10 NL Mistakes to Avoid

This is a list (with explanations) of 10 mistakes that we encountered pretty often while learning no-limit holdem. If you're not a pro, it's likely you're running into a few of these pitfalls.


1. Not altering starting hands enough based on position

Beginners tend to not fully comprehend the advantage you get postflop from playing in position. You should fold almost everything under the gun at a full table. Really. And that's not just because it might get raised behind you. It's also much tougher to play postflop, raised pot or not. Fold AJ in a heartbeat under the gun at most (full) tables.

On the other hand, assuming you're a decent player post-flop, you can play a few more hands on the button or close to it. Position makes a HUGE difference, and your willingness to play hands preflop should incorporate that.


2. Not raising frequently enough preflop

You should generally be raising preflop more often than limping. If you're not raising with AK, something is wrong. If you're limping with JJ, something is wrong. Those hands are so far ahead of other people, and they're usually much easier to play against only 1-2 players. Letting 4 people see a cheap flop when you have AK is awful.


3. Playing good draws* too passively on the flop

If you have JQh, and the flop is T83 with two hearts, your hand is a monster. You absolutely have to bet/raise here. If someone has a hand like 87, you want them folding. If you hit any of your outs, they're not paying you off. The problem with seeing a free turn is that:
A) if you hit an out, you're unlikely to get very much money, because your hand will be pretty transparent, and
B) if you miss your outs, you'll likely no longer have correct odds to call a bet on the turn. Good draws are so much stronger in the flop, since there are two cards to come.

Most players' instinct is to check/call the flop with good draws, because you don't have anything yet. If the hand ended right now, you'd almost certainly lose. This is completely irrelevant. There are two more cards coming, and they're likely to help you much more than other people.

*For our purposes here, assume a good draw is 10 or more outs.


4. Giving nits too much action

A nit is an ultra-tight player. The type who plays 7% of his hands, and if he's raising, it's AA/KK/QQ/AK. Just fold to these guys, unless you also have a premium hand. Once you're more experienced, you'll pick up on times when it's okay to play prospective hands against these guys. In general though, just fold. Don't try to "outplay" them postflop, that's like throwing your money into a well.


5. Defending your blinds too much

One big problem inexperienced players tend to have is often thinking that people are making "plays" on them. Nearly all of the time, a bet means exactly what it looks like it means. If someone raises your blind and you have a marginal hand, fold. If one out of twelve times it's someone stealing your blind with trash, fine. So be it. Playing mediocre hands out of position to raises is burning money.


6. Trying to be too deceptive

If the main reason you're checking/calling/raising is so that people will think you have something other than what you have, you're probably making a bad play. Until you're a rock star pro crushing higher stakes games, you'll do much better by being straightforward and playing your hands correctly. I promise.


7. Relying on results-oriented thinking

You should never keep doing something just because you won a big pot doing it. Similarly, you should never stop doing something just because you lost a big pot doing it. You should instead think critically about the pros and cons of the decision you made, while essentially ignoring the individual outcome of that hand.


8. Assuming you're up against the wrong kind of opponent

Some people are rational. Most are not. When you're in a pot with a typical small-stakes player, it's virtually impossible to put him on a specific hand. It's also generally bad to assume that he played the previous streets in the hand well or at all correctly. Watch people. Learn how willing they are to play trash hands, call preflop raises, play hands out of position, call flop bets with bottom pair, etc. It'll help you dramatically when you want to pin down a range on them.


9. Not accurately assessing the value of your overpair postflop

This ties in to the previous point. KK is great on a J73 flop against a very bad player. He'll probably call three good sized bets with JT. KK is much less useful against a good player on this flop. Unless you're a complete lunatic, no good player is going to call 3 large bets from you with JT. Checking the turn there is probably a good idea if he calls your flop bet. (See the entry on pot control for more details on this.)

In multiway pots on scary boards, you must be willing to gladly fold your overpair to heavy action. Also, and I honestly hope I don't even need to be telling you this, if you have KK and an ace flops, your hand sucks. Don't pay anyone off.


10. Playing hands for weird reasons

Every time I hear someone say, after losing with a questionable hand: "I had to play it, it was the best hand I saw in an hour," I have to hold back a laugh. Why the hell should the cards you had over the last 40 hands make these two cards any less bad? Don't ever play a poor hand just because you're bored, or because you've been getting rags all night. And anyone who always plays a specific hand because it's their "lucky hand"? I have one word for you: idiot.

What to Do When Facing Multiple Raises

I can summarize this entry in one sentence:

Fold basically everything with multiple raises in front of you.

Let's say you're at a full .5/1 NL table, everyone has $100, and no one is notably crazy or loose. You're on the button. The third player to act raises to $3.50, and the cutoff reraises to $11. You look down at your cards and see AQ.

Fold like Superman on laundry day.*

Calling here is absolutely atrocious. Ignoring the initial raiser, think about what cards the reraiser is likely to have. I'd say AA/KK/QQ/AK, maybe JJ or TT if he's a little more aggressive. Some players won't even reraise with QQ or AK. If the reraiser is one of these guys, his range is only AA/KK!

AQ is terrible against these ranges of hands. In the event that you ARE ahead on the flop, he'll be fully aware that he's in trouble, and will not give you much money. However, you will often have top pair with a top/good kicker but still be behind. You will give him plenty of money.

The inability to lay down hands in situations like this is one of the most serious leaks I see in live players. They do seem to know that they're against a premium hand, but are still unable to fold AT. They put in large amounts of money with a hand they know is way behind. Is there a parallel universe in which that isn't god awful poker?

*simile courtesy of The Simpsons

Adjusting for the Table

If you're at a full ring (10-player) table where everyone has 100 big blinds, and you have 88 under the gun, what should you do? Well, it depends on what kind of people you're playing with. If there's a lot of limping and very little raising, you're fine limping under the gun with 88.

Your optimal preflop strategy (and post-flop strategy, but that's for another day) depends heavily on the styles of your opponents. A table full of tight-aggressive players will eat you alive if you frequently open limp in early position with prospective hands. However, that's exactly what you should do at a table full of loose-passive players. If players are loose enough to make insane preflop calls, raise huge with your premiums. At a tight table, that's just silly, because you won't get any action.

Here are the basics:

-If you're at a loose/passive table, prospective hands become more playable.

-If you're at an overly aggressive table, tighten up and wait for strong starting hands.

-If you're at an overly tight table, open raise in late position a little more often.

-If you're at a solid table full of good players, get up and find another table.