These apply to both pros and novices alike!
Think Player, Don’t Play Every Hand, Fold More Often
Playing too many hands is a common mistake. When you’re just starting out, you really want to Play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren’t actually good. Playing more doesn’t mean winning more, actually more times than not it means losing more. If you find that you are staying in half or more the hands which you’re dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.
Never Play Past One Drink
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone, watching them get plastered and throw away their entire stack of chips. I won’t lie, it’s happened to me too. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after two drinks, it may lead you to a looser playing style and then you’re a loser.
Don’t Bluff Just For The Hell Of It
A lot of beginner’s understand that bluffing is a key part of poker, but they don’t exactly ‘get it’. There’s is no rule that one must bluff a certain amount, or at all during a game, but many players don’t feel like they’ve won unless they’ve tried to. Bluffs only work in certain situations and against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It’s better never to bluff than to bluff “just for the hell of it.”
Don’t Stay in a Hand Just Because You’re Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think, “Well, I’ve already put that much in the pot, I HAVE to stay in now.” You can’t win a pot just by throwing money at it. That’s stupid. There are cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you’re sure you’re beaten, and there’s no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold immediately. The money you’ve already put in the pot isn’t yours anymore, and you can’t get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.
Watch Your Emotions
When you play poker, you shouldn’t do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day, though it CAN sometimes be therapeutic. If you start out on tilt you won’t play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up and take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood and take advantage of it like a pack of wolves on a corpse. A mad player is a bad player.
Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table
When you first start playing, it’s enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you’ve got that down, it’s very important to look at what’s going on at the table. In Texas Hold’em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what’s showing and what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.
Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even if you’re not actually in the hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, while another has a poker tell when he bluffs, and a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can utilize that information to help you decide how to play against them.
