This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
If you want to quickly improve your poker game, preflop is usually a good place to start.
Preflop spots come up over and over again, so studying these spots is likely going to be more useful than studying river check-raising spots that come up once in a blue moon.
Another benefit of improving your preflop game is that it’s going to translate to easier post flop game as well.
By eliminating these common mistakes from your preflop game, you are guaranteed to see a dramatic improvement in your poker results.
Let’s get right into it.
Preflop Poker Mistake #1: Open-limping
Open-limping is one of the telltale signs of recreational poker players, aka the fish.
Open-limping means just paying the big blind instead of open-raising when you are the first player to enter the pot.
Example:
You have A♥️K♦️ and you are the first person in the pot. You decide to just call the blind.
This is different from limping behind, i.e. limping in when another player has already limped in front of you.
Limping behind can be a viable strategy at times, but open-limping should be avoided at all costs.
If you are the first player to enter the pot, you should do so with an open-raise, instead.
Here are a few key reasons why you should open-raise instead of open-limping:
a) To build up the pot
If you want to win big in poker, you need to win big pots. And the best way to do so is to build up a big pot with your strong value hands as soon as possible.
The bigger the pot you build preflop, the easier it is going to be to ship the rest of your stack in the middle post flop.
This has to do with pot geometry. Failing to build up a pot preflop leads to a vastly smaller pot when you get to showdown (unless you’re overbetting, which is not necessarily the best way to get value from strong hands).
To overbet means to use bet sizing that’s bigger than the current pot size.
So failing to build up the pot preflop can spell the difference between taking down a mediocre pot and totally stacking your opponent.
Check out my other article on preflop bet sizing for the exact amounts to raise by the way.
b) To avoid multiway pots
When you limp in, you’re inviting other players to limp behind you, which can lead to a lot of multiway pots.
A multiway pot is a pot with 3 or more players involved.
The more opponents in the pot, the harder it is for you to win, because every additional opponent will have some chunk of equity against you.
Even if you have a very strong hand like a premium pocket pair, your hand equity goes down considerably with each additional opponent.
Ideally, you want to see the flop against only one, maybe two opponents.
This is going to make it much easier to win the pot post flop, either by making the best hand, or by pushing your opponent out of the pot with a well-timed bluff.
c) To get initiative
If you are the preflop aggressor (meaning you open-raise preflop and get called), you are perceived to have the strongest hand.
This gives you the initiative to continue the aggression post flop in the form of a continuation bet (or c-bet for short).
A c-bet is a bet made by the previous street’s aggressor.
C-bets are usually profitable, so you should be inclined to make one on most flops unless there’s a good reason not to do so.
Check out my ultimate flop strategy "cheat sheet" for much more.
If you open-limp, on the other hand, you won’t have the opportunity to make a c-bet, which means it’s going to be harder for you to win the pot.
d) To avoid getting raised yourself
A lot of amateur poker players like to limp in because they want to see a cheap flop, but this plan often ends up backfiring.
If you open-limp, you’re inviting other players to raise you, meaning you often won’t have the opportunity to see a cheap flop.
It’s usually cheaper (and a lot more profitable) to make an open-raise yourself.
Not only do you need to only put one bet in when you open-raise yourself, you also get the other benefits of being the preflop aggressor.
Being the preflop aggressor is statistically more profitable over the long run than being the preflop caller.
This is something I wish I knew before starting poker, as I discussed in a recent video.
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Preflop Poker Mistake #2: Playing Too Many Hands
If you want to improve in poker quickly, the best way to go about it is to simply play less hands.
Playing too many hands is one of the most common amateur poker mistakes, but fortunately, it’s one of the easiest ones to fix, as well.
In no-limit hold’em, most hands miss most flops (2 out of 3 times, to be precise).
This means that the more hands you play, the more often you’re going to miss the flop completely.
And since you have to pay money every time to see the flop, the more flops you see, the more money you lose over the long run.
And no, the times you do hit the flop are not going to make up for all the misses.
That’s because not all hands in no-limit hold’em are created equal.
Some starting hands have a lot better chance to connect with the flop than others.
So the “trick” is to only play strong starting hands that have a reasonable chance of connecting with the board in some meaningful way.
Here’s a brief overview of starting poker hands you should play preflop:
a) pocket pairs (AA through 22)
b) suited Aces (AKs through A2s)
c) suited connectors (hands like JTs, 98s, 87s etc.)
b) broadway hands (high cards that can make the strongest possible straight, like AJ or KQ).
These hands make up for roughly the top 20% of all starting hands in no-limit hold’em.
