What's the biggest mistake new players make?

[SonicReducer]

While playing online I find myself making what I think are more bluffs than I should be. Is this the most common fault of less experienced players?

[speirs]

Playing too many hands.

[DcifrThs]

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While playing online I find myself making what I think are more bluffs than I should be. Is this the most common fault of less experienced players?

[/ QUOTE ]

sklansky wrote an essay about the 8 mistakes possible in holdem. i can't find a link, but the biggest new players make is

1) calling when you should fold.

followed by

2) betting when you should check.

and

3) raising when you should fold.

Barron

[SonicReducer]

What's the rule of thumb in terms of % of hands to play in general...

[TheBlueMonster]

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What's the rule of thumb in terms of % of hands to play in general...


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If you have a good hand play it. Other than that, fold most things. Occasionally it's good to get caught in a bluff because the next time you hit quads, they might not believe you /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ QUOTE ]
What's the rule of thumb in terms of % of hands to play in general...

[/ QUOTE ]

10-15%?

[UATrewqaz]

Limit hold em it's like 15%-20%, depending on how good your postflop play is you can make certain hands profitable that wouldn't be.

The biggest error new players make is simply playing too many hands (aka seeing the flop).

Second biggest is going to far with hands, aka you play your crap K6o and flop comes Q62 and you call a bet to see the turn, call the turn bet, then fold at the showdwon because your 2 outer 6 did not come in.

Third biggest mistake is probably preflop cold calling. KJo is normally a playable hand, but if a good player raises in front of you, it's best to just fold. Beginners can't laydown something like ATo or QJo because it's pretty, even for multilple bets.

[CORed]

If your are playing micro-limits (which is what you should be playing if you are just starting), the games are probably loose enough that you should be bluffing very rarely. You should be bluffing, if at all, primarily when you are heads up and you know your opponent is capable of folding. This is a common mistake with new players, but generally playing too loose and too passive is much more common.

[cohibakid]

Following thoughs suggestions how high a limit could one successful play on party? 3/6? 5/10?

[ds914]

Poor starting hand requirements, lack of aggression and cold-calling raises too often seem to be the three things that stick out in my mind.

Poor play from the blinds can also be a killer.

[AggieAce]

Biggest mistake, in my opinion is playing above their bankroll. Too many times I hear people saying that they put $100 in Party and played 3/6 right away.

[imported_CaseClosed326]

Thinking they are good just because they win a little money and stop trying to improve their game.

I don't know if that is what you were looking for, but it still is a big mistake.

[RiverDood]

For limit, that's a fine list and covers just about all the common flaws.

For no limit, clumsy pushes would be near the top of my list. The result: everyone else gets out cheap and the monster hand gets a bonsai pot. . . . Or the only possible caller is the guy with a better hand. There are lots of gradations between min raise and push -- and it takes a lot of new players a year or so to find them.

[SonicReducer]

Thatnks to all who responded. I'm always trying to improve my game. The thing that makes me think i am making progress is when I'm doing something stupid, I'm starting to get a feeling that it is a stupid move...So while I'm obviously making mistakes, I am starting to realize that they are mistakes.

[SonicReducer]

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For no limit, clumsy pushes would be near the top of my list.

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Could you explain what you mean by a "clumsy push"?

[RiverDood]

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[ QUOTE ]

For no limit, clumsy pushes would be near the top of my list.

[/ QUOTE ]

Could you explain what you mean by a "clumsy push"?

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Here's a showcase example. It's the very beginning of a T1500 tournament. Blinds are T10/T20. Newbie is in the BB with 78o. There are three limpers and him in what's now a T80 pot.

Flop is 9TJr.

Newbie pushes because he has a straight.

He will either collect T80 because no one with AT, K9, etc. wants to play on -- or he will lose his entire stack to someone with KQ. Almost any other line of play increases the likely winnings if opponents caught only a piece of the flop. And almost any other line reduces the risk of going bust against the nut straight.

It's not usually quite so egregious, but you get the idea.

[SonicReducer]

So would you reccomend a small bet in that situation, or another course of action?

[AustinDoug]

One that has not yet been listed: posting instead of lurking.

[stone_7]

Bet between 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot and then go buy Harrington on Holdem.

[RiverDood]

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Bet between 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot and then go buy Harrington on Holdem.

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Or check with the intention of check-raising the poor clod who bets after you, thinking his top pair was good.

