For someone that’s new at the poker table, there are several mistakes easily made. These, however, can be avoided once you are aware of them. So I have gathered the most relevant ones:

- You don’t choose carefully which pocket hands you join with, since you are eager to participate. This is one of the most common rookie mistakes, ’cause it can feel equally important joining the game as performing in it.

- You get greedy. It is easy to get so tempted by that pot in the middle that you keep raising the stakes even though you should fold, or bluff when it is time to surrender.

- You take the game too seriously. For everyone’s sake it is advisable to not be a bad loser – to lose in any game is nothing to feel embarrassed about and definitely not something to overbet because of. Disagreeable players will always come along and shouldn’t be dealt with by playing more aggressively than the situation calls for.

- You drink too much alcohol. This kind of goes without saying but I still want to raise a warning for it. When you are drunk you bet unwisely, you get daring, you show a poor poker face and your ability to figure out odds will deteriorate. Even though it is nice with a couple of cold beers with your poker buddies, you’d better watch out so it doesn’t get too much. In that case you risk that more than your health and your pride will take a beating. Like your wallet.

- You imitate other players. Even if it of course is useful to learn from others successes and mistakes, imitating is not the right way to go about it. Many players have bad techniques which might happen to work momentarily. Therefore they shouldn’t necessarily be copied. The game is too complex for that and if you really want to be a good online poker player then you need to understand why you take a certain decision and which affects it gives.

- You overestimate good hands. The best starting hand is the so-called “pockets rockets”: Two aces. But the lucky one to get those is not in position to assume that he or she will win. Quite the opposite, it might worsen their play.

- You have the wrong attitude to the concept of luck. Luck is chance that happens to go your way. In other words, in a long-term perspective, “luck” is divided equally on all players. It shouldn’t be underestimated, but you shouldn’t read too much into it either. It is better to practise your playing than to worry about superstition. For example, to wear a certain sweater to every round will scarcely improve your game… But if it just makes you feel more comfortable, why, then wear away.