These hands make up for roughly the top 20% of all starting hands in no-limit hold’em.
The rest is trash and should be thrown away.
Take this list with a grain of salt, of course.
It’s not an exhaustive list by any means. It’s just a rough guideline on certain hand categories that are likely going to be profitable over the long run.
The actual number of hands you should play is going to depend on a lot of different factors, namely your table position, the stack sizes, your opponent’s playing tendencies, the previous action and so on.
If you want to know EXACTLY which hands you should play preflop, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
Now, folding close to 80% of all starting hands may seem boring, and fair enough.
If you just want to have fun, you can play just about any starting hand that’s dealt to you.
You just can’t expect to win any money over the long run this way.
If you want to make money consistently in this game, you’ll need to endure a bit of boredom from time to time. It’s a fair tradeoff as far as I’m concerned.
Again, the top 20% of hands outlined above are only a rough guideline.
You can play a lot more hands in later table positions (namely the cutoff and the button).
The closer you are to the button, the better the chance you have to play in position post flop, which means you can open-raise with a wider range.
To play in position means being the last player to act in a betting round.
This brings us to another common amateur poker mistake, which is calling out of position with weak hands.
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Preflop Poker Mistake #3: Calling Out of Position With Weak Hands
As a general rule, calling is the last option you should consider preflop.
You should see most flops as the preflop aggressor. This means open-raising and 3-betting preflop.
Being the preflop aggressor is statistically more profitable than being the preflop caller.
If you’re using a hand tracking software like PokerTracker 4, you can check these stats yourself.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a calling range preflop at all.
It just means you should be aware that calling preflop will put you at a disadvantage throughout the rest of the hand.
This is especially the case if you’re playing out of position.
It’s very hard to play your hand profitably as a preflop caller when playing out of position.
That’s because you usually have to react to continuation bets from your opponent, which is going to make it harder for you to realize your equity.
Of course, you have the option of betting into the preflop aggressor, thus denying them the opportunity to make a c-bet.
When you bet into the previous street’s aggressor out of position, this is known as a donk bet.
While there are certainly spots where donk betting can work, it’s usually not the best play.
That’s because you are betting into a theoretically stronger range.
If you are the preflop caller, your range is capped, meaning there’s an upper limit of hand strength you can theoretically hold.
A capped range means it’s unlikely that you have strong hands like pocket Aces, pocket Kings, Ace-King and so on, because you would likely 3-bet those hands instead of calling.
On the other hand, the preflop aggressor’s range is uncapped, meaning they theoretically could have all these strong hands in their range.
This is one of the reasons donk-betting is usually not a good idea.
A better alternative is to check-call or check-raise instead.
A check-raise in particular is a very strong play you can make to offset your positional disadvantage.
While check-raising is a great line to add to your arsenal, you should still keep in mind that calling preflop is not likely to be profitable over the long run.
This is especially the case if you happen to call with a lot of mediocre hands that could easily be dominated.
A dominated hand is the one that’s unlikely to win against a stronger hand, due to an inferior kicker.
A kicker is the card in your hand that doesn’t help you make a certain hand combination, but can often determine the winner if both players have the same combination.
For example, if both players have a pair of Aces, the player with the stronger kicker wins the hand.
Playing hands with weak kickers can often get you in trouble because the most common combination you’re going to make in no-limit hold’em is one pair.
This means the kickers could often determine the winner of the hand, so you want to avoid playing hands with mediocre to bad kickers.
This is especially the case in 3-bet pots.
When somebody 3-bets you, their range is going to be heavily weighted towards premium pocket pairs and strong broadways.
So it can be a huge mistake to call with a hand that can be easily dominated by your opponent’s 3-betting range.
Preflop Poker Example Hand #1
You are dealt Q♦J♣ in the CO (cutoff).
You open-raise to 2.5 BB. A tight and aggressive (TAG) player 3-bets to 11 BB from the SB (small blind).
You: ???
You should fold.
In this spot, your hand will often be dominated by a number of stronger hands in your opponent’s range, like AQ, KQ, AJ, as well as all the strong pocket pairs.
There might be some bluffs that you’re potentially ahead of, but these are going to account for a smaller part of your opponent’s overall range.
When a tight and aggressive player 3-bets you, you should usually give them credit, and assume they’re not going to 3-bet you with any random 2 hands.
One factor that’s working in your favour is the fact that you’re playing in position.
But if you want to make a case for calling here, it would be better to do so with slightly stronger hands that could perform better in 3-bet pots.
Of course, if you know that your opponent is 3-betting too liberally, or if you think you can outplay them on future streets, you can certainly make a case for calling in similar spots.
