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Beginner poker mistakes: the ten that cost the most

Updated November 2026

The most expensive beginner mistakes are playing too many hands, limping, calling big bets with one pair and bluffing people who never fold. Each one below comes with its price at $1/$2 blinds and the sum behind it, so you can check it yourself.

The dollar figures are examples. They show what one of these mistakes costs when it happens, and yours will depend on the pot and on who you're playing.

  1. Playing too many hands
  2. Limping
  3. Falling for weak aces
  4. Chasing at a bad price
  5. Paying off the river
  1. Marrying one pair
  2. Bluffing people who don't fold
  3. Checking good hands
  4. Playing above your bankroll
  5. Playing on tilt

Which mistakes happen before the flop?

  • First seat16
    Cutoff28
    Button45
    1. Playing too many handsThose are the hands per 100 our chart opens at a six-seat table. Two different cards miss the flop 68 times in 100, and every weak raise that misses costs you $5 for nothing.Use a chart, and fold anything that isn't on it.
  • 2. LimpingCalling the $2 big blind can never win the $3 sitting in the blinds. A raise to $5 picks it up every time everyone folds, and it tells you who wants to fight.Raise or fold when you're first in.
  • 3. Falling for weak acesWhen ace-king meets ace-queen, ace-king wins about 74 times in 100. Ace-four is in much worse shape, and you often find out after three streets of betting. Our chart opens ace-four offsuit only on the button.Fold weak offsuit aces from early seats.

Which mistakes happen after the flop?

  • 4. Chasing at a bad priceA flush draw hits 19.6% of the time with one card to come. Against a $40 bet into $40 you need 33%, so calling loses $16.52 on average.Work out the price first. Pot odds shows how.
  • 5. Paying off the riverCalling "to keep them honest" feels responsible. A $40 call to win $180 needs you to be right 18.2% of the time, and if they're bluffing only 1 time in 10, it loses $18.Ask how often this player really bluffs.
  • 6. Marrying one pairYou'll have exactly one pair by the river 44 times in 100, so it's an ordinary hand. If a quiet player raises and you pay $60 to win $150 when you're good 1 time in 10, that's −$39.Fold when a player who never raises suddenly does.
  • 7. Bluffing people who don't foldA $20 bluff into a $40 pot needs to work 1 time in 3. If it works 1 time in 10, it costs you $14.Stop bluffing anyone who has called you all night.
  • 8. Checking good handsBeginners check strong hands to keep people in. A $20 river bet that gets called 60% of the time and wins 75% of those times adds $6 on average, and checking throws that away.When a worse hand can call, bet.

The price of one example of each, at $1/$2

From the sums above

Which mistakes happen away from the cards?

  • 10 buy-ins29%
    208.5%
    302.5%
    9. Playing above your bankrollThat's the chance of going broke for a player who wins 5 big blinds per 100 hands. Playing too big turns normal swings into the end of your bankroll.Keep 20 to 30 buy-ins. Bankroll management explains.
  • Calm+5
    Tilted−30
    Result+1.5
    10. Playing on tiltThose are big blinds per 100 hands. If you lose 30 per 100 on the one hand in ten you play angry, a win rate of 5 falls to 1.5.Stop for the day. Poker tilt has a plan.

How loose are you?

Most people have no idea how many hands they play, and it's usually more than they think. Pick a seat and say how many hands out of 100 you'd enter the pot with from there.

What do several mistakes look like in one hand?

This is a common way to lose a whole stack at $1/$2 without ever having a terrible beat.

You limp for $2 with king-nine offsuit, which our chart folds in this seat. The button raises to $12 and you call the extra $10. Mistakes 1 and 2 are done.

You've got top pair, and you check. The button bets $18 and you call, without asking what kind of hand raises before the flop and bets here.

You check. The button bets $45 and you call. You've now put in $75, and it's starting to feel like too much to give up. That's mistake 6.

You check and the button bets $90. You call because you've come this far, which is mistake 5. They show king-queen and their kicker beats yours.

Folding before the flop would have cost nothing. Limping and folding to the raise would have cost $2.

Which one should you fix first?

Fix the first one first. Every hand starts before the flop, so a tighter range cuts down how often you can make the other nine mistakes at all.

In a 2008 study from Case Western Reserve University, students given starting-hand charts cut the hands they played from an average of 27 to 15, and they did better than the group without them.

Then work on the price of a call, which takes care of mistakes 4 and 5. How to get better lays out the order.

Fix in this order
  1. Fewer hands
  2. Raise, don't limp
  3. Know the price
  4. Bet good hands

Would you make these mistakes?

Twelve spots in three rounds.

Questions players ask about mistakes

What is the biggest mistake beginners make?

Playing too many hands. Almost every other mistake gets more expensive when you start with weak cards.

Is limping always wrong?

No. Some strong players limp in certain spots. As a beginner you'll do better by raising or folding when you're first in.

Should I call a bet just to see their cards?

Only if the price is right. Paying $40 to look at someone's hand costs the same whether you learn something or not.

How do I know if I'm making these mistakes?

Write down the three biggest pots you lost in your last session and work out the price of each call. Why do I keep losing has a simple way to check.

How the numbers on this page were worked out

Each dollar figure is a sum: chance of winning times the amount won, minus chance of losing times the amount lost. The chart figures come from our simplified opening chart.

The chance of going broke uses a swing of 90 big blinds per 100 hands. The −30 for tilted play is an assumption chosen to show how the sum works.

Know someone who makes all ten?

Send them the list.