For every 1 poker outing I bring money home, I usually do 2 that I lose. So a 1:2 ratio is about where I'm at. I usually play no limit Texas hold 'em, unlimited buy backs, .50 and 1.00 blinds, no antes. I got tired with "friendly games because at the end of a 6 hour game I'd only be up 75% - 100% of what I started out with (usually $20).
With no limit, I can go up 4 - 5 times what I started out with, and actually make decent money. I don't have a problem check, raise, re-raising to their entire stack if it means getting them out of the game and their chips in front of me. This is what some people call "bullying", but bullying is what brings the $$ home. Also, the odds of winning hands increase with less players at the board, because the likelyhood of someone else holding a better hand decreases.
I'd recommend watching 'Poker for Dummies', I borrowed it from the library and it helped alot in reading "tells", both conscious and subconscious ones. (Jittery hands, reaction times, how a player flips the chips out, how fast they call, how to spot a pot stealer, what a player who looks around the room very uninterested means, etc.)