But if not, it’s usually better to err on the side of caution and simply save yourself the trouble.
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Preflop Poker Mistake #4: 3-Betting the Minimum Amount
A 3-bet is a re-raise against another player’s open-raise.
Example:
Somebody raises to $5 and you re-raise to $20 with K♥️K♦️
A 3-bet is a powerful weapon you can add to your preflop arsenal, but it’s only effective if you do it the right way.
A lot of amateur poker players make the mistake of 3-betting the minimum amount, which is a terrible play for a few reasons.
In poker, there are two main reasons to put money into the pot: you can either bet for value or as a bluff.
If you’re betting for value, you’re trying to get called by a lot of weaker hands. When you’re bluffing, you’re trying to get the stronger hands to fold.
3-betting the minimum amount accomplishes none of the two, so you should avoid doing it altogether.
Let’s consider 3-betting for value first.
If you have a strong hand like a premium pocket pair, for example, 3-betting the minimum amount means leaving a lot of money at the table.
If you have a strong value hand, you should try to build up the pot quickly while your hand is likely ahead of your opponent’s calling range.
Also, building a big pot preflop will make it easier for you to ship the rest of your stack in the middle post flop.
If you only 3-bet the minimum amount, it’s going to lead to a vastly undersized pot on the flop, meaning it’s going to be harder for you to stack your opponents.
Also, 3-betting the minimum amount gives other players the incentive to come along for the ride, because they will be getting good pot odds on a call.
So when some players are complaining about constantly getting their Aces cracked, for example, one of the reasons might be the fact that they’re failing to “thin the herd preflop”, and they’re inviting in a lot of multiway pots.
3-betting the minimum amount is even worse if you’re doing it as a bluff.
When you’re bluffing, you’re trying to induce your opponent to fold. And nobody is ever going to fold to a min 3-bet, because it makes no mathematical sense.
When you 3-bet the minimum amount, your opponent can call you down profitably with basically any 2 cards, because they are getting such a good price on a call.
And again, each additional caller is going to incentivize other players to come along for the ride, as well.
So which 3-bet sizing should you choose instead?
The optimal 3-bet sizing is going to depend on the situation, but as a general rule, you should size up your 3-bet to 3 times the open-raise when you’re playing in position, and 4 times the open-raise if you’re playing out of position.
So if a player open-raises to 3 BB, you should 3-bet to 9 BB if you’re playing in position, and 12 BB if you’re playing out of position.
The reason why it’s a good idea to size up your 3-bets when playing out of position is that you want to charge your opponents a premium if they want the pleasure of playing a pot in position against you.
You’re letting them know that if they want to play in position against you, they’re going to have to pay up.
Also, sizing up your 3-bets leads to smaller effective stack sizes post flop, which makes the post flop play easier when you’re playing out of position.
Again, this is just a general guideline, and you can deviate from this bet sizing depending on the circumstances.
But if you want to deviate from this bet sizing, it’s better to go bigger, rather than smaller, for the reasons mentioned above.
For example, if you have a strong value hand and you are up against recreational players who love to call a lot, why not bet bigger and charge them more.
This is a form of exploitative bet sizing you can use to maximize profits against weaker competition.
To learn how to get max value from your strong hands, check out my book, Crushing the Microstakes.
Preflop Poker Example Hand #2
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt Q♥Q♠ in the SB (small blind). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB from the CO (cutoff). BU (button) calls.
You: ???
You should 3-bet to (at least) 11 BB.
In this spot, you should look to increase your 3-betting size, especially if at least one of the players involved happens to be a recreational player.
You have a great value hand, and you can comfortably get called by a lot of weaker hands.
Since you will be playing the hand out of position, you should 3-bet to at least 4 times the open-raise.
However, due to the involvement of the preflop caller in the hand, you can bump up your 3-bet size to 11 or 12 big blinds.
If the preflop caller is a fish, you can increase your 3-bet even further!
When there is at least one caller of the open-raise, your 3-bet is called a squeeze.
Check out my other article for a full preflop squeezing guide.
Preflop Poker Mistake #5: Disregarding the Pot Odds
We’ve already established that you should get to most flops as the preflop aggressor, meaning you shouldn’t call too often preflop, especially with easily dominated hands.
However, you can still call preflop profitably if you’re getting decent pot odds on a call.
A lot of amateur poker players make the mistake of only considering their hole cards when deciding whether or not they should get involved in the hand.
Your actual hole cards are important, but they’re just one of many factors you should consider when playing.
That’s because the range of hands you can play profitably depends greatly on other factors, like your table position, opponents you’re facing, the previous action, the effective stack size and so on.
