Most Common Newbie Mistakes...

DanS87

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I am interested to see what peoples (probably more experienced players) opinions are of the most common mistakes that you see in new players.

Would also be good to see what people think their biggest mistake was when they started out playing as well (if you're a more seasoned player thats making far fewer basic errors these days).

My biggest mistake when I first started out was playing my first money-based game of poker in a live poker tournament at the local casino (a few years ago, pre-virus).

I'd played and learnt the basics by playing with friends using chips but no actual money on the line. I was at the casino and thought it would be fun to join the mini-tournament they were running.

It wasn't a big buy-in, £50 or so, but I obviously got absolutely annihilated and it put me off playing poker for quite a while. I've only just started playing again and I'm having much more fun learning and improving whilst playing online in freerolls and with much lower stakes.
 
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I am interested to see what peoples (probably more experienced players) opinions are of the most common mistakes that you see in new players.

Would also be good to see what people think their biggest mistake was when they started out playing as well (if you're a more seasoned player thats making far fewer basic errors these days).

My biggest mistake when I first started out was playing my first money-based game of poker in a live poker tournament at the local casino (a few years ago, pre-virus).

I'd played and learnt the basics by playing with friends using chips but no actual money on the line. I was at the casino and thought it would be fun to join the mini-tournament they were running.

It wasn't a big buy-in, £50 or so, but I obviously got absolutely annihilated and it put me off playing poker for quite a while. I've only just started playing again and I'm having much more fun learning and improving whilst playing online in freerolls and with much lower stakes.

Nice post...entering that tourney right out of the gate must have felt brutal.

In fact, talking of getting annihilated (!) I would say one of the biggest newbie mistakes is playing too many hands. That by definition means too broad a range. I believe many get drawn in by aggro players entering most pots and raising, particularly if they are seen as winning hands regularly.

However, such players frequently flame out quite quickly, likely more often than running deep...but they are fine with that...they enjoy putting people to the tests with their stacks. But, for a newbie trying to imitate that style of play, the bust outs can end up demoralizing.

So, playing in a TAG style and patiently waiting for better hands would be recommended for finding your feet. Once you have found your fundamental game, then broaden your range and take some risks.
 
micalupagoo

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Well biggest mistake, everyone thinks they’re the best lol
If you want to actually do well from freerolls and up. Its mostly patience first, it took me a long time to learn that, (1 hand doubling up once an hour will usually get you in the money)
then the power of position, you have to know how to fold a good hand OOP or against LAG players, then learn how to exploit weaker players (with position;))
With experience, study and time comes learning playing any two cards (and why), bluffing, and so on.

Just play premium (and a few 2nd rate) hands in good position, learn how players at your table are playing, and just wait for your chance to exploit them👍
I know who I’m doubling up from on my table early and I wait for the hand and they willingly hand over their stack:D
 
57noona

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One mistake I made starting out was over betting the pot. You have to watch your bet sizing in most pots.
 
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manIk5

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My first & biggest mistake in poker was the betting one . Preflop , postflop and so on ... I never actually though about it much till I start reding and watching others how they play and why they play it certain way . Learn alot since then :icon_sant
 
DanS87

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Nice post...entering that tourney right out of the gate must have felt brutal

Brutal was a bit of an understatement. What made what made it worse was being made to feel like an absolute idiot as well by a couple of players in the tourney. That was what really put me off.
 
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Brutal was a bit of an understatement. What made what made it worse was being made to feel like an absolute idiot as well by a couple of players in the tourney. That was what really put me off.

Sheesh, that was just completely unnecessary. Sorry to hear about that.

Just be confident in yourself and take your time to find your own playing style. There are numerous sources of poker advice and many spout cliches. Most (for example) will talk of using aggression as though every one has an aggression tap they can turn on and off at will.

The question is not whether aggression is a benefit in poker, of course it is.

However, some will naturally play in an aggressive manner and other will have to develop such a mechanism. I noticed when starting out that there was little about the mental game and how to develop stronger traits as a beginner. I then realized I was going to have to work out quite a lot on my own...and subsequently I settled down a little and took my time.

If like most here, you start playing some tourneys regularly, identify those who you see playing successfully with frequency and analyze their games. It can be a positive and negative as some players you grow to admire and other you can find a little reckless. The good thing is you begin to develop a personal perspective and start to understand what you might be able to apply to your game or not from their games.

As long as anyone starting out in poker keeps their feet on the ground and looks at learning the game over the long arc (after all the goal is to play poker from here to infinity!) then they will find their game develops in good time.

