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Poker is a relatively complex game where the strategy and skills of the player are key to success. However, it is easy to make a mistake when playing poker, and that can cost you a lot. Recognizing these and learning how to avoid doing them will help you become a better poker player and improve your chances of winning. Here, we outline the top most common poker mistakes people make, and we explain how to avoid these.
- Recognizing potential poker mistakes is essential for honing a better poker strategy.
- Avoid playing poker when you are emotionally distressed, as emotions may cause you to make costly mistakes.
- Analyze your and your opponent’s playing style to improve your decisions.
- Follow the game dynamic and constantly adapt and adjust your poker strategy.
- Proper bankroll management is one of the most important things when playing poker.
Playing Too Many Hands
Maybe the most obvious mistake poker players, especially beginners, make is to play too many hands. Not every poker hand deserves to be played, so you should be selective when choosing a hand to play. Learning which hands have potential takes time and experience, but as a general rule of thumb, you should be very selective and play only poker hands that have potential. This means that strong pairs, high pairs, suited connectors, and high-suited cards have potential, but medium and low hands should be folded pre-flop.
Also, make sure you practice your poker skills, which you can do by using a poker training app. Additionally, you should learn all you can about poker ranges, especially the Texas Hold ‘em poker ranges, as Texas Hold ‘em is the most famous and most played poker variant.
Overplaying Medium-Strength Hands
The next commonly made mistake by beginner poker players is overplaying medium-strength hands. Medium-strength hands may have potential. Still, this potential is strongly related to community cards, which may mean that a good pair will seem like a potentially good hand, but it may end up being a weak hand on a coordinated board.
To avoid such a mistake, try not to get attached to a hand because it initially seems strong. Instead, be ready to fold if the other players’ actions indicate they have a good hand. To help with this, if you still think you have a chance, then you should try checking or calling instead of raising. You will not invest too much money, but you’ll remain in the game, hoping for a change in fortune in the next round.
As you can see from the table here, the starting hands in dark red are the ones you should fold immediately, as these have the lowest winning potential. The light red and yellow-highlighted starting hands are medium strength hands and have some potential. The light green-highlighted hands have good potential and have a shot at developing into a good hand. As you can note, the dark green-highlighted starting hands have the best winning potential, and these are the starting hands that you should never fold. So, if you have a pair of As, Ks, Qs, Js, Ts or 9s, then you are in a good starting position; even a pair of 8s, 7s, 6s and 5s can have good potential.
Not Applying a Bankroll Management Plan
Proper bankroll management is vital in every casino game, and that goes for poker as well. Players of all experience levels make improper bankroll management mistakes, but beginners are more likely to get carried away and bet more than they can afford. It may mean betting too much or raising too often, so the available budget will melt away very quickly.
To prevent making this mistake, you should have a proper bankroll management plan and set clear limits to the stakes you can make when playing poker. Without one, you risk losing too much money and also not learning how to deal with your money. One example would be to only play with 1 to 2% of your overall bankroll on hand and never raise more than 5%; experienced players may raise about 10% of their overall budget.
Neglecting Positional Advantage
The position you play in each poker round is essential, as the late positions act last and have the best advantage in relation to the early positions. So, as a beginner, you should learn all about the different poker positions and what these mean. When you are in a late position, you can also observe the other players more easily and notice their tells, which can allow you insight into the strength of their hands.
As you can see from the illustration above, the late positions are the ones that make their moves last, which means the player in the cut-off and button position will have already seen the moves of all precious players. The position you play is sometimes more important than the strength of your hand. Some advice from our resident poker expert is to try to:
- play a narrow range of hands when you are in an early position,
- play more suited connectors when you are in the middle position
- play more aggressively when you are in a late position.
Involving Emotions
Emotions have no place at the poker table, and you should try to leave emotions at the door. If you are in emotional distress, you are more likely to make a poor decision that will result in significant losses, which is something beginner players tend to do. Emotional players tend to be angry, overconfident, aggressive, frustrated, and to chase losses.
To avoid the tilt mistake, as emotional play is referenced, we advise you to practice emotional control when you play poker. Some of these may be deep breathing, practicing mindfulness, and patience. Recognizing when you are in emotional distress is the main thing that will help you maintain your control. If you start feeling overly emotional and upset, then we advise you to take a break from playing poker, relax, and calm down.
Making a Move Too Quickly
Making a rash decision when playing poker is a sure way to make a wrong move and mess things up for yourself. Unfortunately, no one is immune to this mistake, and beginners and professionals are known to make it. It often comes when people play poker for a more extended period and tend to make decisions on autopilot.
To avoid this mistake, we recommend you take your time and think about your decision before you make a move. Take a few moments to consider all the information you have available, like your opponent’s actions, the positions, and their poker tells, and base your decision on facts. Try not to call, raise, or fold by default, but consider the poker mathematics and pot odds and make an informed decision.
Not Taking Ranges into Account
The poker ranges are key to a good poker strategy, and if you don’t consider your hand and your opponent’s hands, then you are bound to make a mistake. It is pretty challenging to master this, but if you have aspirations for becoming a professional poker player, then you should take the time and learn about poker hand reading.
