Sure, poker sounds an easy game to learn but it is difficult to master. Many poker players believe that playing pre-flop is simple enough. It is for this reason that many players assume that pre-flop decision are trivial, which is not the case. In this blog, we are going to break down 7 common mistakes made by several players pre-flop and what we can do to avoid such mistakes with some simple adjustments:

1.Limping
It is when you enter the post by calling, rather than raising from the big blind. This is a very bad move to apply for a number of reasons. First, you cannot win pre-flop with an open-limp. Second, limping makes your opponents lives easier, as most of them call your action and your hand’s equity to win is decreased. Third, your open-limp is likely to face aggression from other players who are either looking to exploit or take the advantage of your weaker range by raising to you. So, it is better to avoid limps.

2.Not Playing in Position
The second pre-flop mistake is to fail to consider the relationship between your position and range. When playing pre-flop, you should always consider your position. If you open from early positions, you will not able to profitably defend your range and can be exploited by your opponents very easily. Your range should wider in these spots to defend or make profits pre-flop. When you are in the late positions, you always have an advantage over the players in early positions especially in the SB and BB. So from late positions, you should bet higher and try to steal blinds by forcing these players to fold.

3.Playing Too Passively
Another mistake, which many poker players make is playing too passively against raises from other players. Yeah, there are lots of players who flat-open with strong holdings as opposssed to 3 bettting. Choosing not to 3 bet pre-flop is again a big mistake for a number of reasons. First, 3betting will allow to extra more value from your opponents by increasing the size of the pot early. Second, 3 betting will also decrease the number of callers and hence increase your equity in that particular hand. Your chances of winning a hand with AKo/AKs or some other strong hands will increase many times.

4.Playing Too Tight in BB & SB
Some players play too tight in the big blind position, which should not be the case. If you are facing a raise from the small blind, you should frequently call considering the fact that you should defend your big blind at a high fequency. When there are only two or three players left and the action folds to you, the action should start with a raise in SB. There are a couple of big reasons as to why it is great move. First, you can steam big blinds if the player in BB chooses to fold to your 3 bet. By doing so, you also decrease the likelihood that you would have to play your hand out of position, which will put into risk.

5.Raising Too Wide or Narrow on Button
The button is one of the most valuale positions in poker and you should always take advantage of it. When you are in this positon, you have seen the actions of your opponents at the table and now you have this informational advantage over other players. When action folds to you, you should put pressure on blinds and try to steal their chips. While the button is an advantageous position, avoid over-raising in this spot, as you players in blinds may exploit you by 3 betting. While you should be careful in button, you should not raise too narrow or too wide. A good percentage of a raise in a hand should be between 40% to 70% depending on the tendencies or types of players in the blinds.

6.Calling Extremely Large 3 Bets
This problem is common in both online and live poker. Calling 3 bets form others players often comes out of ego especially when a player does not want to be percieved as weak player. Against 3bets, your odds are not very good. So, it is always better to fold your hands against 3 betting. However, if you have a very strong holding or if you observe a player calling 3 bets, you should exploit him or her.

7.Overvaluing Your Offsuit Hands
Many players overvalue hands like KJo/QJo, which should not be the case. This is a problem often in the middle positions where players are raising before you and you are calling them. You should have a tighter range in these positions in order to avoid a huge chip loss, which may lead you into trouble.