[I.Rowboat]

As others have said, you can reduce limit holdem to a few key concepts:

1) Play good cards, especially when you are starting out, as it makes almost all other decisions a lot clearer/easier. "Good" in this case means premium hands -- bit pocket pairs (TT+), AK off suit, AT suited (and better), KQ suited. As you get a btter feel for the game you can add more hands, but the premium hands play well from all positions and can be played aggressively.

2) Pay very close attention to position -- when you have position, you need to use it to punish the other players by raising or reraising -- either to get the most value for your good hands or to get free cards for your drawing hands. Conversely, when you are out of position, you need to play need to respect that you are at a disadvantage and you will be fighting uphill. As you get better you can use this to your advantage, but initially, try not to play tricky hands out of position (unless the pot is offering you the right price...)

3) Play aggressively. You would do well to play with the mindset, "when I enter a pot, I am not going to call someone else's raise unless it is for purposes of deception or to build a bigger pot (by encouraging others to call behind me). I want to enter a pot raising, or I am going to fold and wait until I can raise with confidence." With your big hands (big pocket pairs and AK) you want to keep raising if at all possible, as these hands play best against fewer opponents, and you would like to confront later opponents with multiple bets, to discourage them from entering the pot and to get the most value from your best hands, because you won't get them very frequently. Once you have entered the pot, you need to keep the pressure on your opponents as the hand progresses, unless/until you meet resistance, at which point you need to evaluate: are you still ahead, or are you behind? If you are ahead, you should keep raising and keep putting pressure on your opponents, as this pays dividends in both the current and future hands. If you feel you are behind, you need to determine if you can afford to continue with the hand -- do you have outs to improve? If you improve, will you have the best hand? Is the pot offering you the right price to continue? Are you facing a single opponent or multiple opponents? These are complex questions to resolve, and they take time and experience. In general, winning players at all levels are good at making these decisions early in the hand, when the cost to enter is still relatively cheap. The earlier you can decide to fold, the more you save...on the other hand, if you decide that your hand is playable, you need to play it strong and hard, especially if you believe you have the best hand at the moment. Winning players fold their losing hands early and get in as many bets as possible with their winning hands, while also putting the maximum pressure on their opponents. For example, you might check the flop with top pair in early position so you can put in a raise after a later position player bets. This forces all the players between you and the first bettor to put in two bets, and most will (or should) respect the implied strength of your actions and fold.

4) Poker is a lot like religion: serious players are fervent and extremely devoted, and often have poker on their brains throughout the day. They are always looking to improve their game, by reading, discussing, and by observing their opponents. In almost every game, there's at least one good polayer and one lousy player, and a number of mediocre players. Learn from both the good, understand why the bad players are, in fact, bad, and try NOT to be one of the mediocre players in the middle. Good, winning players can be tight or loose (depending on their style and the style of the others in the game), but they are always aggressive. Learn to be aggressive in the right situations, and you will become a player that wins consistently.

Good luck!