This article describes some of the most frequent mistakes made by novice players and is geared towards both newbies and those, who feel that they don’t earn money they deserve. So, if you want to win at Texas Holdem and other poker games, then you must know these mistakes and what is more important, you must understand the difference between small and big mistakes. Every move that you make getting negative expected value is literally a mistake. Professionals know that the only thing that really matters in the game is expected value. While luck itself is a sporadic modifier that helps you win in difficult situations, or drops you down, when you had very good chance to win, in the long run the luck factor should not be considered at all. The only thing you should care about in the long run is the expected value of each and every bet you make during the game.

Proceeding from this theory, a small mistake is a bet with a comparatively small negative expected value, which means, for example that if you play $1-$2 game and make a bet that has a -$0.10 expected value. While 10 cents is not a big loss in a $1-$2 No-Limit Texas Holdem game, you can lose a lot of money in the long run. Therefore, a big mistake is a bet or decision that has a bigger negative expected value. For instance, this can be a bet with -$32 expected value in a $1-$2 No-Limit Texas Holdem game.

The signs of serious mistakes made by most Texas Holdem players can be defined proceeding from the following factors:

– size of the pot
– calculated probability that some other players will build that hand against other hands and with the similar game conditions and circs
– strength of your hand compared to strength of your opponents’ hands

Besides of this, you should be able to analyze the actual difference between your opponents’ hands and the expected value of calling in a particular situation, in case if there is such a value at all.

Proceeding from this table, you should fold in most situations. However, in case if the pot is so big that you are contributing around 5-15% of the pot, then you should tend to call. However, you must understand that in this case your chances of hitting the pot are pretty poor. As you have already understood, the above situation illustrates a big and serious mistake made by a player, since he made a loose call that will most likely lead him to a loss. The above example illustrated a player making a huge mistake because he made a loose call.

See also: Common Texas Holdem Beginner Mistakes

Also recommended:

1. How Good the Players Exploit the Common Holdem Mistakes
2. Five biggest mistakes of poker tournament players
3. Five typical mistakes of Texas Holdem poker beginners
4. Make Bigger Value Raises Against Straightforward Players
5. Make Bigger Raises Against Players Who Fold Too Much Postflop