The Top Six Poker Mistakes
Ever wondered where you're going wrong with your poker? We reveal the six most common mistakes you may be making.
Not Considering Opponents Hands
Poker is a game of 'relative' strength. The strength of your hand is not as important as how strong your hand is in relation to other people's hands. We're all guilty of it, you get dealt two Kings and don't consider the possibility that your opponent could have pocket Aces. As you raise and your opponent calls, you are more concerned with how much you can gain from them without scaring them into folding than you are at why they are calling every raise.
Breaking through this is of paramount importance to becoming a winning poker player. Think about your opponents' playing styles and consider what hands they might be holding. We're not saying never raise unless you have a straight flush or always presume your opponent has the greatest possible hand but always consider it. Also, as obvious as it sounds, remember that if there is more than one opponent calling your raises your hand will have to beat more than one hand. Although the pot will be increased, so will the chance of your cards being beaten.
Not Tackling The Statistics
OK, statistics are boring, everyone knows that, but it is important to analyse your game in order to improve it. Good players generally do not perform universally well across all games and all locations. People generally do much better at certain games, limits and poker rooms. Keeping track of your statistics can help you focus on games that have a higher expected value for you, track your earnings or suggest poor areas of your game that need to be improved.
Tackling your statistics for flops seen, hands won etc. is of equal importance and easy to do at all online poker rooms. If you are seeing the flop on 80% of your hands, for example, you might be calling a few too many blinds!
Moving Up Limits To Escape Bad Beats
Perhaps strangely, this is one of the commonest mistakes in poker. People get fed up with bad beats entailed with playing lower limits, so they play higher limits, thinking it will somehow help them win. There are three problems with this; you're paying more to play and can therefore potentially lose more money, you will most likely be playing better players than at lower limits and finally, sometimes bad beats just happen. You may have pocket Aces, get an Ace on the flop and then be beaten on the river by someone who has been chasing a flush with 3 and 5, it is annoying but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you were right to play the hand and despite the outcome, favourite to win it.
If you are losing because of bad luck it should even out over time.
Playing Too Predictably
This is more of a problem for No Limit players than Limit players. Even at lower stakes tables, you are bound to be at the same table as a couple of decent players. If you always bet in the same way, these players will start to pick up on your betting patterns. Try to mix up your style to throw people off and vary which tables you play on to vary your opponents. It is also worth noting in an online opponents player notes if you recognise a betting pattern. Even if the information does not come in immediately useful every time you play at the same table as them in future you will be able to see the information.
Playing Too Many Multi-Table Tournaments
Multi-table tournaments tend to have a greater luck factor than traditional ring games. Often, there will be more than 300 players competing in a tournament that lasts around six hours. While there is certain skill involve, the luck factor is enormous, and large portions of the prize pool are often dependent on a few coin-flip hands. While tournaments are certainly enjoyable, it is difficult to consistently win money. It is also harder to learn the skills necessary to succeed at poker. Since people who play in tournaments play very few hands post flop, it takes them longer to learn a lot of the finer aspects of the game.
Ring games are available for very low stakes. The players at these games are generally not that good, so it is possible to work on your skills without risking a lot of money. We're not saying don't play tournaments, as they are a fun aspect of the game - just don't focus solely on tournaments.
Playing Too Many Types of Game
There are so many variations of Poker - Limit Hold' Em, No Limit Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo - it can be tempting to try your hand at all of them, particularly if you play tournament games and you are waiting for a tournament to start or have just been knocked out of one type of tournament as another is registering.
However, the old saying 'jack of all trades, master of none' is particularly true when it comes to poker and to really make money and have success you need to focus at excelling in one game before you start dabbling in other areas. By all means try them to figure out which games you are best suited to and most enjoy but then focus on improving at that one poker game.
