Common Mistakes in Poker
It’s
a tired cliché, but practice does make perfect, and
poker is no different. There’s a major learning
curve in the game, and like most things in life,
you’re bound to make a whole mess of mistakes on the
road to perfecting your game. And a lot of those missteps
in poker’s most popular game, Texas Hold’em,
come on the turn and the river.
Just
learning the basics of poker won’t take you far in
the card clubs, casinos or online games. There are
several common mistakes players make that can easily
be avoided with a little patience and know-how.
One
major slip-up players make is calling too many
raises on the turn. The biggest problem with
calling a raise on the turn is you have in essence
committed
yourself to calling on the river, too,
searching for a hand that pays off big. If you’re
going to call a raise on the turn, make sure you will
call the river if your hand does not improve. If the
answer is a no, be weary of continuing the hand unless
you are confident you are being bullied out of the pot
with a bluff by the player raising.
A
good gauge to go by is that most players who raise on
the turn have at least top pair, and often two pair of
better. If you don’t have a strong potential to beat
that on the river, then it’s likely a good time to
fold.
Once
again, however, the type of game you find yourself in
and opponent characteristics make a big difference on
your turn move. In a tight game, an aggressive
opponent will sometimes bluff on the turn with a raise
if he’s in a heads-up situation. This is where
reading the other players become critical. If you find
yourself in this situation and have a mediocre pair,
you may occasionally
bypass the general rule of folding and call the raise.
While
calling a raise on the turn too often is a common
mistake, just staying in the hand after the turn is a
bigger one. Many players who start out with a strong
hand of A-K, A-Q or K-Q, think they have to hang in,
even after an unfavorable turn. That A-K looks great,
but if the flop is 3-7-10, all the gleam comes off
those hole cards. If you miss the flop in Hold’em,
the odds of you having the best hand at the showdown
drop dramatically. It breaks the heart to fold such
strong cards as A-K after missing the flop, but if you
have no shot at hitting a straight or flush, and
it’s obvious your opponents are working with a pair
or better, save some money and muck your hand.
The
river is the final destination of any hand, but it
still has the potential to blow up in your face. The
best players in the world reach the river by having
what it takes to win. The overwhelming majority of the
time, you don’t get to the river be bullying and
bluffing. You usually have the nuts. And if you
don’t, a nervous twitch, different inflection in
your voice, a bead of sweat or inconsistent eye
movement may give that fact away to the player
you’re going heads-up with.
Every
card and bet leading up to the river means something,
so by the time you get there, a good opponent has a
relatively good idea as to what you’re holding. So
one of the typical mistakes on the river is
that bet that comes out of left field. It’s a bet
that’s totally unexpected, based on how you’ve bet
on the flop and turn. This often can be a clear sign
of a bluff.
Another
bad move on the river is always betting or raising
when you think you have the best hand. If , for
instance, you have top pair, and read your opponent as
missing a flush or straight draw on the river, betting
will only force them to fold and you’ll miss out on
their bet. Consider checking on the river, which may
trick your opponent into thinking they can bluff their
way out of the situation. If they take the bait,
pounce. A good river rule to stick to is only raise or
bet when you have better than a 50 percent chance of
winning if your heads-up opponent calls.
