Poker punishes players who do not put deliberation and consideration into their playing decisions. Most rookie players make the same kinds of mistakes over and over again, causing them to lose money time and time again. Contrary to what one might expect, no one is happy at The Mile End Poker Society when I player consistently loses - the player quickly loses interest in playing in the future and we lose their company. To help avoid such situations, what follows is an incomplete compendium of common rookie mistakes and their avoidance. Any player that manages to avoid these 5 pitfalls of play most of the time will improve their play and their balance sheet at the end of the evening considerably.

The Five Most Common Rookie Mistakes:

Not Folding Useless Hands

Chasing Pots

Calling Too Many "Bluffs"

Bluffing Too Much

Calling Instead Of Raising

Not Folding Useless Hands

While what compromises a losing hand is the subject of much debate in The Mile End Poker Society, it is inarguable that some hands are not worth playing. Commonly you will receive cards that will be so difficult to improve on during the game that it would be more prudent to not wager any money on them at all.

This is not to say that one should fold at the first opportunity to act. As long as no bet has to be made and a player can check, they should in the hopes of seeing the next card(s) for free and improving their hand without paying for it, no matter how remote that chance might be. But if the situation demands that a player put money into the pot before they get to see the next cards - well, some hands are simply not worth paying to see if they will improve.

How do you know for sure? You can never know for certain which opening cards are worthless and which opening cards will turn into the nuts as the game unfolds and more or different cards come into play. But in poker, you can make some generally safe assumptions based on the mathematical probability of improving a given hand.

In Texas Hold 'Em, for example, you get to see your first two cards for free (unless, of course, you are one of the blinds for that hand). You then must make an immediate decision: are those two cards good enough to warrant at least meeting the big blind and seeing the next three?

My policy in this situation has always been as follows: if my pocket cards are not paired; if neither of them is an Ace or a King; and if they are not suited connectors (of the same suit and following in consecutive numerical order - for example, a 9 and a 10 of hearts), then I fold rather than put more money into the pot. My rationale is this: the probability of getting cards that will improve a hand that isn't a pair, aren't suited connectors and don't have an Ace or King between them to the point that they might actually beat the other players' hands for the pot is too remote to warrant betting on.

Here's some math to explain: If I have a pair of Queens, the odds of me catching at least one more Queen in the next five cards to make trips is roughly 1 in 5 (a 4% chance x 5 cards). The odds of me catching two Queens if I have only one Queen for trips is significantly lower (DO THE MATH!).

This means that I typically will only bet if I'm holding at least an Ace, King, suited connectors or a pair in Texas Hold 'Em (unless I am blufffing!).

But what happens if you take this advice only to see that you folded on what would have been the winning hand? Therein lies part of the charm of poker - it's unpredictability! But if you follow this advice, the number of times you breath a sigh of relief for folding a losing hand before it cost you any more money will outnumber the times when you kick yourself for folding a 3-7 spades only to have two sevens and a three come up on the flop.

Chasing Pots

Rookie players often continue to play every hand right up to the showdown, no matter how good or bad their cards on. Sometimes this is done on the premise that you can't win the pot if you aren't in the showdown. While this premise is indisputable, another equally valid premise is that you can't win the pot if someone else has a better hand and doesn't fold it.

If it is reasonable to assume that someone else has a better hand than you and will not be driven out of the hand, there is no point in continuing to put money into a pot that someone else will win. Fold as soon as any other action on your part would require placing more money into the pot and congratulate yourself for saving money that would have gone to someone else.

Calling Too Many "Bluffs"

It is fairly common for rookie players holding mediocre hands or worse to chase other players all the way to the showdown in the hopes that their competitors are bluffing. Occasionally this pays off when the opponent is forced to own up to bluffing. Sometimes, a player has over-obvious "tells" that make it obvioius when they are bluffing.

But more common is the semi-bluff - when players who start off representing a great hand that they don't have improve durhing the course of the hand to finish with cards of a respectable strength. Anyone calling such a player on the assumption that what was correctly read as a bluff earlier on has not changed during the course of the hand will get burned in the showdown.

Rarer still is the player with the skills to know how to give the impression of bluffing even when holding a solid hand, thereby inducing other players to call a bluff that turns into a trap.

Bluffing Too Much

If the information above makes bluffing sound like a sure-fire strategy, rest assured that it is not. Rookie players are notorious for over-bluffing - it is the first poker strategy utilized by almost all players at the beginning of their poker careers. More experienced players will know this and will call your bluff.

If you are playing with other rookie players, that is even more of a problem for bluffing, because of the greater tendency of rookie players to chase pots. You can be almost certain that someone will call you all the way to the showdown, which you will probably lose if you were bluffing all the way through.

Before deciding to employ a bluff, take care to observe the behaviour of other players in previous hands. How often does someone manage to chase all other contenders out of the pot and win it before the showdown? If the answer is "never" or "rarely," it is unlikely that you will be successful in chasing all comers out of your pot - a requirement for winning pots by bluff.

Calling Instead Or Raising

Betting has many purposes. If you are reasonably certain that your hand will win the pot, you bet or raise to increase the amount of money you will win in the end. If you have a mediocre hand that you are afraid will be beat in the end if other players improve theirs, you can bet or raise in an effort to drive other players out of the hand. Or maybe you have a terrible hand, but are bluffing by representing the nuts - to do so properly, a bet or raise will be required.

Sometimes calling is the correct play to make. But quite often, and in the cases of most rookie players most often, betting or raising is the smarter play - because it increases the pot odds, which make it least advisable for other players to go in against you; because you will scare away competitors for the pot by representing a strong hand; and because if you actually have a strong hand, this is a good way to increase the size of the pot you will win in the end.