Ten Common and Costly Hold'em Errors, Part I - Common preflop errors in limit hold'em

by Barry Tanenbaum | Published: Jun 28, 2005

In 2003, I conducted a seminar for the World Poker Players Conference called "Ten Common and Costly Hold'em Errors." In spite of that, I still see a lot of people making those very same errors, so I am going to share them in this series of columns.

Please understand that they are not the "Top 10" errors I see. Many of them, such as playing far too many hands or bluffing excessively, are frequently discussed here and elsewhere. The ones I discuss here are errors that experienced players seem to make repeatedly, from low limits through at least the middle limits that I play ($20-$40 through $80-$160). I'll present the complete list and then discuss each point individually in a series of columns.

Preflop:

1. Calling raises with inadequate values

2. Raising from the blinds with the wrong hands

On the Flop:

3. Improper betting from the button 4. Raising with draws when next to act

5. Playing small pairs after the flop

On the Turn:

6. Not betting/raising with the best hand 7. Calling raises with one pair

8. Not taking the free card

On the River:

9. Not betting when leading out throughout the hand 10. Not betting after making your hand

In this column, I will discuss in detail the two errors on the flop.

1. Calling raises with inadequate values: To excel at poker, you must understand the people as well as the cards. As a result, the type of hand you need to call a raise will vary with your perception of the raiser. If a very tight player raises, particularly from early position, you will need a very strong hand to continue, but if a player with looser standards raises, you might reduce your playing standards, as well.

This does not mean that if your hand is as good as his, you should play. Your hand needs to be a great deal better than his minimum hand, and frequently you should not play unless you can beat his average raising hand.

Let's look at a very tight raiser, who will raise only with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-K, or A-Q. If you are next to act, what hands should you play? Clearly, you should fold A-Q and J-J, and you should play A-A and K-K. How about the others? OK, let's do a count. He will raise with six combinations each of A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and J-J, and 16 combinations each of A-K and A-Q. That is 56 total hands. If you want to be able to beat at least 28 of them, you probably should continue with Q-Q and A-K suited, as well as A-A and K-K. That would be 22 hands you can play after this very tight player raises.

Why play so tight? Because you will have to make very difficult decisions after the flop with all other hands. I frequently hear people say they can play hands like pocket tens, and just fold after the flop if an ace, king, or queen hits. Let's look at that logic. An ace, king, or queen will hit the flop about half the time, and you will have to give up unless you have flopped a set. Note that a set is not 7.5-1, given that one of the flop cards is already known. So, you will be giving up almost half the time.

In the other half the time, you are badly beaten whenever he has a pocket pair, which is 24 times out of 56, but you will probably play the hand to the end, hoping he has A-K or A-Q and lose a lot more.

In the other 32 times, when he actually does have A-K or A-Q, your opponent sometimes will draw out and you will lose anyway. The rest of the time, when he has A-K or A-Q and does not improve, you will win. But in at least some of these pots, he will give up before the river, so there will not be a lot of money in them. You will win these pots with your tens, but your total win will be less than the money you lose in all of the other cases. All in all, you easily could avoid these losing situations just by throwing your hand away before the flop against all but the most predictable opponents (those who will always bet their overpair on the turn, and always check if they have overcards).

Obviously, the looser the raiser, the more hands you should play, but still bear in mind that even loose raisers pick up strong hands. You still want to continue only if you have a hand that you believe is in the upper part of his range.

Another part of this error is the word "calling." If you have a hand that is better than your opponent's average hand, and you have position for the rest of the hand (I am not discussing play from the blinds here), why should you call? I advocate reraising most of the time when there are no intervening players. You might make an exception when you have a big suited hand, or in games in which everyone is ignoring raises anyway. But in games in which three bets before the flop get a lot of respect (and typically cause the blinds to fold), three-betting is frequently the right play.

2. Raising from the blinds with the wrong hands:Many players seem to reach a decision when they look at their hand. They determine, long before the action gets to them, that they have a "raising hand," a "calling hand," or a "folding hand." Not only does this predetermination confuse them when they should fold many hands after raises, but they also make a number of inappropriate raises.

Raises from the big blind in an unraised, multiway pot are particularly inappropriate. Certainly, if you have A-A or K-K, you typically should raise no matter where you are. But after that, things get murky.

If we assume that four or more players have called, raising with unsuited high cards is almost always an error. You are making the pot large in a situation in which your most likely winning hand is one pair. You are creating a situation in which your opponents are getting correct odds to draw against you. And you will be out of position on the next three streets.

If you make this kind of raise, everyone will call. You will then be faced with an unpleasant decision after the flop. If you miss the flop, you will either bet into a field with no pair and slim prospects, or you will check and essentially invite them to bet and knock you out. If you hit the flop, you will be betting into a much larger pot than if you had not raised, giving them reasonable (or perhaps totally correct) odds to try to outdraw you. Plus, if you do get raised, you won't know how to proceed.

I acknowledge that several experienced players and professionals believe that you should raise from the big blind in a multiway pot with A-K offsuit, simply because your hand is so much better than your opponents' average starting hands. I disagree. If there are four or more players, I prefer to keep the pot small, and use the possible element of surprise post-flop to make more money when I do flop my pair.

Once six players are in, there are several hands with which to raise from the blinds, if only to add balance to the times when you raise with A-A or K-K. Raising with a small pair becomes almost a free raise here, as you are getting close to the proper current odds to flop your set. In addition, you will collect the extra bets that people will put in while drawing dead or nearly so because of the size of the pot if you do happen to hit a set. Also, occasional raises with hands like a suited Q-J or J-10 will provide you with the price you will need to draw with plenty of company if you happen to flop a draw.

In both of these cases, not only is your hand well-disguised, you will get a reputation for being an action player while actually making plays that will pay for themselves in the long run. And finally, these hands should be very easy to get away from when the flop misses you. Simply check and fold.

Conclusion:The errors discussed in this column can easily be avoided, leading to better post-flop decisions and easier play. You can wait for appropriate hands to call raises, while using the time out of hands to determine what each player's raising criteria are. And you can check for the blinds more often with big unsuited cards, playing more strategically after the flop. If you are making these errors, these simple changes will make you money.

The next column will look at the errors players make on the flop.