Poker – a game of strategy and quick thinking! It tests a player’s mental stability and how calmly he can perform and make wise moves even under pressure. But needless to say, novice players are bound to make a few mistakes, some more than others. One has to cross a long road before acing the game and sitting on the throne of a professional.
And for that, you have to practice more and more and even learn from opponents when you lose a poker game. Once you put efforts into understanding and identifying your mistakes, there is no turning back! You slowly but steadily move forward on the path of learning the intricacies of the game and not make any mistake that might cost you a win.
Rookie errors made over and over again will hold you back from becoming a professional poker player. Therefore, you ought to know about the common mistakes that you should (and could) steer clear of when playing online poker.
What Wrong Moves Are You Commonly Making? And Are There Any Solutions?
Poker is a game of wit and skill where you not only gain from your win but also can capitalize on your opponent’s wrong moves. But as a novice player, it is hard to grasp the nuances, and you might give away all your strategies with a slight shift in the gameplay. This makes it imperative for players to know the poker rules and learn from mistakes so as to not repeat them more than once.
Being self-critical is necessary in poker in order to rightly assess where you are going wrong. Avoiding mistakes is the only way to get past the rookie phase and achieve the professional tag. To avoid falling into the same pattern repeatedly, take a look at the mistakes given below and be careful when the next step seems anything like these:
Playing Too Many Starting Hands
Mathematically, 10 players at a table stand a chance of profiting from 20% of starting hands. According to poker rules, beginning to play with a bad hand means you initiate the game with a negative expected value.
For instance, a player in a late position having a hand like A2o (o stands for offsuited) might cost him a little to see the flop. By now, 2 players are already in the running game. Playing this hand is not at all profitable as the expected winnings are getting smaller. A very lucky player might go on and win this hand, but it is rather rare that he will win the game in the long run.
Therefore, patience is the virtue of winning poker. Impatient players not waiting enough time for a good hand will suffer as the game progresses.
Solution: All you have to do is wait for a profitable hand so that there are better opportunities in the long run. With repeated practice, you will learn how to have a winning hand right from the beginning of the game. Just be patient and wait for the right time to arrive!
Cold Calling with Weak Hands
A cold call in a poker game is when a player calls two bets at the same time before a flop. You wait for the opponent to raise, and just as he does, you make a cold call to see a flop. It is important to remember that cold calls are not raises, so act accordingly.
For instance, you have AQ. If another player has raised before you, he is basically showing that he has a premium hand. Now, the question arises: what are premium hands? KK, AA, QQ, TT, JJ, AK, AQ, and possibly AJ and 99 are premium hands. Your AQ only dominates AJ but is an underdog to the rest.
The probability of a standard pair is lower than a higher pair, and this gives the player a 20% better chance to win. If you raise an AQ, there is a chance of doing well against small pairs, and it might become quite a strong pair. Basically, you get the initiative and gain an advantage later in the game.
Solution: Do not try to overachieve. Look at your hand and think if the cards are strong enough for a cold call. Remember that a cold call requires a stronger hand that would otherwise have sufficed for a normal raise.
Playing Potentially Dominated Hands
Novice players with no prior knowledge of poker rules often seem to be struggling with kickers. There is a tendency to think that you own a good hand in situations where you are playing with a hand like A3o and then hitting an ace on the flop. In such situations, another player will easily beat him with a pair of aces with a higher kicker.
Also known as trap hands, potentially dominated hands are misleading and can result in losses. KT, KJ, QJ, JT, and QT are some examples. You need to get a top pair hand with any of these pairs, and this will result in running into a ‘legitimate’ hand with a better kicker. Those playing from an early or middle position might not benefit from the legitimacy of the trap hands as the risk of domination is too great. A player with dominated hands mostly loses the game.
Solution: It is always better to avoid trap hands. Picture cards like King-Jack may look good but will not yield fruitful results in the long run. Becoming a professional from a rookie requires you to learn not to play KJ.
Not Paying Heed to Opponents
Novice players have the tendency to stick to their preconceived gameplay and ignore the nature of the opponent players. This is a move that will end your poker game even before it begins!
No hand holds an absolute value, and there has to be an existing combination to break the strong hands. Every decision you make must be in accordance with what the opponent player will do next. Remember that poker is about quality and not quantity.
For instance, a shy or passive player making a raise might indicate a sly gamer. On the other hand, a raise from a table maniac or an aggressive player might suggest that he is simply holding two cards and has the mind to bet.
Solution: There is nothing more important than staying alert when playing poker. Make a move only after assessing what that could bring out of the opponent. Notice if the opponent player is playing loose or playing tight or if he has taken a passive or aggressive approach. A lot can be understood by observing the opponent and his actions.
Unfounded Bluffing
It is a common misconception that poker can be won only with bluffing. A good bluff happens only when all opponents are willing to fold. Poker cannot be considered a bluffing contest. As a matter of fact, there is a chance that a professional player who knows the right poker rules will stop giving it to action because he has a good hand.
Solution: A player with a lower limit calls too often; this situation is not very bluffable. Professional players do not even bluff unless it is absolutely needed.
For instance, you raise with AK and have four callers on a T92 flop. In this situation, hardly any bluff will make the opponent fold. The right gameplay here is to wait and let the game take its own course of action. A good solution here will be to make use of big hands for big pots and weaker hands for small pots.
In conclusion
Poker is a game where no one is immune to making mistakes. The only difference between a rookie and a professional player is that the latter makes fewer mistakes and knows how to turn a game in his favor. He learns from his mistakes and evaluates his decisions with every move. But no one learns the right moves right from the beginning; it takes time to learn and unlearn the nuances of the poker game. So, always have an open mind when playing a game of poker and try learning from opponents. The road from being a rookie to a professional might not be smooth initially, but with time, you will learn and emerge victorious!