Overvaluing Suited Hands

Many beginners enjoy the chase of the flush when they play online poker. They see a player complete a greasy flush on the river, maybe even against them – cracking their aces. As a result, many new players begin chasing every flush, playing suited cards, suited connectors, and suited aces from every position. No two suited cards are ugly. What a new player fails to realize is that suited cards only hold a slight edge over their unsuited counterparts. Not all suited cards and suited hands should be played, which leads to our next newbie mistake.

Playing Entirely too Many Hands

Whether playing online or at the local casino, when we are at the poker table we want to play cards! Folding to many people is not playing. Yet, folding is part of the game of poker. In fact, folding is perhaps one of the most important disciplines in poker, for that matter. Newer poker players make the mistake of playing far too many hands, failing to consider hand strength or position. A new player should have a strict, tight hand range when learning the game. Leave the tricky play to the veterans, who are well versed in playing drawing hands out of position.

Tilt

Emotions are normal when in competition. However, one must check their emotions at the door when at the Poker Star.com table. Bad beats, suck-outs, horrible plays getting rewarded all happen. You will usually encounter a drunken guy at the casino, or a loose, wild player talking smack to you, or even the horrible player who gives advice. Do not let the bad beats or the opposition’s antics get under your skin. Keep your emotions in check and stay off tilt.

Thinking you have to Bluff to Win

Beginning poker players should not yet even consider bluffing. Without understanding that there is far more to bluffing than simply pushing all your chips in on the river, a bluff will backfire more often than not for the beginning poker player. Bluffs are normally elaborate; they tell a story. New players do not know the background of poker enough to tell the story smartly. Leave bluffing for the professionals.

By discriminating against your starting hands, remaining off tilt, and losing the bluff, a new poker player stands the best chance of learning the game of poker the correct way. New poker players should continue to read about poker, as well as discuss poker with players more advanced than they are. These few tips will help increase the learning curve of the game of poker for new players.

Here are some tips to determining when an all-in shove is appropriate:

Move All-in Against Players of Far Higher Skill Level

When a player constantly outplays you after the flop, moving all-in is the best play. The all-in move takes the play out of the hand. The opposing player cannot outplay you or cause you to fold, as you have committed all your chips. As a result, they can only calculate odds – no more scaring you into folding or causing you to call with second best all the way to the river.

What you will find is that this skilled player will become frustrated, tangling with you far less, as you have taken away one of his best weapons, which is his superior post-flop play. Against this player, you will find him folding far more often than he should. The end result is that you begin outplaying him preflop and have neutralized his post flop combat skills against you.

Moving All-in in the Tournament’s Later Rounds

If you have played somewhat solid throughout the PokerStars tournament, it is no secret to your opposition that you have high standards for your starting hands. As a result, you can capitalize on their knowledge and move all-in allowing you to steal blinds and take down pots uncontested. If you find yourself in later position and action has folded around to you, do not hesitate to shove all-in with a range of hands against players who are capable of folding to a show of strength.

Moving All-in on the Bubble

In multi-table tournaments, players tend to play far more cautiously as they approach the bubble – or the threshold of cashing. Players become concerned about getting crippled or failing to cash when this close to the money. This is a great opportunity to exploit their fear. Moving all-in on the bubble will cause many a player to fold great hands. Most players look for reasons to fold. The all-in move on the bubble typically gives them the reason they are looking for. You will see players proudly and incorrectly fold hands such as pocket jacks, or ace king citing the lack of willingness to “race.” In reality, they simply wish to survive into the money.

Successful tournament play depends greatly on the everest poker all-in move. By determining when and against whom you should move all-in against is key to becoming a long term successful and profitable tournament poker player.