.jpg "7 Texas Hold'em Mistakes Fish Always Make")
This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
Experienced poker players can easily spot weaker players (aka the fish) right away.
That’s because poker fish make a lot of predictable mistakes you can spot a mile away.
In this article, we’ll go over 7 common amateur poker mistakes.
Make sure to eliminate these common leaks from your game, but also be on the lookout for these mistakes in your opponents.
Let’s get right into it.
Texas Hold'em Mistake #1: Open-limping
Open-limping is one of the telltale signs of recreational poker players.
To open-limp means to just pay the big blind instead of making an open-raise when you’re the first player to enter the pot.
Example:
You have A♥Q♥ in a $1/$2 games and you just call $2.
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, you should do so with an open-raise.
Here’s 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 it is to build up the pot as quickly as possible with your strong hands.
The bigger the pot you build preflop, the easier it is to ship the rest of your stack in the middle post flop.
b) to avoid multiway pots
A multiway pot is a pot with more than two players involved.
The more players involved in the pot, the harder it is for you to win the hand, because every player will have some chunk of equity against your hand.
For example, let’s say you are dealt pocket Aces, the strongest starting hand in no-limit hold’em.
Against one opponent with a random hand, you have 85% equity.
But against 3 opponents with random hands, your hand equity falls to only about 64%.
So when players are complaining about constantly getting their Pocket Aces cracked, one of the reasons may be the fact that they didn’t “thin the field” enough preflop.
c) to get initiative
If you are the preflop raiser, you have the option to continue applying the aggression post flop in the form of a continuation bet (or c-bet for short).
C-bets are usually profitable, so you should be inclined to make one on most flops unless there’s a specific reason not to do so.
d) to steal the blinds
If you open-raise, you can sometimes win the pot outright preflop if all your opponents fold.
If you open-limp, on the other hand, you’re giving the players in the blinds no incentive to fold their hand, which means you can’t win the pot preflop.
At its core, poker is all about blind stealing.
The blinds stimulate the action and give players a reason to put additional money in the pot.
By learning to steal a few blinds here and there, you can easily improve your bottom line, even if you don’t have a particularly strong hand.
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Texas Hold'em Mistake #2: Donk Betting
To donk bet means to bet into the previous street’s aggressor when you’re playing out of position.
Example:
You call preflop in the blinds with A♣K♦ and bet out on a flop of 9♥8♣2♥
Donk betting is not a standard play in most situations, and it’s usually done by recreational poker players.
For example, you’re in the big blind, button open-raises and you call. On the flop you bet out of position instead of checking to the open-raiser.
There’s nothing wrong with donk betting per se, as there are certain spots where donk betting may be a viable play.
But for the most part, it’s usually done by weaker players who don’t really know what they’re doing.
Some amateur poker players may donk bet to “see where they stand in the hand”.
Others may donk bet because they have a weak or a marginal hand, so they donk bet to push their opponents out of the pot.
And some may donk bet because they really don’t know what to do with their hand, so they donk and hope for the best.
There may be other reasons why recreational players donk bet, but it’s usually one of, or a combination of reasons outlined above.
But these reasons aren’t good enough to justify donk betting.
In poker, there are two main reasons to bet. You can either bet for value, or bet as a bluff.
When 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 stronger hands to fold.
Donk betting is usually not the best way to achieve any of these goals.
A much better alternative is to check-raise (either for value or as a bluff).
When you check-raise for value, it’s a lot easier to build up the pot and capture more money in the middle.
When you check-raise as a bluff, your line looks much stronger than donk-betting, so it’s more likely to give your opponent pause and compel them to actually fold their hand.
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Texas Hold'em Mistake #3: Slowplaying in Wrong Spots
To slowplay means to play your strong hands passively (to check and call) instead of aggressively (bet or raise) in order to conceal your hand strength.
Example:
You call with 6♦6♥, flop comes K♠6♣4♠ and you check/call.
While slowplaying can be an insanely profitable strategy in the right spots, a lot of the times it just means leaving money at the table.
When you slowplay, you’re essentially relying on your opponent to build up the pot for you.
This can be a great strategy if your opponent is overly aggressive and likely to do all your betting for you.
But in most low stakes games, players usually tend to play too passively, which means you can’t really rely on them to build up the pot.
If you have a strong value hand, your best bet is usually to build up the pot yourself.
A lot of amateur poker players are under the impression that winning poker is all about deceiving your opponents.
While deception plays a big role in the game, it’s not really the whole story.
