Ten Expensive Poker Mistakes Part 1

Thursday, October 13th., 2005 (By the PokerStrategyKing)

A successful poker player is one who makes the fewest amount of mistakes. This is partially true. What is very true is that successful players do not take enormous losses when they do make a mistake. Small mistakes here and there may be frustrating but huge mistakes can cripple a bankroll. There are however, many smaller scale mistakes that over time can add up to huge losses over time. Identifying and correcting these errors in your game can plus these damaging leaks and keep your bankroll healthy for when you make that big score. Today, I will begin part 1 of a 2 part series on the top ten most expensive mistakes poker players make. There are in no particular order as it is vital to correct all of them. I'll take you through them one-by-one and teach you how to prevent them starting today!

#1: Playing Too Many Hands

I see this all the time. It is an absolute fact that most poker players are too loose with their starting hand selection. This means you should have a distinct advantage over all of them if your opponents are playing hands that don't have much in terms of expected value. However, if you play this way with them, you lose your edge and will surely leak your money away. Listen to me, you've got to stick with premium hands especially when you're at full table. In short-handed games, you can afford to open up a little bit but the more players, the tighter your hands should be. Think about it this way. Say you limp in with bad cards in hopes of hitting something on the flop. But you don't. All those blinds add up. If you do it 25 times over 3 hours, guess what? You just blew 50 bucks without even noticing that. If you do this 4 times a week, that $100 off of your bottom line. At an 8-player table, focus on playing hands like pocket pairs, suited connectors, A-X suited, or two face cards. Leave the junk hands like K-4, 5-8, 6-2, and 10-7 alone. Just fold them pre-flop and save your money for when you actually have something.

Seems easy right? Then why do so many people make this foolish fundamental error? The reason most people play too many hands is because they want action. Who wants to sit there and wait forever until they get good cards? The person who wants to win does. You must be patient. If you're playing good solid poker, you should often be bored. That's right, bored. You just don't get that many playable hands in a given game most of the time. That's a fact.

2: Playing Your Position Wrong

How many times have you been told about the importance of positioning in poker? Well, I'm going to tell you again in case you forgot. Positioning is the single most important factor in this game. When you have good positioning, you get to see what your opponents do before you have to act. This information is key. Based on their behavior and betting, you can make an informed decision about what you want to do. Everyone checks to you? Take a stab and try to steal the pot. A player bets and is raised? Get out of there. It's that simple. Good positioning is also known as late positioning and this simply means you act last on all betting rounds. The mistake most players make is playing the cards without considering their positioning. For instance, the way to play pocket Aces in the big blind is totally different than the way to play it in the dealer position. In late position, you obviously raise, in early position, you can call and then re-raise if someone shows aggression later on. This goes for all starting hands and all positions. Your basic strategy should be to play more starting hands from a later position and do so aggressively.

Your bluffing should also happen when you have good positioning. Why? Because that's when you'll have the most information on the players at the table. In early positioning you want to play FEWER hands because your options are limited.

3: Being Too Predictable

While you play, you should be studying your opponents. You need to realize that your smarter opponents should be studying you as well. What does this mean for your game? Simple, you can not afford to become predictable. When you become predictable you can't win. Period. Why? Because whenever you get good cards, you just won't get any action. When your weak, you will get pushed around. How do you avoid this? Analyze your own game. Identify your betting patterns and change them from time to time. Just mix things up. Bet the same amounts whether you have suited connectors or pocket Aces. Eliminate all the consistencies in your betting and your opponents won't be able to figure you out.

4. Playing The Wrong Stakes

This next statement is going to sound simple enough. The stakes you play in is usually what determines the skill level of the opponents you play against. If you're outmatched, nothing else matters because ultimately you're going to lose and lose big. On the other hand, if you're better than everyone at your current level, then maybe it's time to "step it up a notch. So how do you get it right? Well, playing the right stakes is a delicate balance. To figure it out, you should do so scientifically. Try to calculate your profit per hour. If you see that you are a consistent winner at a certain game try and move up. If you see you're losing, drop down a level. It's that simple.

5: Not Knowing When To Quit

How easy does this one seem on the surface? If you know when to get up from a table it will save you a ton of money over the long term. Whether you've either just won a ton of money or just lost a ton of money its now time to leave. Why? Because in either case, the tendency from that point forward is going to be to lose. You'll either lose your profits or dig yourself in a hole deeper but either way, it's not good for you to stick around. Losing streaks are damaging because they take hold of your mental being and prevents you from coming back. No matter what you try to do, you will continue sinking into the abyss of losing until all of your money is gone. Just go home and live to fight another day. With winning streaks, it's kind of the same thing. When you win, you think you can't lose and there's a tendency to lose it quickly on stupid moves. So remember, if you're winning big or losing big, just stop playing for the day. Go again tomorrow and buy yourself a nice dinner.

Next time, we'll take a look at 5 more leaks you can plug.

Until next time, may the chips fall your way.

(For more poker strategy and tips, please visit the PokerStrategyKing's website at www.pokerstrategyking.com )

(For more poker strategy and tips, please visit the PokerStrategyKing’s website at www.pokerstrategyking.com )