5 More Mistakes Poker Tournament Players Make

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If you play enough poker, you will see it all. However, there are some mistakes you see made over and over, and many times inexplicably. Today, we will take a look at a few more common mistakes made while playing poker tournaments. Avoid these mistakes to improve your results.

Folding When There’s a Hand on Board

Have you ever been in a hand where a straight or flush lands on board and someone bets out? You’re probably wondering why someone is doing that. It is because they are trying to scare people out of the pot.

For example, the other day, the board read 10-10-6-6-10 and there was a bet from a player. The play had been checking the whole way and then bet the river. There were two other players including myself. The one player folded, I suppose assuming the guy had quads. I called. He showed A-9 and we chopped.

While there will be times someone has a hole card to improve on their board hand, often they are trying to scare people out of the pot. You’ll be better off to call the bet in most instances.

Calling a Bet When Your Pocket Pair is Counterfeited

In some instances, you’re going to run into a counterfeiting situation. Let’s say you have pocket fours and the board runs out 8-7-8-7-9. In this case, your fours are useless and you’re playing the board. Amazingly, there are some people that will still call a bet here.

Sometimes a player isn’t thinking and thinks they have eights and fours. They may also think that someone is trying to push them out with a bluff. Often, it is a player that has an ace, king, or overpair to the board. A-9 would be a good spot to bet. Of course, someone with J-10 has made a straight. There’s no reason to make a call here.

Failing to Bet With Ace on Double Paired Board

If there are two pair on the board and you have an ace in your hand, consider throwing in a bet. Often, when the board double pairs, players will shut down if they do not have an ace or can make a full house. You can sometimes push players out with a bet.

In some cases, a player with a king or queen will call down hoping that you’re bluffing with the worst hand. Naturally, you are going to get out of the way if someone comes over the top of you as they probably slow played a boat.

Calling Hyper-Aggressive Players With “Live Cards”

A mistake that is made way too often in poker tournaments is when someone decides to call down with “live cards.” For example, the other night, I saw a hyper-aggressive player shove four out of five hands in a row. On the fifth hand, the players second in chips decided to call down with 8s-4s. The hyper-aggressive player had Qd-9s. The hyper-aggressive player flopped a 9 and doubled.

I’ve seen this play made too often by someone that figures that their live cards will somehow come through for them. This play makes zero sense, even if you have the chip lead. About the only time I could someone doing this is if they were in the blinds against a short stack and the raise is not enough to make a serious dent. Otherwise, you’re risking too many chips on “live cards.”

Running Your Mouth in Chat

Please get over the notion that your live chat is doing anything to improve your poker game. If anything, it is giving people added ammunition to play better against you. I can’t tell you how many times I see a player start running their mouth at other opponents just to find themselves on the rail in a couple of orbits.

Friendly chat or general banter is one thing, but stirring crap or insulting people and their play are just going to put a target on you. If you don’t mind being a target, go ahead and run your mouth. Otherwise, prepare to give the better players at the table your chips.