Winning poker is all about making sound, informed decisions based on the information you have available.
And when you’re playing in low stakes games, it’s more about capitalizing on the mistakes of your opponents, while making sure you’re not making any mistakes of your own.
In most low stakes games, players will usually:
a) play too passively and
b) overcall.
To overcall means to call more often than would be considered “optimal”.
This usually comes in the form of chasing too many draws or clinging on to mediocre hands for far too long.
So in most low stakes games, the best strategy is to actually play your hands very straightforwardly.
This means betting and raising big with your strong hands, and letting your opponents make the mistake of calling you down with weaker hands they just can’t seem to fold.
In poker, most of the money you’ll make will come from your strong value hands where your opponent has a weaker hand that’s willing to give you action.
So most of the money you make in this game won’t come from “trapping” or outwitting your opponents, but from your opponent’s mistakes.
Of course, if you’re facing a very aggressive player that’s likely to try to bluff you or is likely to overestimate their hand strength if you slowplay, go for it!
But again, these situations are going to be more of an exception than the rule.
If you have a strong hand and you’re playing out of position, checking will often just result in your opponent checking behind.
This can be a disaster if you have a strong, but vulnerable hand on the flop, for example.
If you slowplay in a spot like this, you’re allowing your opponent to catch up and outdraw you on future streets.
In other words, you’re allowing your opponent to realize their equity for free.
If your opponent wants to chase draws, for example, you need to make them pay for the pleasure of doing so.
Texas Hold'em Example Hand
$1/$2 Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt 7♥7♠ in the BB (big blind). Villain open-raises to $6 from MP (middle position). You call.
Pot: $13
Flop: A♦J♦7♠
You check. Villain bets $7.
You: ???
You should raise to $25.
In this spot, check-raising is likely to be a better option than check-calling. There’s no reason to try to get fancy and slowplay in this spot.
First of all, you have a clear value betting hand, because you can get called by a number of weaker hands.
If you check-raise, you can easily get action by hands like AK, AJ, KQ, KT, as well as a number of different flush draws.
This means your best bet is to build up the pot while your hand is likely ahead of your opponent’s calling range.
The only hands that beat you here are stronger sets, but there’s only 6 combos of those hands, so the hands that beat you only make up a tiny part of your opponent’s overall range.
Another reason to fastplay in this spot is that a lot of turn cards can potentially kill the action.
For example, any diamond, any King or Queen might make your opponent more apprehensive about putting additional money in the pot if they have a medium strength hand like one pair or two pair.
The problem with check-calling on this flop is the fact that it’s going to be harder to build up the pot on future streets.
On the turn, you’ll have the option to go for a check-raise or a donk bet.
As mentioned, donk betting is not ideal because it may make your opponent aware that you actually have a strong hand.
Check-raising is likely a better option, but there’s nothing stopping your opponent from checking back, which prevents the pot from growing further.
For these reasons, it’s better to just try to build up the pot right away and take away the initiative from your opponent.
These days, it takes more than waiting around for the nuts to be a profitable long term winner in this game.
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Texas Hold'em Mistake #4: Playing Suited Junk
Another common amateur poker mistake is playing too many suited hands just because they’re suited.
Example: K♦3♦ or J♥4♥
A number of amateur poker players will play just about any random suited hand for the prospect of catching a flush post flop.
But this is hardly a profitable long term strategy.
That’s because it’s very unlikely to make a flush in no-limit hold’em.
The chance of flopping a flush with a suited hand is only 0.8%.
You have a better chance of flopping a flush draw, but this is still far from likely.
The chance of flopping a flush draw with a suited hand is only about 11%.
And even then, you still have to hit one of your outs on future streets.
Another problem with playing suited junk is the fact that you’re not drawing to the strongest possible flush.
This means you have to take the reverse implied odds into account.
Implied odds refer to the amount of money you can potentially earn on future streets if you complete your draw.
Reverse implied odds refer to the amount of money you stand to lose if you complete your draw, but your opponent ends up with an even stronger hand.
Let’s take a hand like J4s as an example, a textbook suited junk hand.
Even if you make a flush, you can still potentially lose to any suited Ace, King, or Queen of the same suit.
That’s an insane number of potential combos to worry about.
Of course, if you play weaker suited hands, the number of potential combinations that beat you go up even further.
For this reason, it’s best to play hands that have something else going for them apart from being suited.
For example, suited connectors have an ability to make both straights and flushes postflop, which gives them better playability.
