Common Mistakes in Poker

So you’ve read the Start online poker page and returned with your coffee to do some more reading. So let’s get on with some basics.

Position. No it’s not how you should sit in your chair when you’re playing poker or if a laptop on your lap is better then a desk. Position is where you are on the table in relation to the dealer button. This of course changes every hand as the dealer button moves around the table. Early position is the first three players to the left dealer button. (Assuming it’s a full table) In this position I wouldn’t recommend playing anything apart from AA, KK, QQ or AK. Middle position is the next 3 or 4 places and I would now include playing the lower pairs and two face cards as well as the AA’s etc. The prime positions are the late positions which are the last 3 places including the dealer button. When I say I would play, I mean I would play if the pot hadn’t been raised before it got to me. In the early positions you don’t know what any one else yet to act after you might do. You might call and then someone goes all in and you have to fold and you wasted some of your chips. On the dealer button you have seen what everyone else has bet and can decide accordingly. If there are fewer players at the table you can lower your hand level a notch as there are more cards to come out so more chances of getting the best hand. You would also be getting better odds for your bet. This is the bare basic of pot odds.

One of the things I did when I first started playing poker and I think every new player goes through it, was I just wanted to play poker. I would stay in a hand far too long and of course be beaten. It was a case of hoping I might get the miracle card if I stayed there long enough and just to have some action. The only person who benefited form this was my bank manager. The fold button is there for a reason, its not just there to make up the button numbers. If you playing on the hope a card certain card will come out – fold. If you’re playing but think the other players might have better cards – fold. If you’re playing because you can’t believe the other players are always getting better cards then you and surely it must be your turn soon – fold. The other players will be watching how you’re playing, they will be making notes, they will be using all this to their advantage and that’s why all your chips are going in their direction.

Don’t be afraid to bet. If you have a strong hand, make the other players pay to see what you have got. Don’t make it easy for them to land a better hand than you. Just to confuse you. If you have the nuts hand (means no other hand can beat yours) then it can be to your advantage to slow play your hand.

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