Always find ways to improve your gameplay, regardless of how good you are, or how much you’ve recently been winning. While there are a few ways to tweak and improve your gameplay in a particular game, I personally find watching self-recorded videos of my own matches the best way to improve my gameplay. Simply start up a non-cash game and record yourself playing. Once you have a few videos recorded, start watching yourself in action. It’s different watching a video of yourself playing as opposed to analyzing yourself as you’re actively playing a game — you’re no longer under the pressure of having to perform well and having to make a high score. You’ll notice little holes & mistakes in your individual games that you wouldn’t have eitherwise caught. You might have missed an obvious hypergem setup in Bejeweled, a card you missed putting in the Foundation the first time in Solitaire Rush, etc. The end result in watching yourself play is to be able to scrutinize your every move and tighten up your execution when you get back to playing for money.

If you’re experiencing a continuing losing streak and your scores are lower than your usual average, take a break. It’s important to know when to stop playing, and when to cut your losses for the day. You might be frustrated that you’ve blown away $80 in 2 hours, but you’ll only be digging yourself into a bigger hole if you continue losing and throw away another $80. It’s never a good idea play when you’re hot-headed and you don’t have complete mental focus.

Likewise, don’t let your emotions lead you to make irrational decisions. If you’re in a high-stakes tournament and an opponent outscored you with an abnormally high score, don’t try to avenge your loss and attempt to fluke a high score. Try to approach your gaming from a neutral perspective and keep your long term earnings goals in mind.

If your playing bankroll is in the 3-digits and you are somewhat decent at the game(s) you play, don’t be intimidated by the higher stakes tournaments. Compared to the lower stakes games, the entry-to-payout ratio is much higher – you only have to win 1 out of a few games to make a profit. In Worldwinner’s “Premium” tournaments, if you manage to win once, you’ve already made more money than what most people earn in an entire day! If you want to make an actual living out of playing skill games, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try and win a few premium tournaments.

Get to know your skill gaming community! Don’t be afraid to send a PM to a known top player – more likely than not, if you have a simple question, they’ll be more than happy to answer you. Also, use this website’s forum as a way to chat with your fellow gamers. Give each other advice on the particular games you play. Ultimately, you’ll be a more versatile player who can play more games for cash, and win more money! Also, while we’re a resource for tutorials and guides, we definitely encourage general discussion about anything (except the latest news about Paris Hilton, we hear enough of that).

Finally, gaming should never be a frustrating chore that you’re obligated to do. Playing games for cash should be an enjoyable, rewarding experience – if you’re feeling tied down by having to win, you need to ease away and calm down. Unless gaming is truly your only source for income, you have nothing to stress about! Try out some other games to cool off, or simply take a break from playing for a few days.