From Relying On Coin Flips To Playing Too Many Hands To Risky Draws: Mistakes To Avoid For Beginner Poker Players | The Fan Carpet Ltd • The Fan Carpet: The RED Carpet for FANS • The Fan Carpet: Fansites Network • The Fan Carpet: Slate • The Fan Carpet: Theatre Spotlight • The Fan Carpet: Arena • The Fan Carpet: International

From Relying On Coin Flips To Playing Too Many Hands To Risky Draws: Mistakes To Avoid For Beginner Poker Players


06 January 2022

As a beginner, it is inevitable that you will make mistakes—many of them, in fact—in poker. What is important is that you learn from these mistakes. Unfortunately, when the mistakes only cost players a small spot, they may not treat their mistakes with the gravity it deserves, or may not even notice their mistake at all. Though such mistakes by themselves only result in minor losses, they also happen more frequently than severe mistakes that cost you your whole stack. Over time, such minor mistakes accumulate and may even cost you more than severe mistakes. It is important to remember that every mistake in poker, no matter how seemingly significant, will result in a financial loss. Instead of scrambling to fix your blunders as they occur, it is best to identify and fix these mistakes. 

 

 

Relying on coin flips 

Coin flips should almost never be used pre-flop as it will only lead to money being lost. Coin flips are commonly seen in TV poker or tournaments at one of the bigger poker sites in the world. In tournaments, coin flips are called by players in the final table or similarly late stages. These players are looking for a card to extend their tournament life or go all-in pre-flop. This makes A-K an easy call as the cards include any two high cards and an ace. However, the same is not true for cash games. In a cash game, players with only pocket pairs and A-K will call for a coin flip. Otherwise, they may just be rushing to end the game and go home. In such cases, you will only have a very small chance of being a chop when you call with A-K, a more significant chance of being slightly behind a small pocket pair like 55-QQ, and the most chance of being behind a KK or AA. 

Playing too many hands 

Many beginners make the common mistake of overplaying their hands. They usually refuse to fold any card that is a top pair. This is especially true for aces, which are the highest pair in poker. Experienced players are less comfortable with marginal strength hands. A good strategy would be to avoid playing with a large pot in most scenarios, especially if you only have a marginal hand. The expectation is when you have an extremely strong hand such as a monster or even a  nut hand, which is the strongest hand. Only then can you play with as large a pot as you dare. 

 

 

Risky draws

When you draw on a dangerous board, hitting may become your worst-case scenario. Hitting a draw refers to a flush draw or a straight draw. Players usually put money into the pot, be it their whole stack or a fraction of it, when they hit a draw. 

For example, hitting a flush on a paired board may cause you to draw dead and chuck off your stack even when you get a good card. When you hit a flush, a full house is very attainable for any player who invested heavily in the pot. If you are down to your second-best hand when you hit the draw, you should keep the pot as small as you can to minimize the risk of losing. 

Scared money

Playing on scared money means the player cannot or is unwilling to lose any money they have in play. This fear can easily be taken advantage of by experienced players. To win, you must be able to endure financial losses — both the material and emotional aspects. You will need the mental fortitude to call an all-in on yourself, put your opponents all-in, lose a money bubble, and more without batting an eye. Only then will you be good at no-limit poker. Though the prospect of making money is enticing, it should not be your only goal for playing. Money should just be a convenient metric to keep score. Instead, aim to play a high-quality game that is both a challenge and a learning experience. Playing within your limits, both financially and skills-wise, will help you avoid paying on scared money and ensure that you are in the correct mindset for a good game.  

Bet sizing 

There are two aspects to bet sizing. Most beginners will only consider the first, which is to have a small bet size to ensure that their opponents call their bet. However, beginners often neglect the other aspect of bet sizing, which is ensuring that your bet size is large enough to decrease the chances of your opponents drawing a better hand. 

On the other hand, the bet size should not be logically large. The larger your bet size, the less value you extract from it. Even if you successfully protect your hand, it is not worth much when you extract the bare minimum of its value. Raising over 9.5 times the pot hardly ever goes well, even if you have a really good hand.

If you have pocket aces, you could be ahead by up to an 8-1 margin. In this case, your bet size should fall under the sweet spot of being large enough to maximize their mistakes, while still being small enough that they call. Do not move all in first. Instead, make your opponent think you are bluffing, as they will call your re-raise and move all-in after you. 

Additionally, your bets should not be overly transparent and reveal your hand to other players. When that happens, your opponents are less likely to make mistakes, which in turn decreases your chances of making money. 

 

 

Conclusion

Making seemingly minor mistakes in poker will usually result in a small decrease in your stack each time they occur. However, these mistakes can add up over time and cause you to lose a significant amount of money, sometimes without even you realizing it. Though these minor mistakes may not be as devastating as major blunders that cost you your whole stack, it is still beneficial to be able to identify and correct them. Getting rid of these mistakes will not only make you a better poker player but also save you from the headache of a self-inflicted bad game. 

No Comment

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


CAPTCHA Image
Reload Image