you have the best of it. If you're obeying rules #1 and #2, you've got a decent hand and you're not risking all your bankroll. So what if he sucks out on you? You still have 95% of your roll left. So what if your read was wrong? It's a learning experience. You know now what sort of cards he'll play when. That's information, and it's worth paying 5% of your roll for.

#4 - Focus. If you're playing online, don't be on forums, MSN Messenger and watching TV at the same time. Have music on. That's it. You need to take in information- betting patterns can't be observed if you're watching Eastenders.

#5 - Position. This is so important when playing that if I were a politician, I'd bang my fist on the podium and say "position, position, position." Your hand selection is wider as you move toward the button. And you can conceivably raise with anything on the button in the right sort of pot. Knowing what people have done before you have to act is a tremendous advantage- the equivilant of serving in tennis or the opposition being down to 10 men in football. POSITION.

#6 - If you make mistakes, learn from them. OK, you folded JJ preflop and it turns out your two raisers had AJ and 44. Don't beat yourself up about it. The point is, you're capable of folding a big hand. Next time when you're against AA and QQ, this fold will pay off. NB: Folding Q2o and having the flop come QQ2 is NOT a mistake. That's just plain annoying. Deal out a flop ten times- see how many times Q2o has the best of it. Not many, huh? A correct fold is ALWAYS a correct fold, regardless of whether you would have won or not. If you fold A4 vs AQ on a board of AQ4 and the river brings a 4, it was STILL a good fold.

#7 - If playing online, take player notes. This is one of the best things online poker has to offer. I once took notes on a player in a tourney, noting that he made pot-sized bets when he had cards, and slightly-below pot sized bets when bluffing. I then came up against him in a cash game, and after reading my notes on him, I won $32 off him in a pot when he bluffed a board of 2s 3s 2c 6s 3d with 8d-9d. To add insult to injury, what was my hand? King high. Not even 2233A! If I hadn't taken notes, I'd have never ever won that pot- In fact, I'd have folded to his betting $4 into a $6 pot on the flop. But because I knew he was on a bluff, I was able to move all-in on the river when he bet big, confident that my KQ would stand up.

#8 - Read. Read, read, read, read, read. Not just people, either. Read books. Read internet articles. Join a forum, read hand histories. Never stop learning.

#9 - Table selection. Online, it helps that you can see stats, like % of players to see a flop and average pot size. I tend to go for a decent-sized pot and a high % of flop players. This means it's an action-filled table with a lot of loose
players. If you're playing tight-aggressive you should clean up.

#10 - Enjoy yourself. If the limits you play are too stressful, or the game is causing you undue upset, don't play. It's that simple. No hobby should be detrimental to your life.