Common Preflop Mistakes Made by Beginner Players

Playing well preflop is an essential component of a successful poker strategy. The foundation for all subsequent actions in a hand is laid at this stage. Mistakes made here can complicate decision-making postflop and lead to significant losses.

Approaching preflop play properly allows you not only to avoid difficult decisions but also to maximize the value of favorable situations. In this article, we’ll discuss common mistakes that beginner players make preflop and learn how to avoid them to enhance your game.

Table of Contents:

- Loose Play in Early Positions

- Playing Too Tight on the Button

- Wide Cold-Calling Range

- Frequent Calls Against 3-Bets Out of Position

- Calling 4-Bets with AK

Loose Play in Early Positions

One of the common mistakes beginner players make is playing too wide a range of hands from early positions.

When playing from an early position, you are forced to act before most of your opponents. This significantly increases the likelihood of running into a strong hand.

Additionally, if you raise and get called, you will often find yourself out of position postflop, which will create further difficulties in assessing your opponent’s hand strength and make your decision-making process tougher.

In the multi-player reports in Hand2Note 4, I selected the most successful players from my database, who demonstrated a win rate of 5 bb/100 or higher over at least 10,000 hands. Then, I filtered all situations where they made an open raise preflop:

In the “Positions” report, we can observe that these players open from the Early position with a very narrow and strong range, comprising only 12%. Compare this figure with your own. If yours is significantly higher, you should play tighter, and soon you’ll be able to increase your win rate.

Playing Too Tight on the Button

The other side of the coin is playing too tight in late positions, particularly on the Button. Beginners often underestimate the power of position and play too cautiously, missing out on profitable opportunities for aggressive play and blind stealing.

The Button is the most advantageous position in poker. When all the players before you have folded, only two opponents remain on the blinds. The probability that one of them has a strong hand is much lower compared to when you’re playing from early positions. This allows you to widen your raising range.

If one of the opponents decides to defend their blind by calling, you will have a positional advantage postflop. This enables you to control the pot size and put pressure on the opponent who is out of position.

In the generated report, I removed the Raise 1st filter to get an overall picture of winning players’ results in all possible situations:

As we can see, they show the highest win rate precisely on the Button. Try to play more hands from this position, especially when you can seize the initiative in the hand and effectively use your positional advantage.

Wide Cold-Calling Range

Another typical mistake is having too wide a cold-calling range. Beginners often tend to call raises with speculative hands and medium-strength hands, hoping to hit a strong combination on the flop. However, this strategy has many drawbacks.

By cold-calling, you essentially reveal to your opponents that you don’t have a premium hand; otherwise, you would have made a 3-bet. This significantly caps your range, making you vulnerable postflop, especially against experienced players.

Moreover, cold-calling opens up the possibility for opponents acting after you to make a squeeze play, forcing you to fold your hand without seeing the flop.

Except for situations when you are in the Big Blind facing an open raise preflop, it’s better to avoid cold-calling and consider a strategy of playing exclusively through 3-bet or fold.

In the preflop matrix, I selected the following range of hands:

Then in the Hand2Note 4 reports, I filtered the situations where I cold-called on the Button in response to an open raise from a player in the Cutoff:

Comparing the Action Profit indicators in the report, we see that cold-calling in this situation is almost break-even, whereas 3-betting brings me an average of 0.9 bb per hand.

Frequent Calls Against 3-Bets Out of Position

Another common preflop mistake is frequently calling 3-bets out of position. This mistake is made not only by beginners but also by many experienced players. Playing postflop against a strong range out of position and without initiative is extremely difficult.

First and foremost, you should avoid calling with marginal hands, such as KQo or KJo, as they are often dominated by stronger hands from your opponent. If you hit a top pair on the flop with such a hand, and your opponent has a stronger combination, you risk losing your entire stack.

At the same time, if your opponent has a weaker hand, he is unlikely to lose much money to you. This creates a situation of payout asymmetry, which is not in your favor. You should avoid such scenarios, as they can lead to significant losses in the long run.

We opened with a raise from the Middle Position with KQ offsuit, and a tight regular player on the Cutoff made a 3-bet.

In the opponent’s statistics, we can see that their 3-bet frequency in this situation is only 4.6%.

Despite the fact that our hand looks quite good, it fares poorly against such a narrow range and is often dominated by hands like AQ, AK, QQ, KK, and AA. Therefore, we definitely should not call the 3-bet. The best decision would be a disciplined fold.

Calling 4-Bets with AK

Despite the fact that AK is the strongest unpaired hand in poker, beginners often find it difficult to play it correctly when facing a 4-bet.

Many prefer to call a 4-bet with AK, intending to continue only if the flop brings an Ace or a King. However, this strategy is not optimal, as more often than not, the flop won’t improve your hand.

Thus, in most cases, you’ll have to fold your hand on the flop, having already invested a significant portion of your stack into the pot.

To make the right decision with AK, it’s important to first evaluate the opponent’s 4-bet range. If their range is narrow and only includes premium hands, it’s better to fold.

Against a wider range, the best move would be to go all-in. This not only deprives your opponent of the chance to realize the potential of their hand but also gives you the opportunity to win the pot preflop.

In the Hand2Note 4 reports, I filtered scenarios where I 3-bet with AK on the Button and faced a 4-bet from an opponent on the Cutoff:

It’s noteworthy that even when playing against wide ranges, calling a 4-bet with AK is a losing action, while a 5-bet all-in allows you to play this situation profitably.

Mastering preflop play is a crucial step in your poker career. Correct hand selection, understanding positional strength, and avoiding common mistakes will significantly improve your results.

By using Hand2Note 4, you can analyze the playing tendencies of your opponents and determine their ranges. This will help you understand your own weaknesses and refine your preflop strategies, making your play more profitable and effective.