Start by assigning a range of likely hands based on the information you know about them, and then slowly reduce the possible combinations as the game progresses. Our experts advise that such practice is much more helpful as it allows you to make more accurate decisions on your subsequent actions.
Not Adjusting to Other Players
Not adjusting to the other players at the table can be a costly mistake to make when playing poker. The poker players are classified into four general poker player types: Tight Aggressive, Loose Aggressive, Tight Passive, and Loose Passive. Each category of poker player comes with their traits, and you should adjust your actions and strategy to match. Knowing and adapting to the other players can be excellent for determining which hands to play and when to increase the bet size.
For example, if there is a Tight Aggressive player on the table, you know that they are playing with a great starting hand, and they tend to bet and raise often. You can see where we are going with this, right? Observe your opponents and change your poker playing style based on the opponents on the table around you.
Over-defending the Blinds
The blinds in poker are the mandatory bets players must place before dealing with the poker hands. Some beginner players may become uncomfortable with simply putting on the blinds and having to fold their hands immediately, so they’ll resort to playing poor hands and end up losing even more.
To avoid this, learn that you need to let go of poor hands when you are in an early position, and when you play in a late position, you can consider raising to steal the blinds. Such a poker strategy to win online is relatively effective when you play against passive players.
Too Much Bluffing
Bluffing is an integral part of poker, but it is most effective when you have plenty of information on which to base your bluffs. Taking advantage of your position and bluff may seem like a viable way to boost your winning chance, but over-bluffing will cost you.
Bluffing excessively can be transparent to more experienced players and may signify that you are covering for a poor hand. The best bluffing in poker is done in moderation, and to be successful, you should time your bluffs and be aggressive when proper, but you should also know when to hold back.
| Poker Mistake | Example | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Playing Too Many Hands | You try to make the best with every poker hand you are dealt | Try to choose only high pairs, strong pairs, suited connectors, and high-suited cards, and fold all other hands pre-flop |
| Overplaying Medium-Strength Hands | You form an attachment to a hand that you think has good potential | Try checking or calling instead of raising to see how the game develops |
| Not Applying a Bankroll Management Plan | You tend to bet more than you can afford, like staking half of your bankroll or going all in on a hand you think has potential | Set clear limits on how much to stake in each round. Try not to raise more than 5% of your overall bankroll |
| Neglecting Positional Advantage | You tend to play a wide range of poker hands when in an early position, or you play aggressively when in an early position | Check your position on the poker table and try to play as safely as possible when in an early position, and you can afford to play aggressively in a late position. |
| Involving emotions | You tend to easily become frustrated and show a lack of control over your emotions and actions | If you start to become emotional, try to relax and take a break from playing poker |
| Making a Move Too Quickly | You make rash decisions when it is your turn or make moves on autopilot | Take a few moments to think about the things you know about your opponents and base every decision on facts. |
| Not Taking Ranges into Account | You tend to forgo your and your opponent’s hand ranges altogether and play based on intuition instead of facts | Learn how to assign poker hand ranges and how to reduce the possible hand combinations your opponents have as the game goes on |
| Not Adjusting to Other Players | You don’t consider your opponent’s skills, but you play as you see fit at the moment | Try to assess the poker player types and adapt the size of your bet and raises based on their playing style. Play the player, not the game. |
| Over-defending the Blinds | You tend to become uncomfortable when placing the blinds and have to fold immediately | Learn to let go of a poor hand in an early position and learn how to steal the blinds in a late position |
| Too Much Bluffing | You tend to bluff excessively, even when you have a very poor hand, in hopes of fooling your opponents | Too much bluffing is a weak move, and it can be costly; try to bluff moderately and always consider your opponent’s skills. Choose the right hand to bluff. |
FAQs
How to Stop Overvaluing My Poker Hands?
To stop overvaluing your poker hands, first stop creating attachments to any given hand. Apply pot control and try to estimate your opponent’s hand ranges, and of course, closely observe their playing style and betting patterns.
Why Is the Position so Important?
The poker playing position is essential, as the players in the early positions play with less information, and players in the later positions get more details of the other players, which is helpful for proper decision-making.
How to Apply Proper Bankroll Management in Poker?
We have a complete guide on proper bankroll management that you can find in our blog. When it comes to poker bankroll management, then space out your budget to have at least 20 buy-ins or cover 20 big blinds. If you play in a poker tournament, then you should have enough to cover the fixed buy-in and cover the increasing limits and blinds.
What Is the Most Common Flop in Poker?
The most common flop in poker is what is known as the rainbow disconnected flop, where the three community cards are in different suits and are of distinct values. It happens about 40% of the time, and it can be tricky to create a sound strategy based on such a flop.
What Hand In Poker Wins Most Often?
While you may think that the royal flush is the common winning hand, the truth is entirely the opposite, as two pairs win the pot over 31% of the time, and the pair is a close second about 27% of the time. The next is the three-of-a-kind, straight and flush.
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