Poker Tips - Top Ten Mistakes
Without trying to sound unduly negative, when it comes down to it, poker is all about mistakes. If you induce mistakes from others, and avoid making mistakes of your own, you will win. In the long run, you don't make money because you win or lose pots, you win money by making fewer mistakes than your opponents. If nobody made mistakes, or all players made the same number and type of mistakes, all players would break even. Eventually the luck evens out, and the only thing left to distinguish players is the correctness of their decisions.
It's a difficult concept to understand and absorb because, as players, we're all so obsessed with winning money (or losing it). But you need to see winning as a long-term goal that you will achieve automatically if you make the right decisions, and minimise your mistakes. On a day-to-day basis you should just try to concentrate on making the right decisions and not worry too much about the money.
With that in mind, we'll round up our discussion of strategy with a list of the top ten mistakes made by weak or inexperienced players. If you want to become a good poker player, make sure you eliminate these from your game.
- Don't play too many starting hands. Keep your game tight. If you get bored folding all the time, then concentrate more on learning about your opponents or, if you're online, play multiple tables simultaneously.
- Don't draw without the proper odds. Don't call big bets with third-rate draws to straights or flushes. That's for losers!
- Don't call big bets on the river with marginal hands. That can be very expensive, unless you have specific reason to think your opponent is bluffing.
- Don't be too passive. Don't give free or cheap cards because you're scared to bet. Even if you're not sure you're in the lead, it is often right to bet anyway. If you're worried about being outdrawn, you should be more inclined to bet, not less.
- Don't slowplay without sufficient strength. Don't mistakenly think your good hands are invulnerable. Don't slowplay big pairs pre-flop. Don't give your opponents free or cheap cards unless you're confident you won't be outdrawn, and that you'll earn more money by doing so.
- Don't bluff too much. You want your opponents to fold to your bluffs, so bluff relatively rarely but make it convincing when you do.
- Don't forget to change gears. Playing the same way all the time makes it easier for your opponents to read you. Make sure you loosen up in games or hands with fewer opponents.
- Don't ignore position. It's almost more important than your cards.
- Don't ignore your opponents. Make it your mission to watch and categorise their every move.
- Don't play at too high stakes, or in games you can't beat. That's the easiest and quickest way to lose money.