And suited Aces have the ability to make the nut flush, i.e. the strongest possible flush.
This means you don’t have to worry about reverse implied odds when you flop a flush draw with a suited Ace.
Bottom line: if you play suited junk, most of the time you will either miss the flop completely, or make a mediocre flush with the risk of having only the second best hand.
Texas Hold'em Example Hand
$1/$2 Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt J♥6♥ in the CO (cutoff). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB from MP (middle position).
You: ???
You should fold.
Calling preflop is rarely going to be a profitable play, and this spot is no exception.
As mentioned, it’s not likely you will make a flush post flop, and even if you do, your opponent can still have a stronger flush.
Apart from the possibility of making a mediocre flush, your hand has very little going for it in terms of playability.
Even if you flop a top pair, you still have a weak kicker and tons of overcards to dodge on future streets.
What’s more, calling preflop leaves you vulnerable to getting 3-bet squeezed.
A squeeze is a 3-bet when there has been at least one caller preflop.
For example, one player open-raises, two players call, then you 3-bet. In this situation, you’re 3-bet squeezing.
Check out my other article on 3-bet squeezing to learn how to steal a bunch of “dead money” from weaker opponents.
If you face a 3-bet, you’ll just have to fold your hand, because you can’t really call a 3-bet with J6s.
So it’s better to just save a few big blinds and fold your hand right away.
Texas Hold'em Mistake #5: Buying in for Minimum Amount
This one only applies to cash game players.
When you’re playing cash games, you have the option of choosing your buyin amount when you first sit down to play.
On most tables, the standard buyin is 100 big blinds.
But some tables offer the option to buy in for less than 100 big blinds.
However, you should disregard this option and always buy in for 100 big blinds at least.
If you buy in for less than 100 big blinds, you’re basically announcing to the table that you’re not really confident in your playing abilities.
This can put a target on your back even before you start playing.
Some players buy in for less than the table maximum because they’re not comfortable losing their whole buyin.
But this is not the best approach to take.
When playing poker, losing some money from time to time is inevitable.
So if you’re not totally comfortable losing your whole buyin (or a couple of them, for that matter), it’s a good sign you should probably drop down in stakes.
If live cash games are too cost prohibitive for you, you can try different poker formats like low stakes tournaments or sit-and-gos.
Alternatively, you can play online cash games, where the you can buyin for as little as 2 or 5 dollars (this is referred to as NL2 and NL5).
Playing the microstakes cash games is a great way to practice your skills and learn the basic winning poker strategy.
For a step-by-step guide on how to win at microstakes quickly, check out my book, Crushing The Microstakes.
Texas Hold'm Mistake #6: Betting the Minimum Amount
Out of all fishy poker mistakes on this list, this is probably the most egregious one.
To min-bet means to bet a minimum amount into the pot, and it’s usually done by recreational poker players online.
Example:
Pot is $10 and a fish bets $1.
This is usually a telltale sign of a player who is just clicking buttons and doesn’t really know what they are doing.
Betting one big blind into a 50 big blinds pot makes zero mathematical or strategic sense.
As mentioned, there are 2 main reasons to put money into the pot: either value or bluff.
If you’re value betting, why would you only bet the minimum?
And if you’re bluffing, nobody is ever going to fold to a min-bet if they’re getting a zillion to one odds on a call.
Min-betting is particularly egregious when it’s done by a player playing in position.
If you min-bet in position, you’re reopening the action to players who’ve checked to you.
This means you’re giving them the opportunity to check-raise you and push you out of the pot.
Some players may use a min-bet as a form of a blocker bet.
A blocker bet is a small out of position bet made with the intention of preventing your opponent from making an even bigger bet.
The idea is that your opponent may be more inclined to simply flat call your small bet instead of making a bigger bet themselves.
A blocker bet can be used to either get a free next card, or to see a cheap showdown.
But if you do decide to make a blocker bet, you should size it up to somewhere between 20% and 33% of the pot.
This is sufficient to actually give your opponent pause, but not so big that you’re risking more chips than necessary.
If you’re confused about which bet sizing to use in different spots, check out my ultimate post flop bet sizing cheat sheet.
Texas Hold'em Mistake #7: Calling Too Much
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, you should do so with an open-raise.
But if another player open-raises before you, you have the option to either 3-bet or call.
To 3-bet preflop means to raise against another player's open-raise.
As a general rule, calling is the last option you should consider preflop.
