As a beginner poker player, there are many simple mistakes and errors that can be made that will lose you a lot of money. Some of these mistakes are quite obvious, whereas others are a little hidden and will carry on draining your bankroll if you don’t catch them out and resolve them. It is perfectly possible that if you play for long enough, that you might realise that areas of your game need improvement, and so you act on this realisation to develop your game. However, a much faster way to learn and improve is to read tips from more experienced players, who have been through the same learning process as you.

Below is a list of the top seven mistakes made by new players to the game. Hopefully you will be able to identify with these mistakes, and change your game for the better. If you avoid making these simple blunders, you will set yourself on the road to making money from poker.

Playing too many hands

It is very common for new players to the game to play far too many hands after the flop, which can land them in a lot of trouble. You should not be playing more than 20% of the hands you are dealt, which means that you should try and be selective about the hands you wish to play with. If you only enter pots with good hands, you should improve your chances of winning. Entering pots with sub-standard hands is just asking for trouble.

Chasing expensive draws

When you are on a draw such as a straight or a flush draw, you should try and avoid calling large bets and raises in the hopes of making your hand by the turn or the river. It is better to call bets and raises if they are small in relation to the size of the pot. By doing this you will be getting to see cards cheaply to make your draw and take the pot down. Often if you are calling larger bets and raises, you will be losing more money for every time you miss than you will be winning for every time you hit.

Playing cards because they are suited

Suited cards are all too commonly over-valued by players of all abilities, so it is not just a beginner thing. Suited cards look attractive because they appear to have a lot of potential to make a flush, rather than if the cards were unsuited. However, these suited cards will set you up for a big fall post-flop because they will make flushes and strong flush draws less commonly than you would think. Furthermore, if you are entering pots with hands like 62 because they are suited, the flush you do make will be easily beaten by a higher flush, which will be very costly. You should try and remember that the fact that cards are suited only improves that hand’s chances of winning by 2%, so stick with the big hands.

Bluffing too frequently

One of the most attractive aspects of poker is the ability to win big pots without even having a hand. Therefore you can usually find an amateur player somewhere trying to bluff opponents off their hands all too frequently, only to get called in numerous spots and losing a substantial sum of money. Although bluffing is a good way to pick up an extra pot here and there, it is not essential to becoming a winning player.

You may be surprised to learn that it is possible to win money from poker without ever needing to bluff, although bluffing will help you to win more if used correctly. The best advice that can be given to a new player is to use the bluff very sparingly, and only use it when you are almost 90% sure that you will be able to get your opponent to fold. If you cannot be this sure, just bet with the hands that you know that you can win with.

Ignoring position

Position plays a vitally important role in every poker hand, especially so in the game of Texas Holdem. The player with the advantage over the rest of the players in each hand is the player that is last to act on each round. Having position means that you can see your opponents act before you have to decide how to play. This gives you more information on your opponents, and so you will be able to make more educated and profitable decisions. So when you are next contemplating entering a hand, take into account your position in the hand and use it to influence your decision whether or not to play.

Not knowing the rules

As strange as it might sound, there are many players that are not familiar with the rules of the poker game they are playing. So obviously, if you are unfamiliar with the rules of the game, you are setting yourself up to lose money to other players at the table who know what they are doing. You should be especially be aware of the hand rankings, and become very familiar with which hand beats which. Don’t be the player that loses his entire stack because he thought that his straight beats a flush, it’s not a nice feeling.

Playing against better players

The aim of poker is to win money, not to try and beat the best players. By playing in games where you know you are outclassed is a great way to lose your money, so try to avoid doing so. There is nothing wrong with playing against players worse than you, as it is the only way to make money from the game. As you improve you may be able to play against opponents that were once better than you, but for the time being it makes sense to play against weaker opponents because that’s where all your money is going to be.

Hopefully you may have spotted a few mistakes that you are familiar with, which is a good thing as now you can try and improve on them. Don’t be afraid to take a step back and analyse your game from time to time to see where you may be losing money, as you can’t develop as a player if you try to ignore the problems. The common errors listed above are some of the biggest leaks that a player can have in his or her game, so if you can patch these up you will be giving yourself a great opportunity to win some money.