In a live poker game in a real card room, players are able to pick up on a lot of visual information that otherwise would not be available to them in an online session.  Your typical experienced player doesn’t have too much to worry about as they more than likely have decent poker techniques down pat at this point, but beginners can easily show their inexperience if they don’t have even these basic concepts down.  Here are some of mistakes you need to look to avoid.

1.  Poor Chip Handling – You don’t need to learn how to twirl the chips around your fingers like the pros do, but there are a few common missteps you can make when you handle your chips, some of which will instantly identify you as a new player to your opponents.  One of the problems I see the most is when players wrap their entire hand around a stack of chips when making a bet.  Visually it looks like you’re pushing your whole fist into the middle of the table, and when you open your hand, only then are the chips visible.  As a rule of thumb, your chips should never touch any part of your hand other than your fingers (preferably just your finger tips).  It doesn’t matter if you’re making a call, bet or re-raise, you should always try to handle your chips effortlessly and with a simple grace.

2.  Betting The Wrong Amount – Some parts of poker, such as knowing the bare minimum you need to bet out on the flop, turn and river, as well as the minimum amount you need to raise someone, is poker 101, and not knowing this will immediately ID you as a beginning poker player.  If someone bets $25 into the pot, you can’t raise them $45 total, you need to at the very least double their first bet, meaning you’ll need to make a raise of at least $50 total (not that min. raising is a good strategy either).  Minimum raising in itself is another sign of a weak player, especially pre-flop.  A good rule of thumb is to raise at least three times the amount of the big blind pre-flop, so if the big blind is $10, make a raise of at least $30 total.  Making a min. raise to $20 is only going to get the trash hands to fold, and even then maybe not all of them.

3.  Acting Out Of Turn – Of the three mistakes listed in this article, constantly failing to adhere to this very basic poker concept will result in all of the players at the table zeroing in on your inexperience and trying to take your chips.  Acting out of turn is when you make your move, whether it’s folding, calling or raising, when it’s not your time to do so.  All the players to your right have to make their decisions before you do, and doing so before they have is considered a big no no at every poker room in the country.  Why?  Because it could influence their decision.  They might be afraid to make a raise or call if there are still a lot of people to act behind them, but if you fold prematurely, they now know that they don’t need to worry about you calling or re-raising them, and knowing that information can be very powerful.  Luckily, this rule is easy to follow, just pay attention to the flow of the game and always wait for the action to come around to you before you make your play.

Slow-Playing Big Pocket Pairs

Many poker players often grumble when asked about their experience with playing big pocket pairs.  The classic phrase everyone uses is “pocket aces & kings are either good for winning a small pot or losing a big pot”.  The statement does hold some truth, but that truth depends largely on the skill level of the players in question.  Players that always raise pre-flop with aces, kings and queens get frustrated when the often result is that they just win the blinds.  After enduring too much of this punishment they’ll start to limp in a lot with these big cards, only to find themselves getting beat out by others with two pair or better.  But does this mean you can’t ever slow-play these hands?

As with most poker theories and strategies, a number of different factors play into the answer.  First off, what type of game are you playing in?  Limit Hold’em cash game?  Deep stack tournament?  Maybe a Sit & Go?  The usefulness of pocket aces/kings doesn’t sway heavily depending on the type of poker you’re playing, but it does matter.  In Sit & Go’s, you’re trying to accumulate chips quickly and eliminate opponents rapidly, so it would be a sound strategy to try and trap an individual opponent with a low chip stack when you have A-A.  In a loose NL cash game though, limping in with aces will probably put you up against four players or more on the flop, which will greatly reduce the chances that your aces are still good.  Remember, pocket aces and kings are still just a single pair, the least strongest hand ranking next to just ace high, so you need to remember that being dealt big pocket pairs does not make your hand invincible.

The next determining factor is positioning.  In early position, you have to raise it up with strong pocket pairs.  The chances of someone calling are strong, plus you’ve now established to the table that you have at the very least a decent hand.  Limp in early position and you run the risk of the entire table limping in to see a flop, and unless you flop a third ace, it will be next to impossible to know how strong your aces are against so many opponents.

But now say you sit in late position and the action has been folded around to you and only the small and big blind are left to act.  Depending on the table conditions (which involves you knowing how most of the players at the table play), you might want to try and sneak in with a limp here, either to try and play a strong hand post-flop or even make a re-raise pre-flop if the small or big blind put out a raise.

The thing to remember though, is that you can only slow-play your big pocket pairs to a certain extent.  Don’t allow your opponent to see too many free cards, especially when there are straight and flush draws on the board.  If you limped into the pot in late position and the flop comes and you check and someone bets, you probably want to check-raise them right here to see where you are in the hand.  Someone with less than top pair will fold, while someone with top pair will either call and possibly even re-reraise, at which time you need to examine the board and see if it’s likely they hit better than top pair, is very possible if you let them see the flop for cheap with any two random cards.

