5 rookie mistakes

[rlg476]

5 Rookie Mistakes

Playing to many hands – you’ve got to be selective when playing poker. The old saying may go “you can’t win if you don’t play,” but it’s also true that you can’t lose what you don’t put in the pot. Playing mediocre hands that lose most of the time when up against premium hands will destroy your chip stack. By playing too many hands, you’re tipping the odds in your opponent’s favor.

Playing over your head – If you’re really a beginner, play at a beginner table. Many rookies think they have the game down cold just because they watch the WPT on TV all the time and they cleaned up while playing their poker buddies in the basement. Start out small and if you dominate those levels, move up. It will save you lots of money if you play below your level instead of over it.

Too much bluffing – This is another rookie symptom brought on by watching too much poker on TV. You’re not a poker pro yet, so don’t think you can act like one. Throwing in the occasional bluff is fine, but don’t fall in love with trying to dupe the table, or the players who know what they’re doing will fleece you.

Playing distracted – If you’re going to play poker then play poker. Don’t listen to your favorite tunes while watching TV and catching up on some of that work you missed while slacking off at the office. If you’re not totally focused on the game, you’ll make that one big mistake that sucks you dry.

Falling in love with your hand – Rookies who get monster hands tend to play them out no matter what happens. When they do pull in a monster hand and it gets beat, that usually means a lot of chips just went to their opponent. Remember, no matter how good your hand is, it is beatable, so don’t be afraid to fold if you know you’re beat.

[bowlaman]

I was not so long ago a dumb rookie who would win big and think that I shoul;d just jump the ladder. I know know where I make my money and where to play if I expect to win. I do move around alittle. Say if I friend wants to play a $100 tournament I will play for the entertainment value. I find the $24 tournaments and the $.25-.50 and .5-1 tables are where I am matched up against players I can come out ahead of in the long run. I do also dive into a $1-2 game every once in awhile but I would only play one table instead of playing 4-6. I find that the higher I go in stakes the more I have to copncentrate. Do what your comfortable with. If you ever think. "hmmm can I afford to risk that." Then the automatic answer is NO. If there is any doubt then move down. Its still just as fun to play poker even at lower levels. And you gotta remember. Even if you move down to .05-.1 its still better than fake chips right. So protect your roll until you get your training wheels off and are ready to become a regular online amature or pro.

[liladypokerpro]

Very nice post. I especially like the last part. So many people tend to have a "favorite" hand but don't realize how dangerous this can be, because having a favorite hand keeps you from having the sense to fold it when you need to. If anyone ever asks me if I have a favorite hand, I'll say: "Yes - a winning one."

[Alex3733]

Thank you, although I'm not a beginner, it is very good advice.. I play better at the .01/.02 nl $2 max than other games....lol

[kkirl07]

Great post i am a beginner and that advice has been quiet helpful already...

[AnArkhos]

One very good tip is that if a pot comes checked to you and you are the last to act, never bet unless you have the nuts or you are sure u hold the best hand. (In this case, bet a valuebet that you are sure to get calls to.)

You are prone to check-raising if you bet in this situation.

Never. Only better hands will call you and others will fold, so whats the use?

[irishpkr]

One very good tip is that if a pot comes checked to you and you are the last to act, never bet unless you have the nuts or you are sure u hold the best hand. (In this case, bet a valuebet that you are sure to get calls to.)

You are prone to check-raising if you bet in this situation.

Never. Only better hands will call you and others will fold, so whats the use?

Wrong and too general

[HDContracting]

Thank you so muck! That is the best advice that i have yet read.

[AnArkhos]

Wrong and too general

Howcome too general? It's pretty specific to me. In a situation where u are not sure u have the best hand, it's a very costly mistake to bet from the button if everyone check it to u.

I don't see your critisisms point. Could u clarify?

[irishpkr]

Basically what you are saying is 'never bluff, only bet when we're 99% sure to be ahead'. The preflop raiser checks to me on the flop, what am I just meant to check behind EVERY time!? Clearly this is crazy.

"Never. Only better hands will call you and others will fold, so whats the use?"

How can you say that only better hands will call when you don't even state what hand WE hold?!

Idea is to bet to get folds when you think your opponent missed and will fold a better hand, or to bet when you think opponent will call, and you hold the best hand, depending on what you hold, you have a different aim.

[AnArkhos]

No actually.

What I meant is that if you bluff, why not do it on TURN instead of the typical river bet that gets called as ppl very often suspect the river hit to be a bluff..

[irishpkr]

Except that not once did you mention the flop, turn OR river at any point. Sorry I'm not psychic

[Wyte22]

One rookie mistake that is left off ....can crush their profit if they ever want to move up. Shifting gears. If you play one style forever, your becoming somewhat predictable (You can't get a read on maniac's cards because he/she doesn't even look at them, just raises!). If you play super tight, and you raise, people see thru it. If you play super aggressive, you will be put into alot of akward margainal situations where you are risking a majority or all of your stack on a hand that is very likely the underdog! Find good times to switch gears, and do it unpredictably, is one of the keys (in my opinion) to maintaining a steady profit per hour playing poker.

I am just speaking from experience and you need to adjust your game for the table and not have a generic plan for playing because generic plays don't compensate for every sort of personality that you experience at the poker table!

[AnArkhos]

I didn't mention never bluff either.

I made the comment very (too) shortly and didnt explain myself well enough.

People bluff too much, specially in the low limit tables and that costs them alot, btw.

I don't believe in bluffing bad players as they are not likely to fold anyway. Just plain and basic abc poker is the best option. When you have started to make your opponents respect your bets, you should start using bluffs every now and then.

A lot of rookies bluff way too much as they really think it is one of the most used tricks in poker.

Bluffs should be carefully planned and executed, and reserved only for players that are good enough to fold at times.

On the river one might want to buy the pot, of course. I'm not saying you shouldn't do that but there is also situations for that. When the pot is fairly small and no one has shown any intrest in it, it's very right to buy the pot from position, of course.

But as I said, the best street for bluffs is the turn..

[HDContracting]

My opinion on bluffing. I think its best to bluff either after turn or the river.

[steveo2003]

thankyou for all the advice. Did notice acouple of things I tend to do.

[rlg476]

I am just glad I could help so many people

[Fictive]

One very good tip is that if a pot comes checked to you and you are the last to act, never bet unless you have the nuts or you are sure u hold the best hand. (In this case, bet a valuebet that you are sure to get calls to.)

You are prone to check-raising if you bet in this situation.

Never. Only better hands will call you and others will fold, so whats the use?

Well ,the use would be to buy the pot there. If it seems safe, for example no flush or straight draws and only one paint card, if it gets checked all the way to you, very often you win the pot by betting. Works very well, not to mention betting on the come to build a little bigger pot. Check-raising naturally happens, but at least in my case clearly more often than not it's a good way to win a pot.

[stewartt22]

Fold your hand in the small blind to raises and calls even if you think it's a steal, most of my losing play has been in this position trying to defend my blind with a marginal hand and I've been thumped - (67s - JTs) nice hands in position and the correct odds - dump them in the SB to a raise!!

[Clearwheezy]

I feel there is nothing worse than not knowing where you are at. People get excited to see an A with rags. That's just silly, because even if you get that paired ace, there's always that very real possibility someone else has a higher kicker. (Take it from the one who had to lose a lot of money to make that realization)