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The 5 Most Common Beginner Mistakes in Poker

Every mistake you make at a poker table costs you money.

Unfortunately for most poker beginners, it's hard to learn from those mistakes -- unless it costs you your entire stack.

More often than not mistakes you make will cost you a small pot. Your contribution to that lost pot may only have been a fraction of your total stack.

In such a case many beginners fail to take the lost pot into account and neglect to evaluate the magnitude of their mistakes. Those kinds of mistakes, although less costly than stack-losing blunders, happen more frequently which means they're actually more expensive in the long run.

The choices you make at the table are the raft on which you float. Any leak, no matter how small, will eventually start to sink you. 

You can spend all of your time furiously bailing yourself out, or you can take the time now to fix the leaks once and for all.

5) Hoping for Coin Flips

WSOP Chips3
Flips don't help.

This leak typically stems from players watching too much poker on TV and not spending enough time studying the real game. TV poker, though entertaining, is rarely a good way to learn solid strategic play as a beginner -- especially if you're trying to play cash games.

A constant occurrence in TV tournament poker is players searching for coin flips. The viewers are bombarded with the sight of players excitedly taking coin flips in a desperate attempt to prolong their tournament life.

In cash-game poker it's almost never correct to search for a pre-flop coin flip. Often, when faced with an all-in bet, a beginner player holding A-K will make the call under the logic:

  • I'm ahead of any nonpair hands
  • I'm a coin flip to any pair below KK
  • I'm only behind KK and AA, and I even have three outs to KK

With this rationale it seems like a good idea to make the call here. Unfortunately for these beginners, cash-game poker is unlike tournament poker.

In the late stages of a tournament, especially the final table (which is what makes up the vast majority of all TV poker), players are often looking for a hand with any showdown value to put it all-in with pre-flop.

This can include any ace and any two high cards, making A-K a very easy call in this situation.

In a cash game it's a very different situation. Other than in rare occurrences of players being on uber-tilt, or just wanting to go home, the only hands players will push with pre-flop will almost exclusively be made up of pocket pairs and A-K.

This means other than in these rare scenarios calling with A-K puts you at being a chop a very small percentage of the time, slightly behind a small pocket pair (55-QQ) a decent percentage of the time, and behind KK or AA the rest of the time.

It's a money-losing play to "hope" for a coin flip pre-flop in a cash game.

Related Reading:

4) Overplaying Hands

Chips bom 3317

Another common mistake made by beginners is overplaying their hands. Watch players who are very new to the game and many of them will never fold anything equal to or better than top pair.

If they have a pair of aces they won't even think of folding since aces are the highest pair you can have.

The more poker you play the less comfortable you will get with marginal strength hands. The contrast between the emotional affect of a beginner flopping bottom two pair and that of a pro flopping bottom two is night and day.

A beginner gets filled with glee flopping a hand as big as two pair, while the pro understands it's a sucker's bet. Here's an example of why this contrast exists:

Flop: 8 spades 8 9 diamonds 9 K clubs K

Hand: 9 clubs 9 8 clubs 8

The beginner sees this hand and knows that they have a huge hand on this flop. There is no straight or flush on the board, meaning chances are they have the best hand. Beginners will be willing to go to town on this board.

The professional sees the same board and understands that there are only three options: His opponents have nothing, and he wins the pot on the flop, little more than the blinds; his opponents have one pair, and might be willing to call a single bet; or his opponents have a set, or a bigger two pair.

The professional knows that they will win a small pot or anyone willing to put money into this pot is likely to have them beat.

The only hand the professional can make money off of is a top pair, big kicker scenario, where the player with that hand overplays it themselves. Unfortunately it's not possible for the professional to know if the player is overplaying a top pair or playing a set normally. 

Other than the occasional exception, if you have anything less than the high end of the straight you have a marginal hand and should not be looking to play a very large pot. Only when you have the nuts or an absolute monster should you be looking to chunk your stack and stuff the pot to the gills.

Related Reading:

3) Drawing on Dangerous Boards

Chip Stacks at Dinner Break in 50K

When you play a drawing hand, you're playing to hit your draw and stuff the pot when you do. You don't play a drawing hand to hit and check.

Once you hit your draw (flush draw or straight draw) you're committed to putting money into the pot. This money will be anywhere from a small amount to your whole stack.

When you pay for a draw on a dangerous board, sometimes hitting is the worst thing that can happen to you. The simplest example of this is drawing to a flush on a paired board.

Once you hit your flush, anyone willing to put big money into the pot has a very decent chance of having a full house. There is nothing worse than paying to draw dead and chunking off your stack when you think you just hit a good card.

When there is a real chance that hitting your draw will leave you with the second-best hand, you want to keep the pot as small as you can. Unless you can somehow get a read that your hand is best, you never want to assume or hope.

Related Reading:

2) Playing on Scared Money

1977 Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson says "The key to No-Limit ... is to put a man to a decision for all his chips." In other words, you have to be willing to put your opponents all-in, and make an all-in call yourself at any time.

Many beginners are playing poker on a short roll, or without a roll altogether. Because of this, these players are playing under the knowledge that they simply cannot afford to lose the money they have in play.

This is known as playing on scared money. If you're unable and unwilling to risk your entire stack, your opponents will use that fear to run over you.

To play poker successfully, you have to disassociate the money in play with the money in your checking account. Losing a full buy-in at a No-Limit table should be no more difficult to you than buying a hamburger.

Obviously you would have preferred not to have spent the money, but you got to do what you got to do.

