Methodology

Wow, that last post was long and probably boring too. Sorry, but we need to get through the foundation before we get to the good stuff (my humiliating defeats at the poker table!).
So in this post I'll lay out my general strategy, here, at the beginning. I expect this to evolve over time.
Most players have watched a bunch of WSOP on ESPN or World Poker Tour on the travel channel or one of the gazillion other poker shows on TV these days. They decide that they can do the same thing as these guys, no problem! Especially after seeing Chris Moneymaker win the WSOP in 2003 everyone thought they could be a professional poker player. And that's as far as most people go in understanding the game. Beyond the basic rules they figure that Hold 'Em is all about being lucky enough to get good cards and having the balls to bluff your opponent when you don't. They figure that the game generally consists of "going all in" and trying to bluff your opponent.
However, what most people don't stop to think about is they are essentially watching a highlight reel of what occurred. Nowadays over 5000 people enter the World Series of Poker. The first day goes for 12 plus hours with over 550 tables of nine people playing poker at each of them. And out of those thousands of hours of poker being played, you get to see less than 90 minutes of action in a two hour show once you cut out the commercials and fluff pieces. 90 minutes from over 6600 hours of action during the first day alone!
To put that into perspective let's say the first day of the WSOP is equivalent to the first quarter of a football game. You are seeing the equivalent of a highlight reel of an eigth of a second of that 15 minute quarter! So by the final table, let's be generous and say that you get the equivalent of one minute of that last 15 minute quarter. If you knew nothing about football other than what you saw in those ridiculously short highlight reels you might think you could be a professional football player, just by suiting up and running out on the field!
So what are you missing? What doesn't make it to the air? Folding, lot's and lot's of folding. And small pots where no one's chip stack is on the line. People getting whittled down slowly and ground out of the tournament. Uninteresting play.
The other thing that has led to poker success is the "hole cam" try catching an old poker tournament on tv sometime (by old I mean pre 2002) one of the ones with Gabe Kaplan commentating. Without seeing each players hole cards, it is like watching paint dry. The best part of the current poker shows is that you know more than the players and you can determine when they are being bluffed or when they are dominated and making a mistake. When you are playing in a live setting you do not get the all powerful view of seeing everyone else's cards, which makes things quite different (duh!).
So given all of that I've decided to take a much more methodical approach to getting better at poker rather than just jumping in and going all in every chance I get until I learn something.
First and foremost I've started reading a bunch of poker books. I also started playing "kitchen" table poker with friends for several months before trying to play in a casino.
The first book I'm using as a guide is Lee Jones' "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" which can be picked up here from Conjelco. The one listed on Amazon is the second edition and the one on Conjelco is the third edition. You can also get it at Borders. This book is written specifically for playing at low limit hold em tables and addresses the many types of players and the kind of play you will find at these tables.
Essentially, the book can be summed up like this: Only play quality cards and when you do play, play aggressively.
If you play the way the book tells you to play, you will fold most of the time and then when you play you will bet like a madman. You would figure that people would get wise to you and not play when you play but you would be surprised by how short people's memories are at the table or just how much they are not paying attention.
I'm getting my limit game down first because it is purely mechanical, especially at low limit games. You have a set list of hands you will play and then you either bet them or you fold. There is very little subtelty to the game because it is wasted on the players you find yourself pitted against because they don't understand what your play means anyway.
Think of the low limit game as the fundamentals of the sport. Once we master the basics we move up in levels and expand our repetoire and knowledge as we go.