The first thing you need to do is decide what your stake is. Maybe you are going to Las Vegas for 4 days and your play money is $1,000. If you are smart, you will divide this up equally and only play with $250 per day. If you lose your $250 the first day, stop. Wait until the next. This is probably one of he biggest tests of self-discipline.
The next thing you want to do is avoid blowing your daily wad in one sitting. With your $250, take out $100 and get your chips and start to bet conservatively. You want to stretch out the playing experience and play the ups and downs. Make sure you check out the minimum amount for the table.
Lets say you take your starting $100 and bet $5. You lose the first hand. What do you do next? Many players will double their bet hoping to break even by winning. This is commonly called throwing good money after bad. What you should do is continue to bet the $5 and if you lose 3 or 4 hands in a row, change tables or take a break.
Never send good money after bad.
Now, lets say you win that first $5 bet. The next hand you should increase your bet and make it $10. If you lose, go back to your original $5 bet. If...