Its easy to play, hard to master for big bucks.
I play once a year in a big boys weekend tourney, everyone else plays regularly. I've finished 3rd and 2nd the last two years.
The important tips are:
1) Don't overplay your hand initially. Fold easy, bid hard.
2) Once you have a feel for how the others play, (you'll get it when you closely watch what happens on calls!) you may change strategy. If someone is bluffing or overplaying, you'll see it soon. If everyone else is drinking, keep filling their cups! That makes them both braver and stupider!
3) Don't go all in unless you have an unbeatable hand,(I consider that a high flush, a high full house, or any 4 of a kind{I know, Iknow, they can all be beat, but your odds are very good}) the more players at the table, the more spread the odds are that your hand is the best. I actually won my table with 4 2's when the 2nd flop card was a 2 and I held 2 2's. The river was the last 2. I went all in and beat a full house Ace&Jacks. Talk about pissed!!!!
There are others her who play way more than me, but these are the rules I play by as a raw newbie and I didn't get hurt.
Bill