Beginner's Luck: Six Basic Mistakes New Players Make

1. Play Only Premium Starting Hands

Premium hands include high pocket pairs (aces, kings, queens, jacks) and high aces (ace-king or ace-queen), preferable of the same suit. If you raise with these hands, regardless of your starting position, you’ll win much more often than you lose. On the flip side of the coin, if you continue to play marginal hands such as middle suited connectors (e.g. 7h8h) or small pocket pairs (e.g. fives or sixes) in hopes of “getting lucky”, then you’ll likely be watching the game from either the rail or the ATM.

2. Raise With the Best Hand

If you continue to play only top-quality hands, be ready to raise and re-raise with those cards. On those rare occasions when you have pocket aces, pocket kings or ace-king suited, you want to get as much money in the pot as possible. While you may take the occasional bad beat, in most cases your aggression with these hands will give your opponents reason to fold their draws. Also, don’t worry about your play becoming “predictable” by solely pushing the action with the best hand. In the starting stages of your poker career, you’re much better off learning how to play strong hands and staying away from bad situations. You can learn about changing gears, semi-bluffing and slowplaying as you gain experience.

3. Don’t Chase Long Shot Draws

When you put more money in a pot in hopes of catching an inside straight or a low flush, you create major drains on your bankroll. You shouldn’t take this to mean that you should never call a bet in hopes of catching a high flush, a nut straight or even an overcard that could give you top pair. However, you should always make sure that you’re getting your money’s worth when you make that call. Don’t spend $100 in an effort to win only $20.

4. Bluffing Doesn't Always Work

So you’ve seen wild, crazy bluffs on TV and watched the smiling thief gather his ill-gotten gains into his chip stacks. While such plays make for exciting television, the footage that shows the slow, steady play and the tough hands against that same opponent often stays on the editing room floor. A big bluff should be like a knockout punch: the quality that makes it so devastating is that you never see it coming. Save those moves for when you can find opponents who’ll fold against a stiff breeze.

5. The Other Side of the Bluff

You bet out with second pair, hoping to push your opponent off the pot. Instead, he comes back at you with a raise for all of your remaining chips. You believe that he has top pair or two pair, so you fold. He flops over his cards, smiling and showing absolutely no hand and no draw. In this situation, you should realize that the mistake wasn’t yours in folding; it was his for showing the bluff. If you pay attention to his movements, expressions and betting patterns during that hand, you’ll be able to pick off his next bluff with ease.

6. Watch Your Opponents; Not the TV

Most amateur players consider any folded hand a dead hand. While they’re watching the football game or talking on their cell phone, you can watch the real action: your opponents. As you can see from the previous example, when you pay a little attention, it can repay you several times over. The perfect time to observe your opponents is when they are unaware of you doing so. You’ll see much more genuine reactions from players that don’t know that they’re being watched than you will from those that feel the eyes of the world (or at least the table) on their every move. Conversely, you should also be aware of your own reactions when you’re in a hand. You should try not to allow your face or body to give you away to the “enemy”.

While this is far from a comprehensive list of perils and pitfalls that await a poker rookie, these few tips should save you some embarrassment as well as a huge portion of your bankroll. Good luck!