If you are new to poker you’ll definitely need a guide to get you through and enjoy the game more.  As a beginner you need to know the possible errors and mistakes that you might make.  Here are some of the major mistakes that players usually commit:

One of the mistakes that a lot of people make is jumping into a competition without getting ready.  Of course, what do you expect when playing without knowing what your possible weapons are and how you can win the game.  You must always bear in mind that the more prepared you are, the better your chance of winning.

Second mistake that players usually do is bluffing too much.  Too much bluffing can cost you because the good poker players will figure you out and call your bluff.  Learn the art of poker first and later you can increase your tricks.

The third error that most players usually make is thinking-they-know-it-all.  Many beginners make this mistake.  No matter how long you have been playing poker, you still need to be careful unless you want to throw away your bets.  The best thing to bear in mind when playing poker is that you are learning all the time.

As you can see there are a lot of possible errors that poker players can make.  Not only beginners but also those who have been playing the game for quite a long time.  One important tip for players to remember is to have a basic budget.  This may not sound as much fun but it is a very big help for players who don’t want to throw away all their cash and winnings.

Keeping a basic budget and good cash management will keep you away from financial troubles.  If you keep on loosing, review your moves, as well as the performance of other players.  Research and read poker strategies that help to keep your bank roll.  As they say, practice makes perfect and bear in mind the errors that you might make along the way.

I had a guy at my table yesterday that just kept getting enough of the cards to have me beat.  Problem was that he had better position than me most of the time, or when it really counted.

When I had a pair, this guy put down a higher pair.  When I thought I had a chance of beating him with a straight he pulls out a higher one – damn.

Then I suddenly woke up and realized what he was doing – he was folding when he didn’t have the cards or when he wasn’t in position to benefit from everyone else making their call first.

Maybe he just read me well I don’t know.  But it was really tough having him play after me and he had me beaten most of the time.

I tried to semi-bluff him a few times and got away with it, but the pot happened to be small when I collected it.  Of course this guy had then folded early and hadn’t committed much.

It was very irritating playing with him, but you had to admire his skill at reading the situation, he knew exactly when to up the play, when to play it cool – to not commit too many chips and just play along and see what would happen.  Also when to get out early and watch the play.

But not only that, this guy played his position very well, he was always conscious of where he was relative to the dealer, so that he could process the information on the table, work out who was doing what and then make his decisions and play accordingly.  If he was not in a good position he would often fold or just put a few chips in to see what would happen.

I was too slow to realize that he was that good.  Too slow to see what he was doing and to react, it cost me dearly and before I woke up I had lost a sizable chunk of my chip stack.

And now you have opened one of the proverbial ‘can of worms’ in poker strategy.  Thank you Patrick for your question, “How do I play a low pair?” and for dragging me into this mess…

My answer is, “It depends….” or …”Go buy a Poker Strategy book and see what the experts say”…

But seriously to try and answer Patrick’s question on how to play a low pair, for example a pair of sixes, I would do the following:

First of all, if you get any pair in your opening hand, it is good and it is worth sliding some chips in.  Be conservative though because although a low pair is good it can also easily get beaten.  On the flop everything can change – that’s the fun of poker.  If you get a trip that puts you in a strong position, but there is also a good chance someone out there also has a good hand… Ahhh, why did I try and answer this???

Knowing the ranking of poker hands and your odds for pocket pairs always helps – there are some excellent explanations of the probabilities in Wikipedia.

My best advice is to watch players carefully and note their reactions to the flop, or turn and river cards.  Match their action after the flop to the type of player they are, if something is not right perhaps it is a bluff.  If you play poker online you obviously don’t have the body language but you can still judge your opponents poker play.

Also how are they betting?  How big are your opponents stacks?  Often players with big poker stacks are bullies especially at online poker, they like to make high raises and re-raise, putting their opponents under pressure.  On a very strong raise, most times I would fold, depending on how big my stack is compared to the raise.

You want to get away with it as cheaply as possible.  A low pair can easily get beaten in poker.  A pair of sixes is marginal, whereas a pair of nines I might be more confident.

Don’t forget to also keep an eye on the suits, do you have three or four suited cards going into the turn or the river?

Phew its hard to give good poker advice on this one, because there are so many factors…

If you are not confident at all in you poker ability or if you feel out-gunned at the table, then I would advise to stick to playing the higher pairs above nines, you have more chance of winning.  On the other hand if played well, a low pair can be profitable.

A semi-bluff or two does no harm… get my meaning?  But you have to read the situation well, just like always – stay alert in the poker game and you will keep your stack!

I hope this answers your question, Patrick.  Experience playing poker will help you to make the decisions of how to play a low pair better.

How the mighty crumble!

I got too confident, damn! Some guy did me with a straight last night.

I made a basic poker mistake, not only did I get over confident, but I also under estimated a player’s ability and the probability of a straight. The probability of someone getting a straight, in seven card poker hands, is 4.6% or put in another way, there is a  20.6 to 1 chance of a straight.  Poker probabilities should be learnt by all poker players. I have learnt the hard way – I should have known better.

But I took a chance… and thats what happens when you have a run of good luck, you think it will never come to an end. Oh well, you live and learn!

The other mistake I made was thinking I was better than my opponents and that I could win all the time. Of course its good to think that you are better than the other players at the table, but it is obviously not good to think that you can win all the time….. hmmmmm

Read the play carefully. Observe the other players behavior and their betting. Don’t forget there is always a chance someone has put together a flush or a straight.

Pacific poker has grown tremendously in player volume during the last year.  It is one of the top eight sites when it comes to player volume.  At peak hours there can be around 2200-2500 cash game players and 4500-5000 tournament players (figures as of March 2005, these have grown since then).

Pacific’s software quality is not as good as other online poker rooms, it isn’t possible to play at multiple tables and it’s very slow with disconnections at times.  The games at Pacific Poker are first class however, which is the main reason to play there.  The site is packed with loose and profitable games for the serious player.  At the highest limit tables you can find games with 45-50 % of players seeing the flop.  Behind Pacific is one of the largest online casino sites, Casino-on-Net, and many casino gamblers play on Pacific.