Overall, it’s strongly suggested that you play your big pocket pairs aggressively.  They are strongest in an all-in situation pre-flop against one opponent, and decrease in strength greatly when multiple opponents are still in the pot.  So if you do decide to try and limp, make sure the situation makes sense and that victory is a likely outcome.

I’ve done it, you’ve done it and so has every other poker player in the world, we’ve all pushed all our chips into the middle with top pair when it was pretty obvious that we were beat.  Why the obsession with holding on to top pair for dear life?  For some reason, most poker players like to believe that even in a un-raised pot, flopping top pair with a good kicker automatically means that you’re unbeatable.  While you will be the favorite more often than not, you do need to be able to ID some of the signs that may tip you off to your hand being beat.

The easiest warnings can be discerned from the cards themselves on the flop.  If you hold AK and raised it pre-flop and got one caller and the flop comes A-9-5 unsuited, you can rest assured that you almost definitely have the best hand.  However, a flop of A-Q-10 with two spades should raise an eyebrow or two.  There are now a number of flush/straight draw possibilities, plus it’s very possible that you were also called with hands like A-Q or A-10.  If you’re first to act in this position and you bet and get a hefty raise, you might have a very tough decision to make, as there aren’t many ways your hand can improve on fourth street or the river, but there probably are a lot of ways for your opponents hand to improve, that is if they don’t have you beat already.

Another telltale sign of when top pair probably is no good is when a player you’ve identified as weak/tight all of a sudden starts pushing a lot of chips around into a pot.  Someone like this wouldn’t be making big plays with just top pair, so again you might find yourself in a less than stellar situation if you decide to call their raise.

The old saying is “when you’re beat, you’re beat”, and the lesson to be learned from that motto is that even very strong hands are useless to you when the chances are very good that your opponent holds a superior combination. Pocket kings don’t look great on a flop that brings at least once ace, but that doesn’t stop people from going broke with their kings time and time again.  Pick your spots wisely with your chips and always try to position yourself in optimal scenarios where you don’t have to make tough bets/calls in order to take down a pot.

Considering that poker is practically just as much about focus as it is about getting good cards, I’m constantly amazed at the lack of attention that many players give to the game they’re in during a session, both live and online.  If you spend your time at the table eating, watching the poker room TV or chatting up other players instead of watching the game, you are missing potentially valuable information that could have a dramatic effect on your effectiveness against your opponents.

For example, don’t you want to know who the player is at the table that always calls but never raises and constantly lays down their hand before showdown?  Of course you do, because if you get caught up in a heads-up situation with them, you know that he’s going to fold to a bet if his hand is weak, and at best he’ll just call.  On the other end of the spectrum you need to know who’s doing a lot of check-raising, or who appears to love to trap other players with big hands.  Knowing other players table habits is key, especially if you’re going to be stuck at the same table with them during a cash game for hours on end.

Really the only suggestion I can make if you’re not taking your game seriously is to understand that the reason you should be playing poker with any kind of consistently is if you’re in it to make money.  That goal requires determination and focus, the kind of focus that enables players to sit in a chair for 5-8 hours, playing maybe just a few pots, but completely aware at all times what’s happening at the table.  Poker is a game of odds and advantages, and while you may not be able to change the odds, you can definitely add some edge to your game if increase your overall awareness during a session.

One of the most common mistakes new players make is that they do not know when to step away from the table and either take a break from the game or stop playing completely for the session.  Your average player that wins a lot of chips will often stay in a game long after it stopped producing profitable results, and even worse, the same player will often dig themselves too deep of a hole when they are down for the night, constantly trying to get back to at least even.

So what do you do?  Some like to set limits for themselves, both in the win and loss category.  They’ll step away either when they’ve lost $100 or won $100, or some variation of the number.  Professional players however will urge that you learn how to identify when a game is profitable, because it might be worth staying in there even when you are losing and especially when you are winner, as it may prove beneficial in the long run.

Profitable games are the ones where you correctly believe yourself to be one of if not the best player at the table, surrounded by weak opponents who are prone to overdrawing at hands and making bad calls.  Games like these can turn great profits for hours, but you need to also be able to tell when the good action is drying up.  If the table becomes way too tight, now might be a good time to pack it up for the night and come back another day.

Another for sure sign of when to quit a session is when you feel that you aren’t playing your absolute best poker, especially if you feel on tilt.  Players that are angry, frustrated or upset will make hasty calls and raises and just play bad overall poker, which can be devastating to your chip stack.  Develop the personal discipline to never let yourself play when you are in this state of mind and your wallet will thank you.

