Top 10 mistakes made by Amatuer poker players
1. Playing too many hands
One of the first lessons in poker is realizing that most of the hands you are dealt must fold. I have met an amateur player who turns to me and says that you have to play the hand that is dealt to you, why fold? I was surprised and soon fixed them. However, there are many beginners who seem to ignore this basic rule.
They will call with an ace out of position, even call a raise with it, play two cards of the same suit or even any picture card. You can get away with playing loose this way in a no-limit hold em game, but you need to have great post-flop skill to pull it off.
Depending on the situation, most of the time you are just looking to play premium hands, such as high pocket pairs and very strong aces. Just double the rest.
2. Don’t fold mediocre hands
After the flop hits, it is very difficult for amateur players to let go of marginal hands. Suppose they hit a medium pair or a top pair with a top kicker, they will find it difficult to lay down. It’s a crazy situation to still be involved in a pot with high pair when there are flush and straight draws on the table and players are betting like there’s no tomorrow. I have seen people play online when they will see their hole cards until the river even though the table has been paired, AND there are 4 flushes on the table AND a straight chance. They just wouldn’t let their top pair go on the flop.
The best hand on the flop may not always be the best hand on the river. Play with caution and don’t be afraid to exit if the stock heats up and you have a marginal hand.
A good way to look at it is to look at the board and think, “What two cards could my opponent have to beat me?” If you can narrow it down to one or no more than two hole card games, you should have enough confidence to keep playing. If you have to say to yourself “I hope I don’t have X, or Y, or Z, or A, or B or C …”, then you should think about retiring. The more card combinations your opponent has that beat your hand, the more likely they are to have one of them. If there are only one or possibly two card combinations that will beat you, continue playing but with caution. Bet or raise to get information on how good your hand is. If they fold, you win the pot, if they raise you, they will probably beat you.
There is no shame in folding. Remember, especially in a tournament, poker scores are based on the player who loses the fewest chips.
3. Bet less than the pot
In no limit texas hold em you can bet as much of your stack as you want to protect your hand. You should use this to your advantage. Weaker inexperienced players, on the other hand, tend to bet small amounts like $ 30 in a $ 500 pot. These types of bets offer good players great pot odds to call and absorb on the river due to the money they can get. win relative to what it costs to see another card. A bet of around 75% of the pot is enough to discourage players in a draw. Any bet below half the pot is usually not enough.
4. Over betting the pot
It’s an easy mistake fans make. They make a decent average hand and adrenaline kicks in and they decide to over-bet the pot by injecting $ 300 into a $ 90 pot, or they move all pre-flop for 1500 in a sit-n-go while the blinds are available. still 15/30. The problem with doing this is that it makes hands weaker than yours, while hands stronger than yours equalize. By constantly betting the pot in excess, you will either win a small pot or lose a large one. It is clearly not the optimal approach to playing poker.
5. Ignore position
Knowledge is power in the game of no limit hold em. The more information you have about the betting round, the better position you are to act on this information. Playing hands under the gun means that if you bet, you could face a massive reraise from a later position. You could check after the flop hoping for a check raise, but instead find the full table after you. If you are playing from a later position, you have the ability to see what the rest of the table is doing before acting.
Amateur players will often ignore position and play a certain set of hands regardless of position. you should only play premium hands in early position, and then broaden your starting hand range the later your position. TJ’s plays poorly from UTG but very well from late position.
6. Not protecting your hand
Many amateur players are guilty of playing too passively. They will simply check or call unless they are 100% sure they have the best hand, in which case they will raise. By not betting, or by not raising, they will make it easier for their opponents to fold from them, who might otherwise have folded. If you find yourself against a strict passive player, raise more often than you normally would and you may find yourself winning a lot of small pots.
7. chasing unprofitable giveaways
Playing a drawing hand will only be as good as the value of the pot you are trying to win. You should always fold if someone makes a bet that they are no longer getting the correct pot odds to call. Amatuer players make the mistake of ignoring these odds and will call until the river in the hope of hitting it. They may not even understand the pot odds or what they are.
As frustrating as it is when cute players like these suck on the river, you have to remember that they are playing bad, unprofitable poker and will end up losing more money than they win. Just make sure you’re in the boat when they lose
8. Incorrect stack management
Amatuer players often neglect their stack size when it comes to playing holdem. If you are playing a cash game, you should always have around 20 big blinds to capitalize on your monster hands. If you’re running short, recharge your battery. There’s no point sticking with £ 50 in a £ 5 / £ 10 cash game just to quads on the flop on the next hand and lose a huge pot. If you are playing a freezeout tournament, you should stop calling preflop when you are between 10 times the big blind (worrying) and 5 times the big blind (critical). There is no other option than to go all-in with any Ace, pocket pair, suited connectors, or any hand under the pistol.
You are looking to have enough chips to maximize your big hands or to stay alive in tourmanet situations. Bad players will call hands when their stack is 5-10 x BB. Good players will push everything. Bad players will not reload their chips in a money game, good players will.
9. Adapting your style
There is a big difference between playing cash games and playing tournaments. In cash games you have to be prepared to put your entire stack on the line when you know that you are going to win more times than you lose, when you have a positive expected value (+ EV). If you lose, you can reload. In a tournament you have to be more protective of your stack, because if he leaves, you are out of the game. There are many other subtle levels, but these are the fundamental differences between the two games. Bad players are those who do not adapt their game accordingly and play tournament strategy in a cash game and cash strategy in a tournament game.
10. Trying to imitate the professionals
The generation of poker players that are emerging today are the ones who were raised to watch it on television. People have their favorite poker players who have seen them bluff and talk the way they talk. The Amatuer players seem to mimic these actions to appear more professional. What they don’t realize, however, is that on television they are only watching the edited highlights. Not all hands are a monster raise, a trap, or a bluff; in fact, most of the time it is a player who raises with a genuine hand and everyone else folds. Unfortunately, this is the least interesting side of poker, but (it should) account for a large majority of your game.
We have a generic nickname for these types of players at the table. The ones who come with the sunglasses, the cap, the iPod, talking about how other players should have played their hands, talking nonsense. The nickname given is “The whole team, no idea”. Make sure you can spot these players if they are at your table, and more importantly, make sure you are not one of them yourself!