As a poker player our goal is to make the least amount of mistakes as possible at the poker tables because this often equates to making money which is what we’re all trying to do. If you’re a new poker player then there is no doubt that you’re most likely making more mistakes then players with some experience, but nonetheless every single player will make mistakes at the poker table.
A lot of times players will make mistakes when they are either not focused or on tilt from a previous hand that they just lost. The worst thing you can do is allow yourself to make mistakes because of your emotions on the table and it will also be a hard loss to swallow because it could have been easily avoided. It’s important that when you play Texas Holdem your mind is clear and you’re focused on winning. Once you have the right mindset then you should make sure you don’t make any of the mistakes listed below.
- One mistake a lot of players will make is that they will overvalue certain hands in situations when they feel it’s time to double up. When you see someone push their chips in the pot a lot of players will want to put their money in for the chance to double up and often they will call with a marginal hand. Most players won’t be going all-in with a marginal hand so don’t overvalue your hands because losing all your chips trying to double up doesn’t feel good.
- You need to really play your position when you’re playing cash games in Holdem because you can’t afford to be giving away money. In early position you can’t flat call with the some variety of hands that you would in late position. If you aren’t willing to call a raise then you shouldn’t flat call in early position because if someone after you raises you’ll be throwing away your money.
- Make sure you learn how to calculate pot odds, but also make sure that you calculate the pot odds in every hand you’re playing. If you’re confronted with a big call then you need to find out whether you’re getting enough value to make the call or not. A lot of players don’t consider the pot odds when they are chasing flushes and straights and they often lose a lot of chips chasing cards when they shouldn’t be.
- You need to realize when you can bluff and when you can’t bluff because if you can’t then you’re going to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar so to speak. If you’re in a hand and you’re facing a big bet then make sure you don’t assume you can bluff the player out of the pot for his money. You need to see how much of his stack he bet first to see if he is pot committed. If he isn’t then you need to see how much of the pot he bet. If he bet over the pot then he definitely is most likely bluffing so you might get away with re-raising. Remember though if the player is committed then the bet could have been made to fish someone into the pot. If it’s the large stack pushing the action then typically there will be a better chance the big stack is bluffing and trying to steal the pot.