The most common mistakes in poker

1. Poor money management

Quite possibly the biggest mistake of the lot. Poor money management busts many players every day, and causes many to quit every day. Many poker players will not leave themselves enough bankroll to adequately cope with the variance in the games they are playing. For example, buying into a tourney/cash game for a large percentage of their bankroll; or things like when they have a reasonable win they will spend it like crazy (rather than keeping most of it in their bankroll and not changing the buy-in levels much).

2. Not paying enough attention to stack depths and tournament structures

There are a vast array of tourney structures out there, and you will also find yourself with a huge array of stack depths at various times. Many players will not adequately assess these 2 factors and will treat too many similar situations with hands equally. eg I have Aces therefore I will do this, I have A-K therefore I will do this. This commonly needs to be worked upon to improve. eg it isn't really necessary to stack off post-flop with AA in a slow structured tournament with 120 big-blinds. But it probably is necessary when you have a worse pair with an overcard and just 15 big blinds (eg JJ on a Q96 flop).

3. Playing to cash rather than playing to win

All of the real money in an MTT is at the final table, and commonly it is mainly within the top 3 or 5 finish spots. If you play with an undue amount of emphasis on reaching the money, you will never make a profit. There is no point having an ITM of 50% if all of those are min cashes of about 120% the buy-in size. eg BI $55, cash $66.23. If you do this sort of thing, you will lose money. You need to be prepared to take a lot more risk with a view to occasionally making some final tables, at the expense of wiping out some potential min-cashes.

4. Paying little regard to position

Many players will spend little or no regard to position. They will play hands similarly regardless of position. This is a common mistake, and should be looked at. There are many advantages to having position over a player, not least the fact that every decision will also have the extra information of knowing how your opponent has acted. He might be checking because he doesn't have a hand, or to trap, or to play small ball. You however can now look at your hand strength and how it might compare to your opponent's range of hands and choose to either proceed with keeping the betting alive on the current street, or check behind and see what happens at this later betting street, with a further card on the table.

5. Always playing the hand, and not the player.

The hand itself is the mechanics, but the opponent is the one who is going to pay you the money or the chips. Some players will bluff a lot in certain situations or some will frequently bet/raise light. Others will play very nitty and will rarely get involved unless they have something. Yet others still will be calling stations who just can't fold that Top-pair-weak-kicker, or 2nd pair. So with these sorts of factors in mind the cards become less and less important compared to the knowing the player and understanding the player, and reading the player. Using these factors to get maximum value from your hands (or minimal loss) can make the world of difference.

6. Not spending enough time analyzing hands and/or reading and learning.

Poker is a relatively simple game at face value, so what is going to make you stand out from the crowd and win more money? Well it certainly isn't your handsome good looks, and your above average grades at school. To get that edge you need to put the work in. You need to analyse lots of hands on a regular basis, and look very carefully at different lines and possible outcomes. You need to read and observe and be fully prepared to train yourself to be better than average joe.

7. Letting your ego get in the way.

The majority of players who play poker are losing players, whilst the overwhelming majority believe they are winning players. Many will bury their heads in the sand, and allow there egos to tell them they are winning. And even when they lose this is more likely due to a bad beat or a downswing/variance than it is from poor play. Open your eyes and believe from day 1 that you will probably suck to begin with, and there's a pretty decent chance you will not be a winning player. Look for your mistakes. Spot them quickly and eliminate them, and then continue to look for more. Aim to get to be a winning player as soon as possible, but never assume that you are one, or that you are just unlucky.