Top 6 Preflop Mistakes in Poker: How to Improve Your Strategy and Push/Fold Decisions

Players and coaches pay considerable attention to post-flop. How to perfectly extract value on the river? What does an opponent's check/raise on the turn mean? Which line of play to choose on the flop with a draw? Beginners encounter issues even before the community cards are revealed. A small mistake on the pre-flop can turn into a disaster by the river. Let's discuss the most costly mistakes in detail.

Why the Pre-Flop is Important

When first getting acquainted with poker, beginners learn the rules. After learning the hand rankings, positions, and order of betting, they move on to the starting hand chart.

A professional uses different charts in the early, middle, and late stages of a tournament

Correct card selection for pre-flop shields a poker player from numerous mistakes. Good ranges lay the foundation for future successes. Charts allow players to enter pots with better hands and simplify post-flop decisions. Specific card groups depend on the discipline. A cash chart won't work in tournaments. The reverse is also true. 

Initial ranges can be found in open access. However, not every chart is equally useful. Poker strategy is constantly evolving, so decisions quickly become outdated. Basic knowledge of tournament poker can be gained from the free course “FunFarm Start.” If a student completes the program and passes the exam, they'll be gifted a starting bankroll of $50. With new information, it’s easier to establish sensible ranges.

Great bluffs and calls on the river distinguish a professional from an amateur. However, at the start of a career, it’s more beneficial to eliminate critical errors. The main ones include:

1. Playing too many hands;

2. A wide calling range;

3. Playing with limps;

4. Poor blind defence;

5. Refusal to defend blinds;

6. Weak push/fold play.

Let's examine the mistakes in more detail.

Mistake #1: Playing Too Many Hands

Amateurs come to poker for fun. To entertain themselves, they play a lot of hands. Bored beginners don’t lag behind them either. If within 20-30 minutes, they are dealt 72o, J5o, 83o, and similar trash, then the idea of raising with A2o on MP doesn’t seem bad. Many players can’t resist and start ignoring the chart. Often, playing marginal hands ends with folding to an opponent’s 3-bet. The player simply gives away 3 big blinds. If such mistakes are made regularly, the push/fold stage will occur sooner.

Sometimes players use ranges from other disciplines. For instance, a player who is used to opening suited connectors from early positions in cash games does the same in tournaments. In a tournament, the value of retained chips is higher than won ones. Therefore, starting hands must be chosen more carefully. A poker player cannot add funds before the next hand. 

Mistake #2: A Wide Calling Range

Once, in poker, players were advised to call raises with a wide range. With the increase in the average skill level of the game, the profit from calls has decreased. Opponents pay off sets less often, and it's more beneficial to play draws aggressively.

If a player calls, they lose initiative. Passive pre-flop suggests to the opponent that the caller does not have a strong hand

In tournaments, spending blinds on passive lines is even worse. Often it's exactly those blinds that will be lacking to force an opponent to fold a borderline hand on the pre-flop. It's useful to remember tournaments with progressive knockouts. The lack of one blind might deprive the player of a bounty for the opponent's head.

Put the strongest hands from the calling range into the 3-bet range and fold the weakest. An aggressive line will allow players to take pots on the pre-flop more often. If the play reaches post-flop, then a 3-bet and a bet on the flop will convince many to fold. 

Mistake #3: Playing Through Limps

Amateurs love to cheaply see flops. Therefore, they often enter a pot via limp. Professionals understand the futility of the