Until you're truly able to disconnect from the money you need to put in to play, it's not possible to play No-Limit poker correctly. Play games within your roll, and go into the game with the correct mind-set to play proper poker.

Remember, making money is a byproduct of winning at the game.

You do not go to a poker table with the intent of making money; you go with the intent of playing a high-quality game. Money is just the way players keep score.

Related Reading:

1) Illogical (or Obvious) Bet Sizing

Chips

If the bets you make give your opponent an obvious picture of the hand you're holding, then your opponents will never make any mistakes. If your opponents are never making mistakes, you're not going to be making any money.

Lots of beginners will think of only one aspect of betting, ignoring all the others. As a result, their bet sizing becomes a detriment rather than an asset.

Imagine if you have a decent hand, such as two pair on the flop. You're first to act and have to decide how much to bet. Lots of beginners will only think of the first aspect of bet sizing.

"I want my opponents to call my bet so I can make money on the hand, so I should make a bet small enough to make sure they call me."

You bet $10 into a $60 pot. You successfully completed your single objective but now you're giving all your opponents 7-1 odds (or better once other players make calls in the hand) to draw against you. In reality your bet size has to be small enough to get a call yet large enough that you cut down the pot odds to anyone drawing to a hand better than yours.

Another example of this is a beginner with a strong hand will make a bet to protect that hand, but size it so irrationally large that they will never make any money on the hand. A common scenario:

$1/$2 game; beginner player is dealt pocket aces in the big blind. One player limps, a second player raises to $10 and everyone folds to the beginner; the beginner moves all-in for $145.

There is $15 in the pot, and he just raised to $145. It is almost never a good idea to raise over 9.5 times the pot. Yes, he protected his hand and won the pot, but he extracted the absolute minimum amount of value from it.

Anytime you play a hand in a way that extracts less value than possible, you make a mistake and lose money. With pocket aces your opponent is a serious dog to your hand. You could possibly be ahead by a margin of as large as 8-1.

This means you want your opponent to call your re-raise. You want to make a raise small enough for them to call, yet large enough to maximize their mistake. If all goes well your opponent will think you're bluffing and move all-in after you. If you move all-in first, chances are that will never happen.

You need to size your bets in a way that maximizes the mistakes of your opponents.

Related Reading:

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Selina Bond
2016-01-06 01:16:06

It is necessary for the player to know the basic rules and strategy of the online poker dealer while playing online. If players have a proper knowledge of how to flip the coin and how to play the big hands on the table then they easily win the game.

rosie
2014-08-06 21:59:47

Playing two people end up with a J and a J is on the table. How are the five cards counted? One has J 7 the other has J 4 the table has J A 3 9 5

Chris
2010-03-08 22:12:21

Poker is a game of odds. A good poker player takes in the current table situation. His hand, the board, his opponents playing style, and makes an educated guess and chooses the action that has the best odds to win.

There are times when I will get it all in with bottom set, and times when I will fold top set. It all depends on the table conditions at that exact decision moment.

Generally a set will win the hand when you are up against a weak opponent. Get your chips in when you have the best odds of winning, whether that is a pair or a royal flush.

.02c

gonzalo palacios
2009-12-06 10:47:26

great stuff.. i seem to have alot more luck on line than b&m which im going to hit in a an hour or so.. carson casino or bicycle casino.. N E wayz gr8 stuff… im a beginner and i remember loosing recently to a str8 and I had pocket AA. i still have a little trouble counting outs that may also help opponents hand. & then do it on the fly @ a B&M is tuff.

Sean Lind
2009-02-21 21:45:00

Hey Bethovin, it can be easy to make the mistake of skipping the basics when explaining stuff.

What questions do you have, what do you not understand, and what do you wish we would explain more clearly.

I’ll either help you out in the comments here, or write an article (or series of) based on your questions here.

bethovin
2009-02-21 20:49:00

I wish you pro’s would talk plain english and stop skipping and philosphying so much you can not be clearly understood.

Putnam
2009-01-20 02:02:00

Great Article! This could teach some beginners a Lot!

Custom Poker Table
2008-12-29 11:21:00

I guess the most common mistake that a beginner poker player makes is sheer aggressiveness. So never forget to observe, listen and tests the waters with what you have learned. Good luck!

STR8M8
2008-12-24 01:25:00

Keep On Rocking Me Baby!

Sean Lind
2008-12-16 18:50:00

It depends on the board, the best way to describe this is by a quick example:

board 2-8-9-10-3

If you have 67, or even 7J, there is a very good chance that you’re in a world of pain. On this board, unless you have JQ you have a marginal hand. Even a set on this board is not to played into a large pot.

board 2-K-A-9-7

On this board, ea hand like a set of 9’s is a very large hand, and in almost any circumstance would be worth getting it all. When there is no very simple way for a set to be beat, it’s huge. a set of aces in the nuts here, meaning only AA, and KK beat you. The chances of that are small enough that a set is a monster. In the QOD the action and board are so that your set of Jacks are played as a monster. If there was four to a flush on the board, they would be played as an underpair.

kevin
2008-12-16 00:40:00

against decent players on an extremely drawy board, then yes, sets are marginal.

vince
2008-12-15 21:30:00

“…if you have anything less than the high end of the straight, you have a marginal hand, and should not be looking to play a very large pot.”

Really? A set is a marginal hand? Today’s (Dec 15) Question of the Day talks about getting it all-in with set of Jacks, which isn’t even top set (there’s an Ace on the board).

Which is correct?

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