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Mistake 7 – Too Rarely Calling Raises When in BTN Position
Most players tend to call too rarely from the BTN position. Due to the value that comes from acting last post-flop, you can play broadly from the BTN when given a good price. This is especially important in live poker, as players from SB and BB rarely play aggressively.
Mistake 8 – Constantly Calling Raises from SB Position
Playing too passively from the SB is a mistake that's very easy to make. It often seems that just calling is a good decision because we have good pot odds, but you shouldn't turn it into a habit for these reasons:
- You commit yourself to playing out of position against an opponent with a better range;
- BB noticing this tendency can 3-bet, as your range is almost always only moderately strong.
SB should 3-bet the entire range from which we expect to gain value, aiming to inflate the pot or isolate the player who raised. By just calling, we reveal that we have a weak or medium-strength hand. This is a key reason why we should avoid just calling from SB and instead opt for a 3-bet.
When trying to construct your 3-bet range from SB, include a few suited connectors. This aggressive strategy has several advantages:
- 3-bets put a lot of pressure on players who open, especially when they do so from late positions, i.e., broadly, with hands they can't defend against a 3-bet.
- If you construct a good 3-bet range, opponents will less frequently try to steal your blinds.
- When you 3-bet, BB cannot see the flop cheaply; if you don't, BB realizes their equity very cheaply.
Mistake 9 – Overvaluing Offsuit Broadway Cards
Tony-G once said very well after knocking a player out of a tournament: “If you read my poker strategy, I'll tell everyone, never overplay KJ.” Of course, he also said a few less appropriate things.
Although it's a somewhat drastic and exaggerated simplification, Tony's idea is good. Players often overvalue offsuit broadways. This is especially dangerous when you are in middle positions (MP), as players who raise before you play tighter and may have better broadways than you. If you play too much with such cards, you will often see the dealer pushing your chips to the opponent, as you encounter situations where your top pair loses to the opponent's top pair with a better kicker.
For this reason, in such situations, it's better to play with 98s, as such hands are rarely dominated and can catch very strong combinations that will bring you big pots.
Mistake 10 – Calling Very Large 3-Bets
This mistake is more often seen in live games, where larger opening sizes provoke large 3-bets, sometimes even 18-20BB (online 10-12BB). We often call such large 3-bets because we have ego issues; players at the table don't want to appear weak.
Against huge 3-bets, you have terrible pot odds to call. Let's look at pot odds calculation against a 10bb 3-bet when we open 3bb:
We have to call 7bb to win our raise (3bb) + opponent's 3-bet (10bb) + dead blinds (1.5bb), we need 32.6% equity.
Another example, when the 3-bet is 18bb:
We have to call 15bb to win our raise (3bb) + opponent's 3-bet (18bb) + dead blinds (1.5bb), we need 40%.
That's almost an 8% difference. Add the fact that most live poker players 3-bet only with the strongest hands, and it becomes clear why calling such 3-bets is very problematic.
The best strategy against particularly large 3-bets is to fold everything except very strong hands, and 4-bet the best hands.
Also, if you notice that your opponent tends to call very large 3-bets, you should increase your own 3-bet size.
Mistake 11 – Lack of a Plan
All the previously mentioned mistakes culminate when you don't have a good plan for what you'll do next, or when you don't have a clear idea of what you're doing pre-flop at all. The first step towards good poker is to figure out your pre-flop strategy and think ahead. Before starting your next poker session, answer these questions:
- With which hands and from which positions will you open if all players before you fold?
- With which hands will you limp, and with which will you raise?
- With what range will you continue playing if a player before you raises?
- When you open, how will you respond to 3-bets from each position?
Most players don't have answers to these questions. So, if you think about your weaknesses in pre-flop strategy and have a plan, you'll be a head above your opponents.
Mistake 12 – Constantly Changing Strategy
Constantly changing strategy is worse than having no plan at all. I often see players doing this, and they are usually punished for their foolish pre-flop decisions.
Adaptation is important. We try to maintain balance and exploit opponents' weaknesses based on tendencies. However, every change in our game must have a purpose. We never choose to just call with AA just because sometimes we need to change strategy. Of course, you will often confuse your opponent by just calling with AA, but that doesn't mean good play.
Mathematics is more important. Even when you can outsmart your opponent, you won't achieve as much value as you would by 3-betting. In the long run, you'll earn a lot by 3-betting with AA, and it's almost impossible to compensate for that by confusing opponents by just calling. If we decide to change strategy, it should be due to some given choices. We shouldn't change something just to make a non-standard move.
12 Pre-Flop Mistakes in Brief
Let's repeat, it's very important to be sure that there are no mistakes in your pre-flop game. If you have a solid strategy for playing the start of the hand, you'll create much more favorable conditions for post-flop play. Once again, we remind you of the 12 mistakes and brief tips on how to address them:
- Limping – avoid limping first, it's better to raise.
- Lack of understanding of positions – always consider how position affects your opponent's range.
- Too passive play against raises – develop a well-thought-out 3-betting strategy. Be cautious, don't call raises too often.
- Too tight play from BB position – take advantage of having very good pot odds and see the flop – you might catch something.
- Raising with too wide (or too narrow) a range from BTN position – open 40% – 70%, depending on how the blinds play.
- Too tight play from SB when players fold to you – open a sufficient number of hands and steal the dead money.
- Too rarely calling raises when in BTN position – utilize the positional advantage, call with a wide but well post-flop playing range.
- Constantly calling raises from SB position – punish those who open, don't let BB see the flop cheaply, protect against 3-bets from BB.
- Overvaluing off-suit broadway cards – evaluate hands like KJo or QJo cautiously. Before continuing, consider how often your hand will be dominated.
- Calling very large 3-bets – fold everything except very strong hands, 4-bet the strongest ones.
- Lack of a plan – think through your pre-flop strategy before the session.
- Constantly changing strategy – consider the purpose of each action you take.
Translated from: https://www.upswingpoker.com/7-poker-mistakes-to-avoid-at-all-cost/
