Five Common Texas Holdem Mistakes

Getting Emotional

Allowing emotions to alter your play is the most common mistake made by poker players.  The phrase “going on tilt” means that you have allowed a bad beat at the table alter how you play future hands.  Going on tilt only deepens the hole you occupy. A good poker player needs to realize that bad beats are part of the game.  If you cannot control your emotions when you encounter an unlucky situation then you need to leave the table each time your emotions get the better of you.  

The better approach is to look at the bad beat as an opportunity.  Before a player can have a bad beat they must have correctly put themselves in a situation where they had a much better hand when a large amount of money entered the pot.  Build upon this knowledge with the understanding that over the long haul similar play will leave your bankroll large.

In A Bad Mental State

Playing poker while in less than one hundred percent physical and mental condition is another mistake made by even good players.  Poker is about having an edge.  If you are tired for instance you decision making abilities are not as sharp as normal.  If you have a headache or backache it will be exacerbated by sitting at the table for a long period of time.  The discomfort caused by your physical condition will alter your sharpness to make proper decisions.  Avoid playing at these times.

Mental issues such as stress also can prevent you from peak performance.  A domestic problem at home or work that you are dwelling on is not conducive to high performance poker.  Again refrain from sitting down at the poker table when preoccupied with something other than the game.

Bankroll Too Small

It is a mistake for a poker player to sit at a table with stakes higher than his bankroll allows.  Poker is a game the keeps score over the long haul in terms of bankroll size.  Even the best players have sometime prolonged losing streaks.  You need to factor this into your equation when selecting which table to sit at.  If you have a bankroll of one thousand dollars you do not want to start playing $10/$20 no limit Texas Hold’em.  The expected variance of bankroll is much too great for these stakes.  A $2/$4 table would be much more appropriate for a bankroll of that size.

Getting Married to a Hand

The fourth mistake I will discuss is “getting married to a hand”.  Sometimes in poker you are dealt a very good hand that when further cards are dealt loses much of its value.  Suppose for instance you are playing a deep stack ring game and are dealt the king and queen of diamonds and flop a made flush.  You make a pot sized bet and are called.  A fourth diamond is dealt on the turn; none of the four are the ace.  Your flush has now lost much of its value, if your opponent holds the ace of diamonds your hand is second best.  You make another pot sized bet and are called.  On the river the board pairs, your hand now has gone from an almost sure winner to almost worthless.  You now have to worry about a full house and a higher flush.  You have to consider the fact that your opponent did not call your bets with nothing.  There is perhaps an outside chance he holds lesser flush but it is far more likely he called with the ace of diamonds or a set that turned into a full house on the river.  When he raises your whole stack on the final bet you much resist the urge to call the bet because your hand was good at one time.  It is almost worthless now and needs to be folded.  Players that are “married to their hand” are unable to recognize this fact.

Not Knowing the Math

The final mistake I will discuss is playing without the proper mathematical knowledge of the game.  Assume you are playing Texas Hold’em.  You need to know your chances to make a flush when you have flopped four of the same suit.  You need to know the importance of overcards when chasing an open ended straight.  In the long run poker is as much about making mathematically correct decisions as anything else.

As I see it these are the five basic mistakes poker players of all skill levels make.  If you can remove them from your game you will be a much better player.