All low stakes poker players start playing online poker with big leaks in their game which you see beginners always making. Obviously, they are unaware they are making these mistakes. If you are doing any of the things mentioned in this article, you’ll want to make sure you plug up the leaks, otherwise it can have a devastating impact on your win rate. Even if the mistake isn’t too big, over the course of your career these mistakes will prove to be very costly.
So, take notice, this could possibly be the best beginner poker article you have ever read. Most low stakes players are making pretty much all of these mistakes.
Failing to consider the pot odds
Pot odds are a very important thing to consider when making decisions in poker. The amount of a call or raise compared to the size of the pot are pot odds. You need to compare your odds to the pot odds to know whether it’s profitable to make a call. It’s not complicated math, pot odds are something every poker player can understand. In the heat of the moment during a game, it is a calculation that some players seem to struggle with, though.
Weaker players are always making huge mistakes when making calls, especially on the turn, even though they’re getting terrible pot odds to make the call with their draw. It’s a losing play that is costing them a lot of money, but they’re just focused on trying to get lucky. Too many players overestimate implied odds on future streets when they hit their draws. Considering the pot odds when calling will maximize your wins and minimize your losses.
Not playing position well
When the action is on you it is important to consider your table position. If you’re not playing position well it can really cost you a lot of money in the long run. When there has been a raise and you in the blinds with a not so good hand, it’s a terrible spot, because you have a crappy hand, and will have to play the hand out of position for the rest of the hand. But all too often you see weak players defending their blinds because they have chips already invested into the pot. This puts you at a disadvantage because you have to act first on the flop and later streets.
Playing too many hands
Playing too many starting hands is only going to get you into trouble. There will be many situations where you either need to bluff or get lucky, which inevitably ends up pretty badly because you spew chips making bad bluffs.
When you play so many hands you’ll often be dominated, so even when you flop top pair, you have no idea where you are at in the hand. Inexperienced players lack a great deal of post flop experience, and by playing fewer hands, you’ll reduce the number of tough spots that you will find yourself in after the flop.
Pay attention to your table image
As you progress through the micro stakes games on the net, the more you will need to pay attention to your table image at any given time. Weak players will have no regard for how other players perceive their play, continuing to bluff at pots, even though the other players believe them to be a loose player and a bluffer. And then they wonder why they their bluffs keep getting called. Always know your table image, so that you can exploit it to your advantage.
Bluffing at the wrong time against the wrong player
Bluffing successfully takes practice and skill. Timing is everything when bluffing, but you see weak players try bluffs at really bad times, simply because they want to win the pot, with no thought as to whether the bluff will be successful. I don’t recommend doing it unless you sense weakness in the other players. It can be a little trickier sensing weakness when playing poker online. If you bluff a lot, it can quickly become spew, which is going to cost you a lot of chips.
Slow playing all the time
You see amateur players do this all the time. They will get tricky with AA/KK in an attempt to deceive their opponents into thinking their weak. You also see them attempt the slow play after the flop when they make a big hand, but one that is vulnerable when draws are out there.
Allowing the other players involved in the hand to see the next card for nothing when they are on a draw is obviously a huge mistake and one you see lots of weak players make as they have a tendency to try and trap players when they have a big hand.