Only after you consider these factors can you determine whether or not your hand is actually worth playing.
One such factor that often gets overlooked by amateur poker players is the pot odds.
Simply put, the pot odds represent the ratio between the pot size and the price you need to call to continue playing the hand.
The pot odds are expressed as a ratio, like 2:1, 3:1 and so on.
The first, bigger number represents the pot size, while the second number (which is always 1) represents the price of a call.
To calculate the pot odds, simply divide the pot size with the price of a call to get a ratio.
For example, let’s say the pot size is $100 and your opponent bets $50.
After your opponent’s bet, the pot size is $150, and the price of the call is $50.
So when you divide 150 by 50, you get 3, so you’re getting 3:1 odds on a call.
The pot odds represent the risk to reward ratio.
The better the pot odds you’re getting, the more often you can continue playing the hand and vice versa.
You can use the pot odds to figure out how much hand equity you need to continue playing the hand profitably.
Your hand equity refers to the percentage chance of you winning the pot if both players flipped their cards over and went to showdown.
To figure out how much equity you need, you can turn the pot odds into a percentage.
You do this by adding the two numbers in a ratio, then dividing 100 by the result.
For example, if you are getting 3:1 odds, you add 3 + 1 = 4
100 / 4 = 25
So when you’re getting 3:1 odds, you need 25% equity to break even on a call.
If you have more than that, your call has positive expected value (it’s +EV). If you have less than that, your call is -EV.
Of course, you can’t know your exact equity in the hand, since you can’t actually see your opponent’s hole cards.
But you can still try to narrow down your opponent’s range and get a rough estimate on your equity, then compare it to the pot odds you’re getting.
Preflop Poker Example Hand #3
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt J♥9♥ in the BB (big blind).
Villain open-raises to 3 BB from MP (middle position). BU (button) calls. SB (small blind) calls.
You: ???
You should call.
In this spot, you don’t have an amazing hand, but it’s still far from unplayable.
But other than your hand strength, the bigger factor that determines you should continue playing the hand is the pot odds.
Let’s calculate the pot odds you’re getting in this spot.
Villain open-raises to 3 BB and gets 2 callers, and you’ve already posted 1 big blind.
So the pot size is 10 big blinds, and you need to call 2 big blinds to continue the hand.
In this spot, you’re getting 5:1 odds on a call, so you need roughly 17% hand equity to call profitably.
Just to clarify, the pot odds tell you whether or not your call is profitable RIGHT NOW.
This means the pot odds don’t take the future streets into account, and don’t consider the amount of money that can potentially enter the pot later on in the hand.
This is where the implied odds come in.
Implied odds tell you how much money you can potentially win on future streets, so they take into account the potential future actions of your opponents.
The difference between the pot odds and the implied odds is that the pot odds are precise, while implied odds require a bit of guesswork.
Check out my poker odds cheat sheet for much more.
5 Preflop Poker Mistakes Fish Always Make - Summary
You don’t need to study a bunch of advanced poker strategy to improve your preflop game.
All you need to do is stay disciplined with your starting hand selection, and avoid some common preflop mistakes that could get you in a lot of trouble.
To sum up, here are 5 common preflop poker mistakes you should avoid at all cost:
1. Open-limping
When you open-limp, you can’t win the pot preflop, you’re failing to build up the pot with your strong value hands, you can’t make a c-bet on the flop, and you risk getting raised yourself.
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, always do so with an open-raise instead.
2. Playing too many hands
You should only play hands that have a decent chance of connecting with the flop in some meaningful way.
This includes pocket pairs, strong broadway hands, suited Aces and suited connectors.
The rest is trash and should be thrown away.
3. Calling with easily dominated hands
As a general rule, calling is the last option you should consider preflop. This is especially the case if you’re calling with hands that are easily dominated due to a weak kicker.
The most common combination you’re going to make in no-limit hold’em is one pair, so a kicker can often determine the winner of the hand.
4. 3-betting the minimum amount
3-betting the minimum amount makes no mathematical sense. If you’re 3-betting for value, 3-betting the minimum means leaving money on the table.
If you’re 3-betting as a bluff, nobody is ever going to fold to a minimum 3-bet.
You should size up your 3-bets to at least 3 times the open-raise when playing in position, and 4 times the open-raise when playing out of position.
5. Disregarding the pot odds
The pot odds are the ratio between the pot size and the price you need to call to continue playing the hand.
The better the pot odds you’re getting, the more often you can continue playing the hand and vice versa.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at email@franferlan.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
Lastly, if you want to know the complete strategy I use to make $2000+ per month in small/mid stakes games, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