Good luck at the tables!
 
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The most common mistakes that prevent a player from growing, which he often ignore, such as lack of work on the game, lack of a game plan, lack of proper bankroll management.
 
gena31

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The most common mistake of beginners in my opinion is a lack of patience, endurance, while a large number of different hands are played, which leads to a loss of bankroll.
 
misterwilliams

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Playing Tired and Becoming Impatient

Playing Tired Don’t underestimate toll that fatigue takes on your game. Poker — especially in professional card rooms — can put you in this strange zombielike state where you play for hours on end. If you find that you’re having trouble thinking about anything inside or outside of the game, you’re too tired. Stop and play later. There’s always another game somewhere at some other time.


Becoming Impatient There’s an added impatience problem these days, too, and that is that a lot of players learn and play on the Internet where games are extremely fast (possibly even upping their speed quotient by playing turbo versions or multiple games simultaneously). When they fall into the brick-and-mortar world, it feels like playing in a swimming pool filled with molasses to them. Action, action, action is what they want, want, want.
 
vonabruch

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1 Play too many hands
One of the biggest mistakes you make is wanting to play every hand. Novice players are very impatient, they often feel alienated from the game, don't want to appear weak in front of their friends, or just don't know what to do. Any cards look attractive if you don't know which starting combinations are good. A beginner often tries to look at the flop, but when he gets it, he realizes that he has far from the best cards. Realize this mistake before you play a lot of hands and lose a lot of chips.
**
Scared game. Some beginners play very thoughtlessly and impulsively, but there are also those who, on the contrary, play with fear in their eyes. They do not have enough experience, they are afraid to make a mistake and lose. They will discard until they receive invincible cards. They avoid hands with big pots. Such fear can even turn into paranoia - thinking that anyone who bets aggressively has an excellent hand, beginners will fold even good cards. The only way to avoid this mistake is to gain experience and start trusting your instincts.
**
Playing out of position. Besides the cards themselves, there are many factors in poker that influence the decisions of the players. Your position, that is, your seat at the table, is one such factor. For example, if you are the last to make a decision, you can see how the players sitting before you behaved. The mistake of beginners is that they often place bets regardless of their position and without a plan for the distribution
***
Too many bluffs. Some beginners only think about bluffing. You need to figure out how often you need to bluff to avoid becoming predictable. If you bluff all the time, opponents will stop believing you and very often will open your bluff, winning more and more of your chips
**
The game is not by bankroll. It is very important to manage your money correctly. Newbies do not understand the importance of bankroll play. You shouldn't sit down at the table with all your money or money that you cannot risk
***
A game when there are other thoughts in your head. When playing poker, you need to focus on the game. If for some reason you are constantly distracted and cannot concentrate, then the best solution would be not to play poker for a while. It may even be worth resting for a day or two. And when strength and sobriety of mind appear, start playing.
 
Piligrin66

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The most common mistakes beginners make is when they go all in, having AA or KK in their hands for them is a divine card with which they think they will win.
 
Poker_Mike

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I am interested to see what peoples (probably more experienced players) opinions are of the most common mistakes that you see in new players.

Would also be good to see what people think their biggest mistake was when they started out playing as well (if you're a more seasoned player thats making far fewer basic errors these days).

My biggest mistake when I first started out was playing my first money-based game of poker in a live poker tournament at the local casino (a few years ago, pre-virus).

I'd played and learnt the basics by playing with friends using chips but no actual money on the line. I was at the casino and thought it would be fun to join the mini-tournament they were running.

It wasn't a big buy-in, £50 or so, but I obviously got absolutely annihilated and it put me off playing poker for quite a while. I've only just started playing again and I'm having much more fun learning and improving whilst playing online in freerolls and with much lower stakes.


Just calling is often a mistake - not always - just often.

It took me a while to figure that one out!

Good luck !!
 
DanS87

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Just calling is often a mistake - not always - just often.

It took me a while to figure that one out!

Good luck !!


I’ll be honest, this one probably hits home the most for me. Too often I’ll call a not too big, but a largeish raise on the preflop with OK cards, just to see the flop.

More often than not, the flop yields nothing and the other guy bets or raises again and I’m left in an awkward position. And even if I have an ok hand after the flop, then usually I end up with the losing hand (usually on the river because you know, sods law).

This is probably one that I’ll definitely be concentrating on
 
MikeCarasone

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Playing too many hands
Over valuing top pair.
Unable to fold when it’s clear they are beat.
 