You should be looking to get T300 or more out of this pot almost every time. Maybe vastly more if there's someone with 2 pair or top-pair good kicker. Failing to get paid on a hand like this is every bit as bad as blowing off a lot of chips on a doomed hand.

In these sorts of situations, people with second-best hands are aching to give you their chips. You just have to provide them with the right donation mechanism.

Of course if a Q or K comes on the turn or river, the hand gets very problematic. But if an A comes, there's a very good chance you can bust someone out. Overall, if 40-or-so cards in the deck can help you and only 6-8 can hurt you, it's time to build the pot as smoothly and slyly as you can.

[SonicReducer]

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Bet between 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot and then go buy Harrington on Holdem.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually just picked it uup the other day.

Top three mistakes:

Cold calling / Cold Calling / COLD CALLING

First seat raise there are about 3 hands you should be calling with and 4 hands you should be raising with. Cold calling leads to being dominated often which causes you to lose a lot of medium pots. This is where the game($$$$) is truly decided. Winning AK vs KQ or KQ vs KJ. Good players go hundreds of hands without losing bc of kickers and this is because of folding hands like AJo to early raises.

Brett

Which hands are these ? Is it re-raise with AA KK QQ and JJ, call with AKs AQs KQs ? (from the top of my fishy head /images/graemlins/grin.gif)

[Texter]

Always completing the small blind = huge drain

[GuyOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]

sklansky wrote an essay about the 8 mistakes possible in holdem. i can't find a link, but the biggest new players make is

1) calling when you should fold.

followed by

2) betting when you should check.

and

3) raising when you should fold.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

So the list read:

Betting when you should check.
Checking when you should bet.
Calling when you should fold.
Calling when you should raise.
Raising would you should call.
Raising when you should fold.
Folding when you should raise.

...and last but not least...!

Folding when you should call.

Gee, thanks Sklansky!!! No wonder this guy is making the big bucks as a poker author!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

PS. If I am demodded in the very near future, we will all know why. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

GoT

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

sklansky wrote an essay about the 8 mistakes possible in holdem. i can't find a link, but the biggest new players make is

1) calling when you should fold.

followed by

2) betting when you should check.

and

3) raising when you should fold.

Barron

[/ QUOTE ]

So the list read:

Betting when you should check.
Checking when you should bet.
Calling when you should fold.
Calling when you should raise.
Raising would you should call.
Raising when you should fold.
Folding when you should raise.

...and last but not least...!

Folding when you should call.

Gee, thanks Sklansky!!! No wonder this guy is making the big bucks as a poker author!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

PS. If I am demodded in the very near future, we will all know why. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

GoT

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, nice!

in your opinion G, whats the order of mistakes from biggest to smallest that new players make...i put up my top 3 and im curious to see how they compare.

Barron

Maybe I shouldve said 5 and 4....I'd move ako to raise and add call with aqo.

Just my opinion. Plus against some players you can add some hands to raise and call, but in general if the fish stopped cold calling with crap our win% would be in big trouble.

Brett

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
Biggest mistake, in my opinion is playing above their bankroll. Too many times I hear people saying that they put $100 in Party and played 3/6 right away.

[/ QUOTE ]

good post. forgot all about the non poker related aspects of the game.

if you can't get into the right games, you can't stand a shot.

Barron

[cohibakid]

Following thoughs suggestions how high a limit could one successful play on party? 3/6? 5/10?

I wonder if anybody knows the answer to this thanks.

[erby]

if you're good...you can play as high a limit as you are bankrolled for...i don't think i understand your question though.

ERBY /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[Schneids]

New players think they are better than they in fact are, especially new players who start off winning.

This egotism is a problem for new and experienced players alike but especially for new players.

[SA125]

For the ones who are now "taking it seriously", it's thinking that reading some books and participating here automatically makes you a much better player.

There's no doubt that it will help you understand things more and become a better player but, in the end, poker is like everything else. There's no substitute for experience.

[Cincy Peach]

"Poor play from the blinds can also be a killer."

Get a program like PokerOffice or PokerTracker. One the rude surprises I got was when I saw that my average result when playing from the small blind was about -.3BB! I would have been better off folding every small blind (for a loss of .25B) than playing the way I was.

[maybedinero]

Bluffing too much, especially against players I don't have a good read on yet because they've only recently sat down (at some sites (FTP, I'm looking at you), players move it seems every 5 minutes).

In particular, responding to a continuation bet that got called by betting even bigger on the turn (and getting called again, duh).

[HesseJam]

Running good -> thinking they are good -> not thinking about the game