Today we’re going to take it back to fundamentals and talk about some of the biggest mistakes I still see people making at the poker table.
These are fundamentals that, if left unchecked, can completely derail your poker results. I find myself explaining them a lot these days as more people dive into the game.
Don’t Limp Preflop Unless You Have A Very Good Reason
Do not limp preflop. Now, I will admit there are times you can do it.
If you have a player at your table who loves isolation raising for the hell of it, and seems to not respect you for whatever reason, THEN you can limp reraise aces.
I have done that before, and I will do it again. That being said, a lot of people massively overestimate how much they should limp, especially when they’re first to act.
They think they do not want to get too invested with hands like pocket fives, pocket fours, or A-10 offsuit in early position. So instead, they limp with those hands and tell themselves that is the safest route.
But that is actually a dangerous way to play the hand. When you just limp, you tell people you do not have the better hands in your range because you most likely would have raised with aces, kings, queens, or jacks. If your opponents assume your limp is generally a mediocre hand, they are going to be right most of the time.
Instead, when you are raising from early position, make sure your hand plays well multiway because it is very likely you are going to end up in a multiway pot. Suited aces, suited broadways, suited connectors, and pocket pairs play well in multiway pots because they can draw to the nuts.
The hands that do poorly are hands like A-10 offsuit or K-J offsuit. Those should often be considered folds instead of limps, especially when you are likely to be dominated. If you are in later position, you can open those offsuit Broadway cards more often, but you still need to keep an eye on who is likely to three-bet behind you.
Don’t Donk Lead Into The Flop With Mediocre Pairs
A lot of people make this mistake. They call a raise out of the big blind, hit a mediocre top pair, second pair, or third pair, and then lead into the preflop raiser. But when they have two pair or a set, they check and try to trap.
The problem is that people have been making this play for about 20 years. A lot of opponents are going to read your small lead as weakness. They are going to attack it by raising, especially if they realize you are not making that lead with your best hands.
What you should usually do instead, is check many of your mediocre pairs and fold to significant aggression.
Why? Second or third pair is not that good of a hand. Neither is top pair with a weak kicker. You are not a bad poker player just because you lose with those hands on occasion.
Secondly, a lot of people are not going to triple barrel bluff nearly as much as they should. So you do not need to panic and try to protect yourself from every possible future bet.
The only time you should donk lead on the flop is with hands like sets or draws.
If you lead with a set and all hell breaks loose, that is actually great for you. I like that play. If you lead with a flush draw, that gives you a hand with equity that can continue bluffing on later streets.
But leading small with mediocre pairs is usually just giving people an easy target to attack.
Don’t Move All In Just Because You Want The Pot Now
Players will sometimes shove because they have decided, “Okay, this pot is big enough. I want to take what is in the middle.”
The problem is that when you do that, you often help your opponent play perfectly.
For example, you raise with K-10 offsuit and get called by the small blind and big blind. The board comes K♥7♠6♠.
It checks to you, you bet, and both players call. The turn is the 4♥. It checks to you again, and now you just move all in.
The problem is that hands like K-9 or K-8 can reasonably get away. But there is a very good chance your opponent calls with a better king.
The draws will likely fold. But a slowplayed two pair or a freak straight on the turn will call you.
Congratulations, you just helped your opponents play perfectly.
You need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Take these situations slowly. Do not force the hand just because the pot is already big and you want it to end.
Learn how to play A-K when it misses the flop!
Alexander Fitzgerald is a professional poker player and bestselling author who lives in Denver, Colorado. He is a WPT and EPT final tablist and has earned both WCOOP and SCOOP titles. He enjoys blasting bums away in online tournaments while he listens to death metal. Free training packages are provided to newsletter subscribers who sign up at PokerHeadRush.com.
