Throw caution to the wind..sometimes!

Beginner Tips / Dave Allan / 02 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

Being overly cautious in poker is a one way ticket to loss in all but the very lowest stake games.

Poker, like many areas of life, is one where total recklessness will lead to disaster, but so will too much caution. Just like an astute financial investor, poker players have to find the right balance between risk and caution in order to succeed, and many players new to the game really struggle with this concept.

Being overly cautious in poker is a one way ticket to loss in all but the very lowest stake games. As poker is fundamentally a game that is played around the forced bets you put in before you see your cards, you have to be out there trying to win these frequently, or else they will slowly eat you up. This means that you have to play some hands out side of the very best, and this concept is one of the most fundamental points of poker you have to learn when you first approach the game.

Overly cautious players get torn to pieces by good players, as the playing style not only leaves them steadily losing the antes and/or blinds, but also makes their play incredibly predictable. Someone only playing a few hands has a very obvious range of possible holdings, and this makes their likely hand on the flop very obvious. A good player can adapt to this very quickly, and can easily fold the weaker strong hands of poker - such as top pair - to these players, while winning big pots from them whenever they flop a better hand than just a pair.

Always remember that caution is essential in poker, but an over reliance on it is just as dangerous as throwing all of your chips in every pot, and although the loss will come in lots of little bits rather than one big one, the end result will be just the same.

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