You want to get to most flops as the preflop aggressor by either open-raising or 3-betting most of your hands.
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.
Calling preflop puts you at at a disadvantage throughout the rest of the hand.
If you call preflop, you don’t have the opportunity to make a continuation bet on the flop.
The preflop raiser also has the range advantage, meaning they theoretically have more strong hands in their range than the preflop caller.
So if you miss the flop as the preflop caller, you will usually just have to fold to c-bets from your opponents.
Even if you make some sort of a mediocre hand like top pair, weak kicker or middle pair, it’s going to be very hard to call your opponent down all the way to showdown.
This means it’s going to be harder for you to realize your hand equity as the preflop caller.
Your hand equity refers to the percentage chance of winning the hand if your hand goes to showdown.
This is especially important if you’re playing out of position.
When playing out of position, you’re going to have a hard time fully realizing your equity, because you’ll often be forced to fold your hand before getting to showdown.
For example, let’s say you flop a top pair hand with a mediocre kicker.
Are you really going to be comfortable calling your opponent down through multiple streets with such a mediocre hand?
The answer is usually going to be no.
With all this in mind, you can still have a calling range preflop.
But calling preflop should still be more of an exception than the rule.
For example, if you’re getting good pot odds and/or implied odds on a call, calling can be a viable option to consider.
Texas Hold'em Example Hand
You are dealt 8♦6♦ in the SB (small blind). Villain open-raises in MP (middle position).
You: ???
You should fold.
In this spot, calling is unlikely to be +EV for a few reasons.
First of all, you’re going to be playing the hand out of position, which will make it harder for you to realze your equity.
Secondly, you’re not closing the action preflop, because you still have another player left to act.
You run the risk of the big blind making a 3-bet squeeze, in which case you’re going to be forced to fold your hand.
Calling a 3-bet with 86s when playing out of position is unlikely to be a profitable play over the long run.
Even if the big blind just flat calls, you’re going to be put in an awkward spot, because you’ll be playing out of position against multiple opponents with a mediocre hand at best.
Even if you manage to smash the board and make a strong combination like a straight or a flush, it’s going to be hard to win a huge pot due to the positional disadvantage.
For these reasons, it’s best to just fold your hand outright and wait for more profitable spots.
If you want to know when it's actually ok to call preflop, check out my ultimate preflop calling cheat sheet.
7 Obvious Texas Hold'em Mistakes Fish Always Make - Summary
Improving your poker game takes time, but you don’t need to learn a lot of advanced poker strategy to achieve decent results in this game.
All you need to do is eliminate costly mistakes from your game, and learn to recognize and exploit mistakes in your opponent’s game.
To sum up, here are 7 costly poker mistakes a lot of amateur poker players are guilty of.
1. Open-limping
Open-raising is preferable to open-limping because it allows you to build up a pot with your strong hands, it gives you initiative in the hand, and it allows you to win a few pots preflop if you make all the other players fold.
Open-limping accomplishes none of the above, so ditch this play from your arsenal altogether.
2. Donk betting
To donk bet means to bet out of position against the previous street’s aggressor.
While donk betting can be a viable strategy at times, check-calling or check-raising will be a better alternative in most scenarios.
3. Slowplaying in wrong spots
Slowplaying can be an effective strategy if you can rely on your opponent to build up the pot for you.
But in most low stakes games where players tend to play too passively, your best bet is to just build up a big pot with your strong hands yourself, and let your opponents make the mistake of overcalling.
4. Playing suited junk
Making a flush in no-limit hold’em is a rare occurrence, so most of the time you’ll just be throwing your money away if you play any suited hand.
Even if you manage to hit a flush, you can still potentially lose to a stronger flush, which means you need to take the reverse implied odds into account.
5. Buying in for a minimum amount
If you buy in for a minimum amount in cash games, you’re announcing to the whole table that you’re not really confident in your playing abilities.
If you’re not comfortable with losing your whole stack at any given moment, it’s a good sign you should probably drop down in stakes.
6. Betting the minimum amount
Betting a minimum amount into a big pot makes zero mathematical or strategic sense.
If you want to bet small as a sort of a blocker bet, it’s best to size it up to around 20% to 33% of the pot instead.
7. Calling too much preflop
As a general rule, calling is the last option you should consider preflop. Being the preflop caller is significantly less profitable than being the preflop raiser.
You can still have a calling range preflop if other options (open-raising or 3-betting) don’t make sense, and/or you’re getting good pot odds or implied odds on a call.
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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.
