There are ten common mistakes that players make in poker tournaments. Stop making these mistakes and you will be on your way to becoming a winning player.
Mistake #1. Playing a poker tournament not to lose or playing a poker tournament to survive. Play a poker tournament to win by accumulating chips. Take chances. Risk is good.
Mistake #2. Not knowing the right time to move all-in as the first pre-flop raiser. Move all-in when your chips are nine times or less the big blind.
Mistake #3. Not knowing when to move all-in after a pre-flop raiser. Move all-in when your chips are eight times or less the initial raisers chip total and you have a medium pocket pairs, or A-J suited or better.
Mistake #4. Not respecting raises from players in the first three positions after the big blind. Upfront raises tend to mean premium hands. Be careful if you plan to be in the hand.
Mistake #5. Giving too much respect to players who raise on the cutoff (one right of the button) or on the button. Raises from these positions are often based on position and not the strength of their hands.
Mistake #6. Not understanding your table image or the table image of your opponents. Get a read on how your opponents play their hands. Get a read on how they think you play your hands. Often playing the opposite of your table image is a winning approach.
Mistake #7. Catching the FPS poker disease. FPS=Fancy Play Syndrome. Don't get fancy and try to show how smart you are by playing the opposite. Play straight forward poker.
Mistake #8. Not knowing how to semi-bluff. A semi-bluff is a bet where you think your opponent will fold to your bet but if he does call you have outs to win. If you know he won't fold, it is not a semi-bluff. It is simply a bad play.
Mistake #9. Pre-flop, never re-raising a player who raises. If you are not willing to re-raise a pre-flop raiser without having the nuts (pocket Aces), you will never win.
Mistake #10. Pre-flop when everyone folds to you, raising on the button with a good hand, and then calling an all-in move by one of the players in the blinds. If you are going to call the all-in move by a player in the blind, you should move all-in on the button. It puts the pressure on your opponents.
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