Table Image

The main idea behind poker is to force/tempt/trick your opponents into making mistakes....

the ideal day in poker is not the day when you hit straight flushes and quads every other hand....

the ideal day in poker is the day, when they fold (middle-pair, decent-kicker) or (top-pair, shitty-kicker) when you have 6-high.... and they call with ace-high or middle-pair when you have the nuts or something very close to the nuts...

Why? because they have no clue as to what you have and they are absolutely clueless as to what your bets meant...

How ? table image baby... of the ten players on the table, the one you know the most, is YOU... and the one player that you can control the most, is YOU...
(if you don't know yourself or how you play poker and have no control over your playing style... stop wasting your money... come back to the table when you do know yourself better and can control your play somewhat... if you need help, ask some of your fellow players what they think about your game and request them to be honest... of course it helps if they are good friends with you, so they will actually give you honest feedback... and whatever they say, consider it thoroughly...)

Table image is playing tight initially and folding marginal hands even though you think you were ahead... (and basically trying to assess how good your read is on that day, on that table, without losing too much money)

and then once they think you are a tight but somewhat weak player... use that information and stick it to them... raise from late position (and occasionally from early position) with suited connectors... and the pot is yours either way... if high cards hit, they all think you have em cuz you play nothing but high cards... and if low cards hit... even better... you will get highly rewarded for your two-pair or straight... just be watchful and keep an eye out for the real tight player who might actually have flopped a monster... even if you lose, don't muck your cards... show them and say i was just messing with you...

go back to playing tight for a bit, cuz wether you lost and showed or won and had to show... they will call you down next time you raise no matter what they have or what they think you have... so don't bluff for a little while... and re-build that image you had before... now you have created doubt in everyone's mind... you are capable of making a move... play tight for about 30 minutes or so, and then raise or re-raise on a draw...

it's a dangerous game, yes, you can lose a lot of money if things go wrong... but if you can't push yourself and others to the wire and don't like risks and pressure but still want to play poker... that's like being a doctor who can not stand the sight of blood... it is impossible to make money by just playing the "cards-part" of poker.... after all everyone has the same chance of getting good cards... why should you be luckier than the next guy ?

always remember though, cliche' as it may be, "fortune favors the bold"...