Sign In

Part 1 of the Common Mistakes for Beginners

• 31.06.2025 1:23 pm
• Helen
• 0 Comments

The one thing that every poker player should constantly remember is the fact that every mistake you commit at a poker table will always cost you money. You need to learn from your mistakes as a beginner and use it to your advantage. The problem with most beginners is that, they find it very hard to learn from their mistakes.

In most cases, the mistakes made cost the player the pot. You need to remember that you have a good share, even probably half of your stack in every pot you lose. You need to always know this and try as much as possible to learn from mistakes and avoid making them any other time if you want to succeed at poker.

There are also other minor mistakes that don't cost you much and this happens very often. If you have any leaks, you need to be careful as it may sink you eventually. Before you read on, you need to decide on whether you want to spend all your money on bailing yourself out of poker losses or whether you prefer to learn how to avoid making the mistakes in the first place. If you chose the latter, then you can read on.

The hope for coin flips

You are likely to make this mistake if you spend most of your time watching television poker games instead of spending this time learning the facts of the real game. While poker games on TV are entertaining, it is hardly educative on the strategies of play for beginners, and this is especially so if you play cash games.

Players hoping for flip coins strategy is very common on TV poker. This makes you, the viewer imagine that you could use the same tactic to keep yourself in a real poker game.

You need to know that, in real poker, especially cash games, the chances of getting it right when looking for a coin flip at a pre-flop are close to none. What happens is, when an all in bet is thrown to a game and there is a beginner holding A-K, chances are he will call. The logic behind this is normally:

• The player is ahead of all non pair hands
• The player thinks that they are behind AA and KK and that he even has 3 outs to KK
• The player thinks that they are a coin flip to any pair that is below KK

With this kind of reasoning, it only seems wise to make a call at this point. The unfortunate thing for this player is the fact that cash game poker is different from tournament poker. During the late stages in a tournament game, mostly during the last table, most players are usually on the look out for just about any hand that has a showdown value so as to put it all in with a pre flop that may include an ace, plus two of any high cards. In this case, calling on A-K is very easy. This is normally the part most TV poker games show.

During a cash game, the situations are different. There are only exceptions on games where players are on uber-tilt or the players are just tired and want the game to simply end such that the only hands they will push are those of pocket pairs plus A-K with pre flop.

This is to simply say that, unless it is on very rare occasions where it seem relevant, making a call with A-K will put you behind a small pocket pair (55 QQ) a reputable % of the time and also behind AA or KK on every other accession. Hoping for a flip coin in a game is like playing to lose money.

Players overplaying their hands

This is another very common mistake committed by beginners. Most new players will make sure that what they fold is something far from a top pair. This is to say that with a pair of aces, the last thing they would do is fold, as aces is the most valued pair to have.

You need to remember that as you play more poker, you get even more uncomfortable and strong marginal hands. It will affect you more as beginners to flop two bottom pairs than it will a pro poker player. As a beginner, you will be more than excited to flop a hand of two pairs, where as a pro thinks of it as a bet for a sucker.

To understand the reason for this contrast, examine the example below.

With a flop and a hand, a beginner will know that they are part of a vast hand on this flop as soon as they see the hand. With no flush or straight on the board, the beginner will know that they probably have the best hand they will overdo it on this particular board.

With the pro on the other hand, he knows that there are only 3 options for this board, the opponents might have nothing and the pro wins the pot flopping, or, the opponents might be having a pair and more than willing to calling a bet, or, all the opponents have bigger two pairs or sets.

The unfortunate thing is the fact that the pro has no way of knowing whether the beginner is playing overboard a top pair or whether they are simply playing a normal set.

Unless it is during an exceptional situation, if a beginner is holding anything below a straight high end, they always have a small hand and thus shouldn't play a big pot. You should only put in a big part of your stack if you have a monster hand or the nuts.

As a beginner, you can easily avoid these mistakes during a poker game. By doing so, you will enjoy instant profits and eventual increase of your overall yields.