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The
Dangers of Playing Loose Poker
Conservative poker playing can be frustrating to
many beginning players, but it is necessary. While there are players
who play “looser” and are successful, all good poker playing over the
long term starts with basic conservative play and moves on from there.
Many players choose to see the flop with almost any two cards, reasoning
that if they miss they can throw away, and they might sneak in some
monster winning hands in the mean time. The problem is, this is one of
the most common mistakes by beginning players. If a player pays to see
ten flops at $10 a flop, that is $100 lost if no hands hit. That means
if the next hand happens to get lucky, the person needs $100 in other
players’ chips in the pot just to break even.
While a couple of chips just for one glance at the
flop here or there doesn’t seem like a big deal, there are a few tips
you need to keep in mind. When you play a lot of hands, you will lose
much more often then you don’t. When you catch that monster hand, you
have to make it pay for all those hands you lost. Compare Player A and
Player B when both players start with $1,000 worth of chips. Player A
pays $10 to see the flop four times without success. This leaves him
with $960. Player B went straight and flush chasing, and looked at
twelve hands. This leaves player B with $880 dollars. This is a big
difference, because when a good hand comes, Player A only needs $40 to
break even. Player B needs $120. This tends to have a quick sand
effect. Since Player B needs to make up more money, Player B is also
more likely to pay more hands to try and make it all up. As Player B
does this, the amount he has to earn back will be more, and as a result,
even if that great hand comes, Player B might do no better than breaking
even.
This is part of the strategy behind conservative
poker in general. The money you do not lose is just as good as
the money you actually win. The loose poker player is hurt just
as much, if not more, by the nickel and diming of calling too many hands
as by the big loss, and the big loss is much more likely to come with a
marginal hand. If you have A-4, and the flop is A-4-K, what happens
when you raise and the guy holding A-K re-raises? You’re in serious
trouble and too committed to get out. This losing of chips bit by bit
also makes the occasional mistake or bad beat even worse, because you
have less left over to work with.
Next time you play, keep track of how many times
you bet just to try to get lucky on the flop, and record how much you
spend on this. This technique works especially well with online games.
Keep track of how often you spend chips, and how often it actually pays
off. After enough time a pattern will emerge. Once you master playing
conservative poker, you will be able to figure out when to bend and
break the rules. Until then, learn the basics inside and out, and good
luck at the tables.
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