1) Don’t chase gutshot draws

When you have 4 of the 5 cards you need for a straight, it’s tempting to call bets and stay in the pot. You’re unlikely to get the right pot odds though, and you’ll rarely hit one of your four outs.

2) Beware Ace-King

Don’t overplay Ace-King! Sure, it’s a big hand, but it’s still a drawing hand.

Against a smaller pair like 8♥ 8♣ you’re an underdog, and against any two other lower cards like Q♣ J♠  you’re 2/1 at best.

So don’t push all-in with Ace-King just because someone has bet in front of you. Instead, put in a raise – and if an opponent re-raises you start to worry that you’re behind.

3) Be patient

Learn to fold hands, even strong ones, and wait for a better spot. Top pair/top kicker is rarely going to be the winning hand if someone has pushed all their chips in the middle.

Dan Harrington – author of poker bible Harrington on Hold’em – cites patience as the most important poker attribute of all.

4) Specialise in one format

When you’re qualifying for the WPT, try to specialise in one tournament format before you try others.

5) Lose gracefully

Learn to deal with bad beats. Poker will send you into a mad rage from time to time but the best players accept the fickle finger of fate and move on to the next game.

6) Take a break between games

If you do go on tilt and start to make decisions you know aren’t correct, get out quick! Log off for a while and do something else.

7) Take your time

When you play on PartyPoker, you get a time back to make a decision. Don’t be afraid to take your time and think through your call carefully.

8) Play for the right stakes

If you play above your means, you’ll be far too worried about busting out, which will interfere with your decision-making and upset your natural game. Generally, if you sit down at a No-Limit cash table your buy-in should represent no more than five percent of your total bankroll. That way, if you don’t cash, it won’t affect you too much.

9) Let go of your favourite hands

Don’t get attached to favourite hands. Just because you once flopped a straight flush with 3♣ 5♣ does not make it a must-play hand. Similarly, ignore the hands the pros are famed for. Just because Brunson won two WSOP titles with 10-2 doesn’t mean you have to play this junk holding.

10) Don’t play small pairs

Dump that 2♥ 2♦! Okay, that’s not always true: if you’re heads-up or short-stacked, play them hard. But if you’re on a full table in early position the only way hands like pocket Deuces are going to win is if everyone folds or you flop a set – which only 1 in 7 times.

11) Don’t give away ‘free cards’

Avoid slow-playing big hands. Bet your pocket Kings and Aces pre-flop, and be wary of slow playing a set post-flop. Even if it pays off now and then, more often than not giving other players free cards can turn into a nightmare when they hit a backdoor straight or flush.

12) Take the breaks

Long sessions are only good sessions if you’re winning. If things arent’ going your way, it may be because the cards aren’t flipping for you – but it’s more likely that you’re not playing optimally. When you’re qualifying for the WPT on PartyPoker.com, you get regular

13) Eat fruit and drink water

There’s evidence to show that eating fruit and drinking water helps you stay focused for longer periods of time.

14) Maintain focus

Concentrate as hard as you can on every hand. Play each one to the best of your ability and watch the table at all times, even when you’re not in a hand, making mental notes on the other players and attempting to pick up any tells they have.

15) Dump ‘problem’ hands

A-10 under the gun on a 10-handed table is not a ‘must-play’ hand. Anyone firing back at you may have you dominated or be holding a pocket pair. But the problem is, you won’t know where you’re at. You’d do better opening a pot with rags on the button.

16) Keep records

Write down key hands in your tournaments, and come back to them later. It can be difficult to spot where you’re going wrong until you look back on your plays later.

17) Take advantage of crazy players

At the start of any multi-table tournament, there are always a few maniacs looking to double or treble through by pushing all their chips over the line with small pairs and Ace-rag. And the best piece of advice we can give is to let someone else deal with them. Unless, of course, you pick up a big pair yourself – Queens, Kings, Aces – where, if they bet into you, you have the weapons at your disposal to take them to pieces.

18) Stand your ground

Of course, you don’t want to be too conservative. Poker is a game of aggression after all. Bully the bully. Isolate the guy who’s been swinging his chips around like a big club and slap them down with a re-raise. It’ll force them to put the brakes on and, like showing fire to a caveman, make them look at you with a newfound sense of respect.

19) Know the facts

You may think of yourself as an instinct player but here are a few

key facts and figures you’ll need on your way to WTP glory.

• 16.5%; You’ll fill your gutshot straight with two cards to come
• 54%; You’ll make at least a straight after flopping an open-ended straight and flush draw
• 11.8%; Your pocket pair will flop a set
• 31.5%; You’ll complete your open-ended straight post-flop
• 32.5%; You’ll pair one of your cards on the flop
• 12%; Your suited cards will flop two or more of the same suit
• 9%; That someone will be dealt pocket Aces or Kings on a 10-handed table
• 35%; You’ll make your flush after the flop with one card needed

20) Pick the right spot

When some ultra-aggressive maniac pushes you all-in for the third time in a row, don’t call with a marginal hand just because you’re annoyed. If you have enough chips to wait until you’re in a better spot, fold and wait for that moment. There’s no shame in folding (most of the time) when you can wait for them to do their schoolboy move again and take them to the cleaners. Alternatively, get your chips in first, and beat them at their own game.

21) Aim for the top

Use a little slice of your profits to play satellite tournaments. Do well in these and you could see yourself qualifying for the WPT.

22) Learn the basics

You need to have a basic idea of maths, including ‘outs’ and percentages, but it’s important to make sure you know the exact figures of one hand against another by using an odds calculator. Explore PartyAcademy’s articles for more on these topics.

23) Push the button

Position is the most powerful thing in the game. Being last to act gives you lots of information and puts you in the best spot for every check, call or bet in a hand. Build the pot, take a free card or scare off the opposition with a meaty bluff. And when you consider you get dealt junk far more frequently than you get dealt monsters, you’re going to have to steal blinds and antes with something. If you can’t rely on getting good cards and having chips, the only certainty in poker is that you’ll have position every rotation of the table.

24) Manipulate pot sizes

Build the pots up when you’re ahead and keep the pots small when you think you might be chasing.

25) Analyse your actions

Don’t blame bad luck or other players when you bust out of a tourney. Look back at how you played key hands and identify any errors or situations where you could have profited or negated your losses.

26) Keep notes on players

Get into the habit of keeping notes on other players. If you play regularly on the same site you’re going to run into the same players frequently. Jot down that they always check-raise the nuts – it could save you from getting busted.

27) Show of aggression

If you’re the first to enter a pot, always bet. Limping in is the mark of a weak player. Entering the pot aggressively puts your opponents on the back foot and makes the pot even juicier for when you do hit a big hand.

28) Lead out

Don’t give up the lead. If you bet or raised before the flop, most of the time you should bet again after the flop, regardless of whether you hit. Most of the time you’ll take the pot down there and then, because the maths dictate that most players miss most flops. If you get heat, and don’t think your hand is best, retreat. But if you think you’re ahead and they’re trying to represent the best hand, test them with a re-raise. Controlled aggression is the winner over the long-term.

29) Watch the best

Sit in on high stakes players online. You’ll get quality tuition for free by watching these shark-infested waters.

30) Join the PartyPoker Facebook group

For more tips and tactics, and regular promotion updates, join the PartyPoker Facebook group.