4 Poker Pros Offer Tips on How to Win More Money

It's always nice to get advice on how to improve your poker game from experienced pros. And four pros, including Jake Cody, Chris Moneymaker, Kevin Martin, and Fatima Moreira de Melo, were recently generous with tips. Check out what each of these poker pros had to say on how you can become a better poker player.

Jake Cody – Share Strategy with Other Successful Players

Jake Cody has had a great poker tournament career that includes $4,441,588 in winnings. The Brit has also won both a WSOP gold bracelet and WPT title. And one thing that's help him accomplish these feats involves seeking out and learning from other good pros.

"Find players who you respect. You can learn from them," Cody told Express.

"Talk to people about strategy with other players so you can look at poker a little bit differently. There might be an angle you haven't thought about and because there's so many different styles of poker. Running ideas off each other is a big help.”

Cody also explained that players need to keep their emotions in check when luck isn't going their way.

"The biggest mistake is being too emotionally invested in the outcome. They play a hand great, get unlucky and they get pissed off they got unlucky," he said. "Now they are going to be angry and start playing too many hands because of that situation."

Chris Moneymaker – Balance Your Playing and Studying Time

Chris Moneymaker first shot to stardom when he won the 2003 WSOP Main Event along with $2.5 million. He's continued to grind in poker tournaments ever since, earning $3,704,161 lifetime. And his main piece of advice is to keep learning strategy and evolving.

"If I was a new poker player coming into today's game I'd spend as much time off the felt working on my game as I do playing it," he said. "Every hour that I'm playing poker is an hour I'm going to spend in some facet training to improve."

Moneymaker also cautions that players need strong bankroll management to in order to stick around the game.

"If you do that and you do money management, you'll be in the game a long time," the WSOP champ explained. “A lot of players get in and don't exercise proper bankroll management and they don't work on their game.

"I've played with people who play the exact same way now as they did 20 years ago but the game's changed a lot. For players to play the same way as they did 20 years ago, it doesn't make sense."

One more piece of advice from Moneymaker is to proceed into poker slowly, while keeping your regular job.

"If you want to be a professional poker, always have a back-up plan,” he said. “Keep your day job. Don't think you're going to come in this thing and tear up the world.

"You might come in, with three or four tournaments in a row which happens, but then you might not win another tournament for three years. That's the way poker tournaments work."

Kevin Martin – Track Difficult Hands and Learn from Them

Kevin Martin is one of the most-successful online poker pros in the world. And the Canadian believes that it's very important for players to learn from their mistakes regarding difficult hands.

"If you want to get better, every hand you have that you get confused by, write it down. Ask your friends about it," Martin advised.

"Let's say you have a river decision and don't know whether to fold or call, write it down. Ask a buddy who has had advice. Surround yourself with other poker players and seek that knowledge to get better. To enjoy the game too, it's very important."

One additional point that Martin made is that you should never be content with where your poker game stands.

"The biggest mistake is that people think they are playing fine, they are content. No. Even the best players strive to get better. If those guys are working to get better, so should you."

Fatima Moreira de Melo – "Investigate" Hands before Spending Too Much Money

Former Dutch field hockey star Fatima Moreira de Melo has made a good transition into poker. The PokerStars pro has earned $525,876 in live tournaments during her career.

She offered an interesting comparison on how you should determine what hands to play.

"The average poker player plays too many hands. They play too loosely. I always compare it to buying a house," said de Melo.

"If you're going to buy a house you'll investigate the inside, outside and you're going to get as much information as you can before you put in a bid."

De Melo also thinks it's important to learn whom you're playing against before making any rash decisions.

"Some players sit down and don't even know who they're playing against. They start betting, raising without any information," she explained.

"I would say chill out, check out what the house is about and then start playing, betting and putting your bid in. Not before that. They want to play and prove 'I'm not an idiot, I'm not a moron' and that's exactly what you shouldn't be doing."

All of these pros can be found on PokerStars, where they represent the world's largest poker site. That said, check out PokerStars and put these players' tips to use!