Poker is a difficult game, and you are going to make mistakes all the time. That’s just the nature of the beast.
Even the best players in the world make mistakes – it’s unavoidable. However, if, on average, you make fewer mistakes than your opponents, you will win in the long run.
So, in this article, I’ll address five of the biggest mistakes small stakes players make. If you make any of these regularly, you’ll have a hard time succeeding in poker, which is why it’s essential to get rid of them as soon as possible.
#1 Overplaying Marginal Made Hands
A marginal made hand is something like a top pair with a weak kicker, a middle pair with a good kicker, or a pair of queens on a king-high board.
Too many players want to protect these hands, so they bet on the flop, which is fine. However, they then proceed to bet big on the turn because they want to make opponents fold all of their worse made hands and their draws.
What happens in this scenario, though, is that your opponents will continue with high-equity draws, and made hands like a top pair, two pair, trips, etc.
So, you should adjust your poker strategy in this segment by frequently checking behind on the turn. This allows you to bluff catch on many rivers with ease, as the plot doesn’t get bloated, and you keep your opponent’s range fairly wide.
#2 Being Too Entitled With Not Enough Grit
You will have bad runs in poker. This happens to all players, regardless of how good they are, and it’s something you need to be prepared for.
If running bad causes you to tilt and play poorly, you have very little chance of success.
Grit is the ability to play for a long period of time, get unlucky, lose, and then show up the next day and play your best game – over and over again.
One summer, I had zero cashes over 40 WSOP events. About 40 days in a row, I’d show up, play for several hours, and bust, with nothing to show for it.
I was lucky, though, as shortly after this bad run, I won a WPT tournament. I was able to do this because I’ve always been very gritty. This is true for every top poker player who succeeded over long term. You have to be fine with showing up, playing great, and losing.
As soon as you realize and accept this, you’ll be far better off.
#3 Not Thinking in Terms of Ranges
Most losing poker players care about their two specific hole cards. If you want to be difficult to play against, you have to learn to be balanced, playing and splitting your range logically, based on how the hand progresses.
You also want to stop putting opponents on an exact hand. Low stakes players often do this, putting their opponents on specific two cards, which is a big flaw.
You should be putting your opponents on a possible range of hands instead. This is easier said than done, but if you actively work on this, it will eventually become routine, and it will go a long way in helping you succeed in poker.
#4 Hero Calling Too Often on the River
This particular mistake stems from a mindset issue that many players have. You need to get rid of your ego and stop thinking that you need to see that they have it and that you were unlucky and outdrew you.
The simple fact is that people don’t bluff nearly often enough in small stakes games, especially on the river. They’ll get to the river with a king high or a seven high, and simply shut down, thinking there is no way they can get you to fold.
An easy exploit against the player pool in general, in small stakes, is to simply fold when the opponent wants to put a lot of money in on the river. You’ll make a lot of money by doing this.
#5 Not Defending Blinds Often Enough
When you are getting amazing odds, you need to fight hard for pots. When someone raises to two big blinds, and it folds to you in a big blind, any suited hand is good enough to call.
You shouldn’t be calling with your absolutely worst hands, but suited hands are actually great in these spots. Plus, you should also 3-bet with some suited and connected hands alongside your premiums.
Many players are afraid to play marginal stuff like K6 or 97o out of position, but getting good odds and closing the action, this is a great spot.
You don’t need to win these pots all that often to show profit. You are paying 1bb to win 5.5bb, so you only need around 18% equity. Thus, you can call with anything remotely reasonable, and you’ll be very profitable, especially against players who don’t triple-barrel bluff often enough.
If you can stop making these mistakes, you’ll start to develop a nice win rate in low stakes games, and that will go a long way in helping you win some actual money from poker!
