David Sklansky wrote a very useful essay on how all mistakes in poker could be categorised into a list of eight common poker mistakes. In this post I’ll be discussing the mistakes and they will hopefully help you improve your poker game.

 1.Checking when you should bet.

This is one of the common poker mistakes made by players who play a more passive type of game. This allows your opponents to see a free card and potentially outdraw you. By betting here you also have a good chance of taking down the pot straight away.

2. Betting when you should check.

This poker mistake is a bit rarer than the previous one. It is made when you make a bet but will be put in a difficult situation when faced with a re-raise. It requires you to think a couple of steps ahead and will help you from avoid being pot committed in marginal situations.

3. Calling when you should fold.

This is one of the most common poker mistakes made by beginners – especially when they’re chasing a hand but have been priced out of the pot. Avoiding this poker mistake can really improve your chances of survival and success in Poker.

4. Calling when you should Raise.

A poker mistake that every type of player is capable of making. This is particularly evident pre-flop where raising instead of calling will allow you to potentially take down the pot without before the flop comes down.

5. Folding when you should call.

Sometimes overly cautious players tend to fold more often than they should. A better understand of the maths behind poker and odds will help you to understand where your getting the scenario to call profitably.

6. Folding when you should raise.

This does not happen very often, but essentially involves bluffing one last time in the hope that your opponent will fold.

7. Raising when you should call.

This poker mistake is done by the more aggressive players out there. Raising instead of calling reduces the potential amount of chips that you can earn by scaring your opponents off too quickly. Thereby not extracting as much value from the hand as you may have.

8. Raising when you should fold

This mistake is more related to expert players where calling is not an option and all they can do is either raise or fold.

Final thoughts on poker mistakes

Poker is quite a complex game and there are many different mistakes that a player can make, I hope this article has helped you understand the basic poker mistakes that can be made. Let me know your thoughts if there is anything you think I missed out or should add.

Its harder to spot a persons poker tells online. In this post I will discuss a number of poker tells which are common in only poker players. Being able to spot these online poker tells will help you to adapt your game to beat the other player.

Tight Aggressive

This is a very fashionable style of poker playing at the moment, and for good reason too. Tight aggressive players tend to play fewer hands but come out firing when they are in a hand, also they only tend to play when they have position. i.e. are one of the last players to act in a round of betting. It is also worth pointing out that alarm bells should be ringing when a player of this type raises or even limps from early position.

Loose Aggressive

These players can be quite difficult to play against. They tend to raise pre-flop on a regular basis regardless of their position and are not scared of betting on the flop, turn or river withouth having hit a hand. Reraising preflop when facing a raise against a player of this type can be quite effective.

Passive

Also known as limpers, you will barely notice this type of player as they will rarely if ever raise preflop and will tend to check and call as much as possible post flop. Alarm bells should start going off if a player of this type starts playing aggressively all of a sudden.

Calling Station

The type of player who always calls your bets, regardless of your bets or what is on the board. They rarely ever raise or play aggressively, and play with the philosophy that they are sure their hand will be made on the next card.

Raises with wide range.

Someone who raises more than 15% of the time can be classified as raising with a wide range. A well timed reraise is very effective against someone who raises with a wide range.

Continuation bettor

Someone who always bets on the flop regardless of whether or not they have hit anything, this is particularly evident when the player has made a raise pre-flop.

One bullet gun

This is similar to a Continuation bettor, where a player always tries to a bluff on the flop, but tends to play passively after that if he gets a caller.

Likes to reraise.

Someone who is either very observant of the other players, or someone that just likes to exert pressure on other players with plenty of reraises.

Likes chasing their straights/ flushes

similar to a calling station, be careful if a player exhibits tendencies of chasing cards, as you want to ensure you don’t give him the odds to carry on calling.

Small bets when weak, big bets when strong.

Fairly self explanatory, if someone is playing a straightforward game it is usually a good indication that the person is either a weak player or is distracted.

Slow player

Similar to the previous type, except a slow player is someone who fakes weakness to trap other players and extract as much value out of them as possible. You need to be very careful of this type of player, and make note when an opponent shows this style of play.

Conclusion

Being able to spot these online poker tells will help you play against these players online, and will also help your overall poker game as these playing styles are also used by players when playing poker the old fashioned way.

One of the biggest mistakes a lot of players make when playing online is that they have many distractions around them. Examples would be having the T.V on in the background, surfing the net or attempting to have a conversation with someone at the same time.

The problem that this causes is that your focus and attention are being divided by different things and as a result you are not playing at your best. You may end up playing a more basic game and become more tight and passive which the other players who are actually playing attention might pick up on and try to exploit. Personally I don’t even have the music on when I’m playing and instead make sure I can hear the clinks and chimes of the Poker application, as this makes me feel more immersed in the game.

A large part of being a better poker player is related to picking up and using the information you gain on your opponents when a hand is being played, such as betting patterns and the style in which your opponents play. If you aren’t focussed on the game then you will probably miss out on some of the more information which could come in handy when you are in a tricky situation.

An example would be if you are in middle position and open the pot with a raise and another person calls behind you. Your opponent checks, you miss the flop but fire a continuation bet which your opponent calls. Now if you had been paying attention you would have a lot more information to decide what to do on the turn, but instead you are blind so are not sure what to do .

How to fix this and play better poker

When you are not in a hand you might get bored, so here is one tip to keep yourself focussed on the game, try and guess what your opponent is going to do, if you are wrong then you know that you need to re evaluate your thougts, if you are right, you can use this knowledge the exploit your opponent further down the line.

Another tip is to take advantage of the not taking capabilities that most poker apps come with and make plenty of notes on your opponents, this will help when you are in a tough spot and give you the extra confidence when making a move.

In summary

Try and remove all distractions when playing poker and give all your focus to the game in hand. If you do you the your standard of play will increase and you make less brash decisions and mistakes and ultimately become a much better poker player!

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