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Avoiding Basic Mistakes In No-Limit Hold'em
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These are some of the more basic mistakes that players make at no-limit hold'em tables, and how to avoid them in future.
First and foremost is the failure to let go of a decent hand when you have reason to believe that this hand is beaten, and ultimately losing your entire stack as a result. It never seems fair to have those pocket Aces or Kings cracked wide open by 78 suited, but trust us it happens. In that situation you were never more than a 60% favorite in the first place before the flop, so imagine your surprise when 40% of the time something unfair happens against little suited connectors (a hand where the value increases if they're up against a big pair, which is why shrewd players hang onto them in the face of initial pressure). If you represented a big hand and find yourself being re-raised on the flop or the turn you must acknowledge the fact that your opponent knows what you have and still thinks he has you beaten. Don't pay him your entire stack simply to confirm his suspicion as fact.
Second, don't call with weak hands in the face of strength, unless you feel that the implied pot odds warrant this high-risk strategy. If the term "implied pot odds" sounds like a foreign language to you then you should not be the guy who decides to crack pocket Aces with your small suited connectors. Leave that to the advanced players and focus on your table discipline instead.
Third is the common mistake of seeing too many flops. Keep your pre-flop percentage of hands seen to well under the 30% level. Do not become a calling station, and do not fall in love with the need to see the flop. If you are going to play in a hand be aggressive, and if someone shows you strength in the face of your aggression be willing to reconsider your position.
Fourth, is the tendency to slow-play or under-bet premium hands before the flop. Then, when you allow limpers to straggle in to your pot you panic after the flop and bet too much. Once the flop comes you are in a new position, and depending on the texture of that flop your once premium hand may no longer be premium, in which case you are no longer entitled to bet it as aggressively. In No-limit everyone makes mistakes. Winners are separated from losers by one crucial distinction: Only losers compound their mistakes - judge each situation, even within the same hand, as unique. You might have made an error on the turn, but that is no reason to make a fatal error on the river. The next card is always a brand new situation, which all winners instinctively recognize.
Finally, betting too much to win a small pot, or trying to capture a large pot by betting too little are common errors made by novices. There is no value in risking thousands of chips for a pot of 100 chips. Similarly, if players are heavily invested in a pot, or even if they simply believe that they are, they will be loath to lay those hands down unless placed under huge betting pressure.
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> No-Limit Hold Em Cash Game Strategy - Sample Hand Analysis
> The Ghost In The Machine - Reading Poker Hands
> The Key To Winning At Hold'em - Part 1
> Shorthanded Limit Hold'em - The Advantages
> No-Limit Hold'em Basic Strategies
> A Basic Guide To Playing Limit Hold'em
> How To Play Your Cards After The Flop
> The Many Advantages Of Being Suited
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