I'll throw in my 2 cents, just b/c I was in your shoes about 8 weeks ago. I had played some, not a lot, free poker online, and had been doing well in the monthly home game I would play in with people from work. I made the jump into Intertops because I was doing some sports book betting there and it was easy to just move money over to the poker site. I've played a lot of their freeroll tournaments, some of their $1 tournaments and a lot of their micro limit tables - .15/30 and .25/50.

I have actually had good results, but have found that the game is 100% different than the play money game. You'll learn that very quickly, and it's not to say that you won't do well, but it did surprise me intially at how much better the game play is. The easiest example is single table tournaments at a play money site, and typically you'll see half a dozen all-in bets in the first 10 hands. Playing for real money you may see one, maybe, in the first 10 hands.

So here is my advice for a new person, especially if you're going to play limit.

Play with quality hands, and occasionally limp in to the flop with your connectors (J-10, 8-9) if you think that you won't have to call a raise.

If you catch a pair on the flop don't be afraid to call down some bets, because you may improve your hand, and you'll be surprised at the junk people will play.

Be aggressive with your betting when you catch a premium hand, either pre-flop, or after the flop.

Figure out very quickly who the aggressive and passive players are at the table, and keep track of the kinds of hands they are playing.

I know that's very basic, and nothing earth shattering, but being relatively new to online poker I'm surprised at how many bad players there are at micro limits. I don't think I'm anything better than average, I just think there are a lot of people out there that don't have the discipline to get away from playing cards they shouldn't play.

Good luck, and I'm curious to see how you think real $ compares to the play $ playing.