Thanks to a combination of inexperienced players and less than stellar dealers, I’ve seen my fair share of confusion at the poker table, more often than not when it comes to players calling and raising.  For this reason, early in my poker career I adopted a style of almost always announcing my action when the play comes to me, especially when betting or raising.

I do this for two reasons:  1.  To make it very clear to both the other players and dealer exactly what kind of bet I’m making, in order to speed up the game and cut down on confusion, and 2.  I find that when you announce your bets and raises aloud, the perception of your hand strength increases in the minds of the other players.  Being able to calmly announce and state the full amount of your raise creates a strong illusion to your opponents, something that will be advantageous in certain situations, such as bluffing.

To me, there is zero reason to not verbally announce your action.  Some players feel that they need to be quiet all the time in order to not give their opponents any information, but you have to remember that the vast majority of poker players have no idea how to correctly pick up on tells or gain information out of their opponents.  So don’t worry about them picking up on any signs of weakness from you as long as you declare your intentions in a firm voice.

No matter how even-tempered you might be, eventually you will find yourself on tilt.  Tilt is the poker term used to describe when a player is in a bad state of mind, either because of a bad beat, loss of a big pot, or just running card dead for extended periods of time.  When a player goes on tilt, their decision making abilities become hampered and they’ll often find themselves making numerous bad plays, such as chasing low percentages draws or playing too aggressively.

One of the ways I recommend you avoid the effects of going tilt is to just gain a lot of overall poker experience.  Players that don’t play frequently will take bad beats harder because they don’t play as often as more experienced poker junkies, players that have seen a lot of bad beats in their time.  With more experience comes the knowledge that as long as you play correctly, in the long run you will see yourself benefit more often than you’ll see yourself suffer.

Another suggestion is if you find yourself on tilt, try to force yourself to skip the next few hands completely unless you find yourself with a premium hand.  Take a few rounds to cool off, think about the situation, and realize that what just happened to you happens a million times a day to other poker players all around the world.  Your bad beat stories are not unique, so don’t act like it’s the end of the world.

Get some more overall experience under your belt and build up some bad beat discipline in order to minimize the negative effects of tilt.

One of the hardest transitions for players to make in poker is going to playing against multiple opponents to heads-up.  Whether it’s a large tournament or small Sit & Go, the typical player can’t make the needed change in their game in order to maximize their chances of winning once the play reaches heads-up.  An aggressive player will call or raise with any two cards, while timid players will end up folding anything non-premium, giving away a fair amount of their chips in the process.

When you’re heads-up, you need to adjust your hand selection so that it is almost completely wide open.  Against just one opponent, practically any two cards you hold will at worst be a slight underdog unless the other player has a large pocket pair, which won’t be a situation that comes too often while heads-up.  Calling the big blind with 8-5 offsuit is easy, but calling a raise with this hand can be very difficult, but at the same time you can’t let your opponent push you around endlessly, eventually you need to take a stand.

For beginning players that find themselves in a heads-up situation against a more experienced opponent, I highly recommend looking for good opportunities to push all-in.  It eliminates the other player’s choices of moves, leaving them to simply either call or fold.  If you notice the other player is raising you constantly pre-flop, re-raise him all-in with practically any A-X combination, and especially hands like KQ.  Making moves like these will hopefully slow them down on following hands, allowing you to finally see some flops.

Sitting in the dealer position in any Texas Hold ‘Em game is a great spot to be in.  I’m not talking about the ACTUAL dealer seat, but rather the dealer button as it moves around the table.  Being “on the button” can be very beneficial during a round, as after the flop you will be the last to act all the way until the end of the hand.  This means that you’ll get to see everyone else make their moves, whether they be fold, call or raise, before you need to make a decision about your own hand.  This allows for outstanding potential when sitting on certain cards.

If you flop a monster hand, being able to act last is wonderful, as you’ll know exactly what to do by the time the action gets to you.  By knowing how many people are left in the hand and how much money is in the middle, you can then make a play that’ll position yourself to maximize your profit potential.  Are there too many players still around that could outdraw your top pair and the action has been checked around to you?  Make a pot sized bet and watch the competition fold to your will.

Dealer positioning also provides a lot of stealing opportunities as well.  If the flop looks very weak and everyone checks to you on the button, you can often put in a bet, regardless of whether you hit the flop or not, in a effort to steal the pot away.  As long as no one has a big draw or is trying to trap, you’ll find that many times you can pick up a number of easy pots simply by having the dealer position.

Now this doesn’t mean that you should play any two cards on the button, but you can certainly open up your hand selection range enough so that you could potentially flop big while “in position”.  Take special note of your hands when the button comes around to you, and cash in while you can.