There are a lot of mistakes commonly made in poker both by newbie’s and even by the professional poker players, so a player should know what they are in order to avoid them, and here are some of the common mistakes made by poker players.

Being Emotional

The biggest mistake that one can do in poker is becoming too emotional.  By showing too much emotion, you are making it easy for others to read you and act accordingly depending on your outward emotions, unless, of course, that is a part of your strategy.  But too much emotion on the table like cursing or cussing not only makes you appear foolish but it also makes you look like a sore loser and a brat, so put on your poker face and let them continue guessing about what is on your mind.

Too Careless

You can become careless in a lot of things when you are playing poker.  First off, you might not be protecting your cards that well.  For this reason, you need to always remember to put a hand over your cards and protect them from peeping Toms.  Likewise, you also have to be careful and always have your eyes to your own cards and not on other players’ cards.  Your innocent glance to your side might be mistaken for looking at another player’s cards, so do not be too careless so as not to be called a cheater.

Always Taking Things at Face Value

Another common mistake that a newbie or even a pro makes is to always take things at face value.  For example, just because a player frowns does not mean that he or she has a bad card.  Instead, it could mean that the player has a very good hand and was just using a ruse to confuse other players into thinking what the player wants them to think.  For this reason, you have to avoid taking things at its face value and start studying facial expressions and learn when they are bluffing and when they are not.

Folding as Opposed to Checking

Do not be too rash and fold during your turn when you do not like the turn or the flop.  Remember, you can check if you are the first one to act.  Now, when all the players have also checked, you will have the opportunity to see the next card.  This happens to be true, too, if you do not happen to be the first one to act.  When all players have checked before your turn, you should also check so as to find out what the next card is.  Who knows?  That next card might just be the winning card that will make your hand win, so do not fold just yet.

Not Knowing the Tilt

Another mistake that players make in poker is not knowing when they are on the tilt.  Remember, if you are on a losing streak, let the game go and just fold.  Do not try to recoup your loses, thinking the next round will be a better round and make you win back what you have lost.  It is better if you relax for a moment or even stop for the day before playing poker once more.

Before sitting down at a poker table either online or in a casino, you will want to know the types of players you will be coming into contact with. There are some basic types of players that are pretty easy to spot. By knowing what kind of players that will be at your table, you can increase your chances of coming out a winner.

Loose Passive

You can spot a loose passive player by their willingness to call practically anything, even when they may be holding a small pair. They will often chase cards, especially when playing Texas Hold ‘Em or Omaha. You don’t want to bluff when one of these players is in on the hand. If you throw enough spaghetti on a wall, something is sure to stick. They take that philosophy and apply it to their poker game.

Tight Passive

Tight passive players only go in when they know they have the best hand. They’re not known to play recklessly. If you see a tight passive player go all in, it would be wise of you to go ahead and fold. You can guarantee they have a solid hand, quite possibly the best possible hand.

Loose Aggressive

Loose aggressive players are some of the most difficult players to play because they will go all-in and often come out on top. They are often educated in their poker game and have a huge bankroll to back it up. If you can catch a loose aggressive player betting liberally when you have “the nuts” hand, take full advantage of the opportunity.

Tight Aggressive

Tight aggressive players are most easily identified by their choosiness when it comes to playing a hand. They will fold anything that doesn’t meet their high criteria for a “playable hand.” When they do get a hand they like, watch out! They will aggressively bet and raise. You will want to keep an eye on this player because he only bets when he has something he is confident betting on. Make sure your hand stacks up to his. So now you know some of the types of the players you will find at your poker tables. You may ask what type of player is the best type to emulate your game after. Well, the answer is not playing one way all the time. Generally, a tight aggressive approach for the majority of your game or tournament is ideal. As the game goes on, you can change up your game according to your fellow players and the cards you are being dealt.

One of the advantages of playing at online casinos is that you are allowed to choose your own table, unlike at land-based casinos where you are ushered to the tables without the choosing. When playing at an online casino you will not be provided with information on individual players but you will be provided general table statistics that can give you valuable insight into picking the best table.

The first thing to check out is the number of hands dealt per hour. This will indicate the speed of the game. The more hands the poker room deals per hour, the faster the pace of the game and the more money you stand to make every hour.

The second most important thing to look out for is the percentage of players seeing the flop. This will inform you about how many players are staying in the pot until the first 3 cards have been revealed. If the number is over 40% the game is too loose which will reduce your chances of making money, whereas, if it is less than 30% it means that the table is tight.

