Online poker players here at Juicy Stakes Poker and all other reputable online poker rooms have a few blind spots in their poker makeup. These blind spots lead to classic online poker beginner mistakes. Let’s take a look.
Poker Beginner’s Belief System is Often Awry
Beginning poker players often believe too much in their own hands, believe too much in the flop, and don’t believe opponents enough. Let’s take these three belief system follies one at a time.
Beginners Believe in Their Own Hand Too Much
This often comes from a failure to internalize a very basic truth about poker: any good poker player will fold at least 70% of all their hands before the flop. There are many reasons why good players fold so soon. One is that their hand is too intermediate. Another is that they are out of position with a hand that can easily be beaten. Another is that they are playing with a short stack. Finally, it might not be in their nature to play questionable hands.
In poker, the next hand is just around the corner. The better players are patient enough to wait for it.
A player who does not fold at least 70% of their hands before the flop is a sitting duck for players who have been there, done that and are ready to pounce.
Beginners Often Believe Too Much in the Flop
Let’s say that you are playing Texas Hold’em with six opponents. There are 14 cards dealt before the flop. That leaves 38 cards in the deck. The flop is three cards. So, the odds that a card that helps you coming out on the flop are about 13-1.
These odds are not horrible in poker. But you should never settle for 13-1 odds with a middling hand. Let’s say that you called in early position with a middle pair. You want to see the flop and hope to get a set. The flop comes out and you don’t have a set. Now is the time to fold. Any player still in the hand probably has your middle pair beat. A lot of players will continue the hand hoping for that elusive set.
The flop often helps a player have a great hand. Often this hand is hidden. We don’t encourage players to denigrate the power of the flop. We do encourage players not to place too much faith in the flop.
Poker Players Often Do Not Believe Opponents Enough
There are many poker player types. One such type is the standard Goldilocks player: not too loose; not too tight. These players do not like to bluff. When a player who you have pegged as a Goldilocks player raises in early position, three bets before the flop, and so on, you should definitely believe them.
They are not bluffing. And, if in the end, you do find out that they were bluffing, it will add to your knowledge about them and you might be able to use that newfound knowledge to your benefit later.
Online poker players at Juicy Stakes often play against the same players. Anything you can learn about opponents is valuable. So, fold to a player you think is not bluffing and learn a lot more about them if they turn out to have been bluffing.
New Players Often Raise Too Much or Not Enough
Raising in poker is an art form. This is a skill that takes a lot of time to learn. New players have not been playing long enough to have learned how to raise.
If you raise too little and you win, you will win a small pot. Winning in poker in the long run usually means winning a few big pots. So, if you shortchange yourself by not growing the pot enough, you will probably end the session in the red.
The other side of this coin us that if you raise too much, everyone will fold. So, you need to learn how much to raise for value.
One truism in poker that a lot of beginning players don’t fully understand is that you can’t grow a pot by not betting. You have to bet to get the most out of the pot. The skill is to bet or raise enough to grow the pot and not scare the other players away.
New Players Tend to Get Bored Quickly
This doesn’t mean that they leave a game. It means that they stop paying attention. All good poker players pay attention on every hand. Remember, you will play only about 30% of hands. You will fold a good number of these hands after the flop.
That means that if you are playing responsibly, you have a massive number of hands to see as a crash course in poker. Always pay attention. If you find that you just can’t pay attention anymore, you are at the point where you should leave the game.
When we talk about paying attention, we mean to everything you can observe or process. Go into the chat area and interact with the other players. You never can tell in advance what nuggets of information you can get from the chat room.
Never Get Emotional in a Negative Way
You should never gloat. Never show that you won with a bluff. And never complain when luck goes against you. The poker term for over-emotionality is, of course, tilt. In everyday situations, we use the term rage. There is a difference between tilt and rage bit both are demonstrations of being overly emotional.
Rage is almost always against another person, often a totally innocent other person. Tilt is over-emotionality against yourself or against the game itself. When a player is on tilt, they are unable to make intelligent decisions on the next hand or two. They might lose the ability to score big with a good hand because they have tilted.
New Players Often Underestimate the Importance of Luck
As much as poker is a game of skill, and it is to a large measure, it is also a game of luck. In casino terms, we have games of skill and games of chance. Poker is not a game of chance. But poker is a game of skill mixed with luck.
New players often think that poker is all about skill. These players don’t give luck its due. The poker math concept of pot odds reflects the element of luck since a player has to count his or her outs before calculating the pot odds.
Playing at Juicy Stakes Poker is a Lucky Choice
We run a stellar online poker room. You can play Omaha or Texas Hold’em. We have many stakes levels, so you never have to play outside of your skill or financial level. We run a lot of tournaments. And we have a sister site for online casino gaming. You can use your single account at either Juicy Stakes Poker or Juicy Stakes Casino.
