Rookie Mistakes

This article was posted by "Mischief810" over at the Pokerroom.com blog (Pokah!). I found it a pretty good read (although I don`t agree with all of it). Simple stuff you might say, but most novices make these mistakes over an over again. I know I still do, although less frequently nowadays.

FAILING TO READ THE BOARD

I don`t know if they`re ignoring the board, or just not seeing why someone is betting so heavily with three raggedy clubs out there, but if someone is stacking chips into the pot, there`s a really good chance that you`re looking at a flush. It`s hard to lay down a big pocket pair, but that big pocket pair doesn`t beat a flush no matter how pretty it looks, or how many times you`ve seen that hand turn into a winner on the World Poker Tour.

GIVING OPPONENTS POT ODDS TO CALL

This is also known as "pricing in" your opponent. It involves betting the minimum or raising the minimum bet by the minimum increment when you`ve hit a hand. You don`t have to worry (yet) about implied odds, but if you`ve got at least a big pair and don`t want a drawing hand to beat you on the turn or the river, you must bet a big chunk of the pot. That means no less than one-third to one-half of the pot. This makes calling you a mistake. It doesn`t mean someone won`t do it...

CALLING WHEN THE POT ODDS PRICE YOU OUT

A flush draw has about a one-in-five chance at hitting on the turn or the river (assuming you`re drawing four to the flush). A straight draw has about the same chance. If you`re drawing to a straight, or a flush and the bet to you is more than one-third the pot size, it is a mistake to call. You might still hit your hand and take the pot, and if you like to gamble, go ahead. But understand that you have left the realm of poker and might as well be playing roulette, or placing "hard way" bets on the craps tables.

PUSHING YOUR CHIPS IN BEFORE THE FLOP

I don`t care what Chris Moneymaker says. Pushing your chips in before the flop is asking for trouble. This is especially true when you are well out of the tournament money, and the table you`re playing at is full or almost full. A lot of people will disagree with this advice (including one WSOP champion). On a full (or nearly full) table, the odds are just too good that there is at least one hand out there with the cards that will draw out and beat you. It doesn`t matter what you have in the hole. Sit tight and play big pairs aggressively. CALLING ALL-IN BETS WITH GARBAGE HANDS

People don`t go all in on a bluff in a tournament. They just don`t. If you don`t have a monster chip stack and at least a big pair, don`t call. Throw your hand away, and let some other rookie with a garbage can make the call. One of these two will likely be eliminated, and you`ll be one seat closer to the money.

GAMBLING

Gambling is making a bet with no idea of the outcome. Poker is decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. While gamblers don`t know what`s going to happen next, a poker player has at least some idea. Both the gambler and the poker player face a certain risk, but the poker player`s risk is much lower. Chasing a draw when the pot odds price you out, making large bets on low pairs and hoping to hit a set, calling down to the river with naught but an ace in the hole. These are examples of gambling. They are certainly not the things that any decent poker player does. There not even examples of smart gambling, because for every one of those bets, there is probably a poker player calling them. And what do you think the poker player is making his decisions on? It`s his knowledge of the outcomes, their probabilities, and the expected value of placing a bet.

FAILING TO RESPECT A RAISE ON THE RIVER

A raise on the river almost always means that the raiser has hit their hand with the card that just came off. If you`re betting that your three queens are the best hand and there are three (or four) to a straight showing on the board, you should tread very carefully. This doesn`t mean you should always fold to a raise on the river. It just means that calling the raise requires a very strong hand. Calling that raise with two pair or top pair and top kicker is a very dangerous proposition. Calling it with the nut flush or nut straight is probably a winner.

NOT FINISHING OFF A WOUNDED OPPONENT

Maybe your opponent is a friend of yours. Maybe you feel bad that they just took a nasty bad beat. So, you lighten up a little, and before you know it they`ve crawled up off the floor and are back in contention. This is a huge mistake. If you`re going to evolve past the rookie stage, you have to put your boot on the throat of a wounded opponent, and finish him off. That means playing in pots he plays in, betting aggressively, and making him either fold winning hands or make bad calls on a loser. A short chip stack is a dangerous situation. Players often get desperate. Use their despair against them, and finish them off.