The final thing to look out for is the average pot. A rookie mistake would be to choose the table with the highest average pot. Don’t do this. Rather see how the average pot relates to the number of casino players who are seeing the pot. Even if you play a slightly aggressive game, you can make more money from it than you would at a lively, fast-paced game.ress a previous point, these players are professionals and do not want to hear from you during the game. Adoring followers on twitter are tolerated by some, but not loudly.

I just read this cool article in Time magazine about people and risks and reward and took the liberty of paraphrasing it:

There’s plenty to learn about gambling if you’re willing to analyze 27 million hands of online poker. Luckily we don’t have to do that, thanks to academics like Kyle Siler of Cornell University who did his doctoral study on humans handle risk, reward and variable payoffs. Siler specifically looked at poker as a microcosm for the macrocosm we call life.

Siler’s overall finding was that the more hands you win, the more money you’re likely to lose. Although, these implications go much further than a game of poker.

For research purposes Siler limited the extraneous variables by sticking to no-limit Texas Hold’Em with 6 players. He used a software system called PokerTracker that collected and collated information and he began to notice that the number of hands won did not necessarily correlate to the amount of money won. In fact the amount of hands won seemed to correlate more with the amount of money lost.

The reasons for this are actually quite logical. The longer winning players played the more confident they got, the higher the bets, and the likelier the chances of getting blown out on a few very big hands got. It’s the multiple smaller gains that seemed to outweigh the bigger wins and losses in this study. “People overweigh their frequent small gains vis-à-vis occasional large losses,” Siler says.

Small stakes players do better with small-denomination cards- people who don’t gamble much tend to win more with cards ranging from twos to sevens- the theory is that the modest numerical worth of these cards is easier to understand for less experienced players- while they are valuable they are not that valuable.

How does this translate into everyday life? Investing, driving, buying a house or just stepping out the door involves the taking of risks and uncertain rewards. The more times you speed a little the more times you will speed a lot.

“These kinds of calculations are made every day,” says Siler. “Adultery is another good example. People get away with it countless times but they get caught just once and they lose everything.”

People take a lot of small chances and win, but then tend to take big chances and lose big. Siler points out that the entire nation of Iceland went bankrupt during the recent financial crisis buy operating in a similar way, by trusting high-risk, high-reward investments that failed to pay off.

Whether gambling with chips or gambling with life it seems clear that people should gamble only what they can afford to lose — and know when they’re approaching those stakes.

Whilst reading another poker blog, I found quite an interesting article written by Management Science entitled “ ”Poker Player Behavior after Big Wins and Big Losses“.

This article took playing histories from 25/50 stakes games and found that after a big loss, numerous players tend to loosen up and after a big win, statistically, players tend to play a lot more aggressively.

These findings were consistent with ‘Kahneman and Tversky’s’ Break Even hypotheses and suggests that ‘when investors incur a large loss, it might be time to take a vacation or be monitored closely’

All in all, quite an interesting read and well worth taking the lessons learned from the article to heart. Fairly sure it will improve play to quite a large degree.

.Yes, this is a very serious blog- seriously serious in fact. So instead of wasting our time writing anecdotal pieces about Trekkie Poker and The Phil Ivey of Golf (insert growl here), we’re going to talk about the very relevant issue of wearing shades while playing poker.

Why do so many poker players seem to have such photosensitive eyes? Isn’t the room dark enough already? If I wear shades will I be a better poker player?

Eyes are the easiest way to give away tells. If a player quickly looks at the flop and then quickly looks at his/her chips, the flop has probably helped his/her hand. Some reckon that a player’s pupils will dilate when bluffing. Either way, it’s harder to read someone who is wearing shades.

Shades also make players look more intimidating. Think Chris Ferguson or Greg Raymer.  Although sometimes comical, the shades certainly help disguise and distract from what could be going on beneath the surface. The illusion of anonymity that shades provide can also help to calm and relax a player making it more of a token or ritualistic habit than a definite poker advantage.

There are downsides to wearing the sunglasses. You can’t see as well as if you were without them. Phil Ivey once commented in an interview that his, soon to be ex, wife bought him a $4,000 pair of sunglasses to wear while playing poker but he tossed them shortly after misreading cards and losing a big pot. There are a few pros who feel that shades go against the spirit of the game by creating an unfair advantage