Avoid Common Beginner Poker Mistakes - Part 1

Poker is becoming more popular these days by the day, it seems that television stations are full of live poker tournaments. Just about every sports game you get to watch on the old tube has banners of online casinos and casino resorts in the background. All of these expenses on advertising seem to be paying off, especially to the online casino industry. According to some reports this industry is at 9 billion a year and is expected to grow up to 15 billion within the next year or so.

Many new players are joining the ranks of older, mature, and more experienced poker players. Poker players that have earned their battle scars, sort of speak. These newbies, or rookies seem to think that just by watching a few games on the television set they know it all. It takes long hours at the poker table to learn all the tricks of the trade. If you are one of these rookies, here are some tips for you to remember and follow. Basically, a list, of the do's and don'ts, because remember one thing, these old foxes at the table can read you right off the bat.

1. One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is playing in tough games. Beginners will often place themselves in games against competition they just can't handle. Rather than playing in smaller limit games, against opponents of comparable skill, they prefer to go head to head with the big boys. Try not to get to over confident right at the beginning, these big boy games are not like the games with your friends at home.

2. Playing too many hands is another common mistake. Rookies play more hands than they should, not understanding the importance of starting with premium hands in premium situations because faking hands does not work all the time. Pick up a book or two before sitting down to play, and you'll understand why 9-3 is a bad hand to start with, whether it's suited or not, there is no excuse for lacking fundamental poker knowledge.

3. Patience, patience and than, some more patience. The lack of patience will always get you. Playing poker means you will go through long periods of sheer boredom waiting for good cards. Rookies often don't have the patience to wait for quality cards out of boredom; they will start playing hands they know they should not be playing.

4. Drinking alcohol while playing is something that you might do at home while playing with the boys. But playing in a tournament or any casino environment you will need to have all of your concentration, and the little talent that you might have acquired until now with you in order to make quality decisions at the table. Remember that the casinos serve free alcohol at the table for a good reason. It will cloud your judgment and will have you making plays you should not have considered making in the first place.

5. Playing too many hours will affect your brain. At some point it will just cease to function well especially after 12 hours of sitting at the table playing poker. It is always best to get some rest, and come back sharp and fresh the next day, most beginners will end up playing too many hours trying to chase their money back or trying to be a pig about it and win some more. In the process, they end up throwing away all their winnings (if they gained some) and even more. Your mind will play tricks on you after playing for to many hours, and you will often convince yourself that you are playing well. Chances are, you might not.

source: Poker Articles at Hustle Cards

Avoid Common Beginner Poker Mistakes - Part 2

6. Bluffing too much and too often is an extremely common mistake rookies make. Most new players that have watched too many movies seem to have convinced themselves that poker is all about bluffing. Somehow, they think that if they just keep betting, everyone will fall into their bluff and get out of their way. The opposite is true. Experienced poker players catch on to the habitual bluffer very fast, and they use it against him.

7. Trying to look as the tough guy, or the big shot at the table by playing limits you can not afford is another common mistake. Nothing is more harmful to your confidence, and your bankroll, than gambling with your rent or bill money, basically with money you can not afford to gamble away. Due to the pressure this will create on you, you can not make smart decisions when you are worrying about how you are going to pay the rent if you will lose. It is always best for you to play within a budget you can afford.

8. When ahead at the game, you should not be in a hurry to take your winnings and run. There is no system for figuring out when you should keep on playing and when it is time to pack up and leave. The best is not to make a plan as far as when to leave. Many rookies seem to hit and run after very small wins, yet they continue to play when they are behind. When you are on a winning role, you have a powerful table presence and you should exploit that presence to the max. On the other hand when you are losing, that image at the table is tarnished and can have a negative effect on the way you play the game.

9. Over-blown egos will always get players, especially rookies. Remember that even if you were top tog player at home. The casino and especially the tournament scene is completely different and you are not as good as you might think you are. Once you realize that you do not know everything about poker is the day that you might start learning a thing or two and have a better chance at winning. It is always important to be objective about your poker abilities or disabilities as the case might be.

10. Playing after you have lost a few hands to the point that it damaged your faith or self confidence in your game, is not a good idea. Keep in mind that every poker player losses a few hands. The best thing to do is to just walk away ,clear your mind and come back when your confidence came back. A player that losses his confidence in his game yet continues to play will dig himself further in the hole, since he is not playing with a cool mind, and therefore with bad judgment.

Now that you have read these 10 key points for rookies to remember, let them soak in, memorize the does and don'ts and abide by them.

Source: Poker Articles at Hustle Cards

Drinking Alcohol and Playing Poker - Its Effects

If you are like most people, you are always looking for something extra to boost your edge in a game. If I'm playing online, I try to get that edge through table selection. There are generally hundreds of tables going on sites like Party Poker, so it's not hard to find a loose one. But if I'm playing with my friends I generally don't have that option. Now I'm not trying to say I'm unpopular, but getting several hundred games together would be a bit of a stretch.

But luckily there is an easy solution to making even a tight home game juicy. And that would be beer, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. Now if you haven't had the privilege of playing with drunken players you don't know what you are missing. No pair and no draw? Sounds good enough to call for them. Like they say, if you're trying to beat a game, skill can kill, but liquor is quicker.

So if you are organizing a home game, just make sure that the alcohol is flowing freely. In fact you might want to break it out before the game if you are waiting on someone. Often you can even subsidize all of your booze expenditures by having every one toss in a few extra bucks in the buy in.

So now that you've got your friends all liquored up how should you play against them? I recommend playing a loose, aggressive game. You want to see a lot of cheap flops, and when you do hit a hand bet it, because you will get called down. The value of preflop raise decreases if your opponents are drunk, because it is very hard to get them to lay down hands, so you don't want to invest a lot of money before you know what you have. Additionally bluffs are right out. There are very few mistakes that will cost you more than trying to bluff an intoxicated person out of a pot who is more than happy to call you down with A-7

There is some question of how ethical it is to use this method. After all they are your friends right? With that being said I would have no hesitation at all from taking 10-20 bucks away from a guy even if he didn't know which side of the card had the values, but I would cut them off from playing before they lost too much.

- source: Hustlecards.com

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