As a beginner at poker there is still much to learn, and learning what things are a mistake comes with experience in the game. However, knowing what things are a mistake before you make them can give you the upper hand as you learn to play and gain more experience as a poker player.
You never stop learning about this game, whether you are playing Texas Hold ‘em online to practice like a rookie, or playing ten play draw poker for real money like a pro.
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What Are The Most Common Mistakes?
There are many mistakes you may make as you learn the game, and that is normal. As you play, you will learn from these mistakes and better yourself as a player. Knowing what these mistakes are can give you a head start, and you can start learning more about the game faster.
So, what are the all-too-common rookie mistakes that are made the most in poker? Let’s take a look.
Don’t Play Too Many Hands
One of the mistakes that most rookies will make as they start playing is feeling obligated to play every hand. You might feel impatient, feel out, or be afraid of looking weak. Any Jack, Queen, King, or Ace will look good if you don’t understand a good starting hand selection.
The issue with playing too many hands is that you will only hit the flop a small amount of the time, and even when you do hit, it will be hard to know if your hand is the best. Know how to play beyond the cards. If you play too many hands, your chips will be gone too soon.
Getting Too Committed To A Hand
Similar to the above, try not to get too attached to your hand. Beginners may feel like poker is a sport and giving up is bad. In poker, giving up can be the best choice, sometimes the best thing you can do is fold. Try not to get emotionally attached to a hand. This may be a pre-flop like a pocket pair, or just making a pair on the flop. Do not stay in a hand just because you do not want to look weak or get bluffed out of a pot. Sometimes being competitive in poker is worse than abandoning a hand.
Do Not Chase
Much like the above, you might stay in a hand in the hope that other cards can improve your hand. This could mean straight and flush draws, or calling bets in order to pair an ace or a second card for two pairs. It is not necessarily wrong, but the biggest mistake made by beginners here is chasing getting improper pot odds in order to do so. You might hit the cards you need, but only if you are chasing with the right odds, if you chase with the wrong odds, you will lose money.
Don’t Give Value To Marginal Hands
As we learn poker, we also learn the types of hands that we can have, and which are best and strongest. What some rookies may do is play a hand that looks good on the surface level, but really does not hold all that much value, or could be easily dominated by another hand. In hold’em, for example, this could include cards, or face cards with low cards such as K3, or Q4. This can also include high hand combos such as A8, KJ, or QT.
These hands are not unplayable, but knowing how to play them comes with the experience of playing for some time. The challenge we face with face cards is that there are not many flops that you can be confident you have the best hand. So, even if you do manage to make a pair in this scenario, you can easily be out-kicked or beaten by an even higher-pocket pair.
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