Small avoidable mistakes in NLHE?

Question

Do you guys have suggestions about small mistakes you can avoid? For example, today I had a pair of 2's in the small blind, and the flop came down Q T 4 rainbow. I pressed "check" by mistake, and the BB also checked. The next card was a 5, and then I bet. Luckily, he folded. Of course, maybe he did pair his 4, and then folded it when the 5 came down. But, if the 5 paired him, I was going to lose anyway.

Another one that happened today was when I had A6 hearts UTG. i limped in, and BB checked. He had A2, and hit trip deuces on the flop. My mistake there was both to even play that hand, and making it too cheap for other Ax's to get in.

You guys have anything to watch out for?

Answer 1

Actually, you played the pocket 2's well. You played them cheaply, then took a stab at the pot when your opponent showed weakness. In general, when you're playing online, especially for small stakes, when your opponent checks you bet. You'll win enough pots to make up for the times you are check-raised and have to fold.

I think the most common avoidable mistake people make playing poker is calling raises with hands that are easily dominated. JT, QJ, QT, KT, KJ and weak aces are all likely dominated when you're calling a raise. You could hit your hand and still lose. Stick to really good hands, and hands that make monsters (small pairs, suited connectors and suited aces and kings) when you can see the flop for cheap. Be prepared to fold most of the time on the flop when you don't hit your monster, though.

Check out Howard Lederer's dvd, More Secrets to No-Limit Holdem. He talks a lot about avoiding situations where you end up being dominated.

Actually, playing dominated hands is the second most mistake players make. The first is playing above your bankroll. Only play games where you can afford to lose. If you've only got $200 only bring $10 to the table at one time. It frees you up to play better poker. When you bring too much of your bankroll to the table at one time you can play scared. You can get unlucky, too. My brother once brought his whole bankroll to the table and said, "Don't worry, I'm gonna play tight." He got all his money in with AA and lots to QQ. Now he's broke.

Answer 2

well, i can't really help you avoid misclicks lol

really, i think you're being totally results oriented and overall pretty negative in your thinking...limping A-6 of hearts utg is not a mistake by any means if you have enough chips to be limping in, it's the type of hand you would like to get a cheap flop with, and the bb just happened to flop trips with a dominated hand

if you're looking for small mistakes to watch for that could end up being costly, watch out for chip stack errors...sometimes if you make a raise to 500 with a hand like A-10 and your opponent has 900 left, he'll move in on you with A-J, but then he says he would have folded if you just moved in for 900, not knowing that the two plays are essentially the same because you're going to commit his entire stack anyway...so always be aware of chips, if you're going to make a raise that's half of someone's stack and there's no one else behind you that has enough chips to hurt you, you might as well just put on the max pressure and go all-in

Answer 3

Good question, things we all do once in a while when we play and lose concentration.

I never preselect any action on the table, and wait for the action to hit me, take a good look and then decide what to do, even if I am holding rags preflop.

Playing the dueces was a good move, and yes, you missed the first bet. I may have raised the BB preflop with that, maybe 2x BB. A6 suited limping UTG is not a bad move, not one I would normally do, but you did end up having the BB dominated, and should have won. Normally, unless I have a serious monster,  I do not limp in UTG.

Here is a link to some common mistakes many players make. Take a look at the list and see if you have found yourself doing any of these.

http://www.thedoverpro.com/poker-pitfall...