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If it doesn't go well, it'll soon get angry and run into a rough play.
It's looking at poker sweetly.
 
Poker_Mike

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I’ll be honest, this one probably hits home the most for me. Too often I’ll call a not too big, but a largeish raise on the preflop with OK cards, just to see the flop.

More often than not, the flop yields nothing and the other guy bets or raises again and I’m left in an awkward position. And even if I have an ok hand after the flop, then usually I end up with the losing hand (usually on the river because you know, sods law).


Yes I live in that "awkward position" lol

Put your opponent in that awkward position!

When faced with a cbet on the flop or turn I often think about NOT just calling.

I'm either folding or raising big to motivate my opponent to abandon his equity and leaving me the pot.

If I just call the flop then i am looking to raise the turn.

My nightmare is when the turn pairs the board and my opponent knows his A-high is good.

When I run bad - my villains always have the goods - that I am trying to represent!!

Good luck !
 
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Plut41

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1) Investing too much starting money
2) Focusing on amount of money rather than learning the game and playing smallest stakes possible.
3) High excpectations
 
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For me the most common mistake I made when I started was hoping for miracles. Like, having the thought that I could only win if my cards hit the table and that it was my only chance if that happened. As time went by I discovered long-term and hands-on play. In other words, the biggest mistake for newcomers is to expect to win something in just one tournament when in fact it's about playing too many games and picking up prizes in just a few.
 
ObbleeXY

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ObbleeXY's Top 20 Common Rookie Mistakes, in brief:
1. Range too wide
2. Don't fold enough / Call too often.
3. Don't raise enough.
4. Ignorance of importance of position
5. Ignorance of bet sizing
6. Bluffing where there is more risk than reward / bluffing other fish
7. Lack of aggression
8. Betting when you should check
9. Checking when you should bet
10. Slow playing strong hands
11. Ignoring board texture
12. Ignoring *the story* (ie the bet progerssion in tandemw ith successive streets)
13. Having an ego
14. gambling
15. Failure to amass, nay hoard villain intel
16. Lack of Bankroll management
17. Playing stakes beyond their skill level
18. Not understanding variance
19. Not understanding the subtleties of different games and different tables
20. Thinking anyone gives a **** what you folded.

There are many others... but this is the stuff I still have to call myself on...
 
Luvepoker

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biggest mistake I believe they make is not being able to fold when the should. They see pocket aces or kings and feel they are invincible. Flop is 8,9 T all spaids. They bet and get 3bet and then push in another big raise and wonder why they lose. The wont think hey he could have the flush or straight or even a set. They just see there 2 cards and they are off to the races.
 
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Not taking time on decisions

Enjoyed reading all the learnings - my biggest flaw leads to a lot of the other mistakes below: I rush my decision and get it all wrong whether that is losing a lot of chips, missing value, etc

Immediately afterwards it takes me 15 seconds to analyse the hand and know full well what I should have done, so have to focus so hard on doing the analysis up front.

I used to play ‘scared’ as someone mentioned which is crazy as I manage my BR well but hate losing. If I do the analysis as above then there is no fear to be had
 
DanS87

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20. Thinking anyone gives a **** what you folded.

This one made me laugh more than it should. I never reveal my hands and I always find I roll my eyes at people that will openly say "oh, I shouldn't have folded. I had an XYZ"...

Always make sure I muck a losing hand and never show my cards when everyone else folds to my bet/raise either.
 
jsnake716

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I am interested to see what peoples (probably more experienced players) opinions are of the most common mistakes that you see in new players.

Would also be good to see what people think their biggest mistake was when they started out playing as well (if you're a more seasoned player thats making far fewer basic errors these days).

My biggest mistake when I first started out was playing my first money-based game of poker in a live poker tournament at the local casino (a few years ago, pre-virus).

I'd played and learnt the basics by playing with friends using chips but no actual money on the line. I was at the casino and thought it would be fun to join the mini-tournament they were running.

It wasn't a big buy-in, £50 or so, but I obviously got absolutely annihilated and it put me off playing poker for quite a while. I've only just started playing again and I'm having much more fun learning and improving whilst playing online in freerolls and with much lower stakes.

In my experience, both from when I was a Fish, and now watching other new players, trying to emulate or imitate some "lines" that I watched a high stake pro make :D It was hard for me to learn that at my low stakes games, I needed a simple tight aggressive strategy. I needed to bet my good hands and learn to check/fold with air. I could go on and on with my many leaks as a new player but sticking with a simple ,effective strat is probably the biggest hurdle all new players need to overcome
 
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