Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The Five Stupidest Things I Did At The Poker Table

As with anything new in someone’s life - whether it’s a new job, or a new recipe or even a new game, you have to learn about it before you can say you understand it. Same thing goes for poker.

I love to play the game, but at one time I knew nothing about it and boy did I make some mistakes! Have a seat, sit back and have a laugh or two as you read the 5 dumbest things I ever did at a poker table, and hopefully it will save some other newbie from making the same stupid mistakes that I did.

Dumbest Move #1 - I sat down at a poker table at the casino and had my $50 ready to play, and half way through the first hand I was broke, busted couldn’t even make the bet! Why? Because, stupid me, I didn’t realize that poker tables have different table limits, and I happened to sit at a 5 card stud game that was $10/$20 limits!

I anted-up and even had a good hand. Three kings with an ace kicker. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the money to play the way I should have. As it turned out, I lost anyway, but if I had had the money, I could have played the hand well. So, check the table limits before you sit down to play!

Dumbest Move #2 - When I started playing poker online, I never used the ‘muck’ option. This is what obscures your losing hand so the other players can’t see what cards you had and figure out how you play. I think that not using the muck option has probably cost me thousands of dollars. You have been warned.

If you let your poker buddies know exactly what type of player you are, you are basically just saying to them ‘here, have my money, I don’t want it’. Not a mistake to make either online or in the real world.

Dumbest Move #3 - Playing every single hand! A lot of new poker players and some old bad poker players feel the need to play out every single hand instead of folding, sitting out and biding their time until they have a hand good enough to stay in with and have a decent shot at winning.

Put simply - I know that poker is a fun, exciting game and you want to be involved in the action. But, believe me, by playing every hand - regardless of whether it’s a good one - it will be over a lot, lot sooner. Try not to get swept up by the atmosphere and play smart. You could even end up winning.

Dumbest Move #4 - Staying in a hand because you’ve already put money in the pot. Many players feel that just because they’ve bet on one round, they should stay in the hand, whether or not they have a strong hand. Bluff, by all means, but don’t stay in a hand ‘just because’. That will end up with your losing your money.

An example : if you have, say, a pair of fours and nothing else is coming up, then it might be time to fold your hand and cut your losses. Especially if someone else keeps raising. If it looks like you are not going to win, get out as soon as possible. Save your bankroll for the next hand, because that is one you might be able to win.

Dumbest Move #5 - Know the game you are playing. Learn the rules thoroughly before even thinking of taking part. My very worst mess up was playing in a Omaha Hi/Low tournament. Unfortunately, I’d never played the game before. I did read up on the rules and figured that I’d got the basics and would learn the rest as I played.

So, I sat down at the table and started playing Omaha Hi/Lo for the first time. It didn’t go well. Only half an hour in, I knew that I was out of my depth. I was winning when I thought I’d lose and losing when I thought I’d win. However, I struggled through to the intermission. At this point, I took the time to reread the rules of the game.

And that’s when I saw how you really play Hi/Low. OMG, half the time I was folding when I had 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 which is a great Lo hand! I probably could have won so much money that day if I had only understood the game, never again will I act like I know it all and play a game for cash that I have never played before without doing the research!

So, those were my five dumbest mistakes. I’m sure you’ll agree that they were pretty dumb so hopefully if you are new to playing poker, you won’t make the same errors. Make sure you know the game, the rules and the table limits and you won’t go too far wrong.

Find out which websites I recommend for new poker players by taking at look at our recommended poker rooms or check out some fundamental blackjack tips to help you win..

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