When talking about poker a lot of people will refer to it as a game of skill, a game of chances, a game of odds and probabilities and sometimes even a game of pure luck – and while they are all right in their assumptions I personally believe that the most common mistake is to overlook the importance of experience in poker. This surely comes as no shocker but it is nonetheless widely overlooked. If you look at the number of people starting at medium to high limit games you cannot help but wonder whether you should feel sorry for them for losing so much money in such a short time or whether you should envy them for being able to afford to do so. If you are like me you are not able to afford to lose hundreds or thousands of Euros per night on a regular basis – if at all. Therefore I assume that you will take the same road as I once did and play for minimum limits.
While this may sound boring let’s just consider this: do you honestly think that all the successful and professional players started playing for high limits? A new player is a losing player, simple as that. There may be the occasional exception where a spectacularly gifted person really starts winning straight away but I very much doubt that you or I know anyone who fits that description – even remotely. So I think it is safe to assume that none of us will be that Wunderkind Of Poker that the world has been waiting for. So do play on low limit tables and the smaller poker tournaments when new to the game – I can’t emphasize this enough. Know your limits!
I know, I know… if you play at a 5c/10c table your poker life can seem pretty boring. What does it matter if I win or lose 50 cents? Maybe in a whole evening I will win or lose up to €10 or €15? So what? Well, keep these numbers in relation to the limits in mind and let’s now have that example with a €5/€10 game. That would mean you would lose or win €1,000 or €1,500 in an evening of poker. And believe me – when you are new to the game you will lose more than you win at those medium limits. Why? Because at these limits you will meet much more experienced players than at the lower tables. There are quite a number of players actually counting on people to overplay their limits and they will have a great time helping you lift all the burden that money puts on you… I have been there on both sides of the table and I can tell you it is an experience you can really live without when you are on the losing end.
Once you are ready for higher limits you should of course seize the opportunity and elevate your game. Be prepared however to go down to lower levels again if your bankroll forces you to unless you want to lose all your money. The switch from low limits to medium and high limits can be a tough one. You will notice that the flow of the game is very different simply because a bet, raise or re-raise will weigh much more. In a low limits game with a pot of 40 cents a bet of 30 cents followed by a raise of €1 still is a low amount of money and a lot of opponents will call that raise as they don’t really care about losing a few Euros that night. However a game with €400 in the pot and a €300 bet followed by a €1,000 raise looks very different all of a sudden. Bluffing suddenly becomes an art in the higher levels as you will pay a dear prize if caught on the losing end of it. I have noticed that at really low levels you will always find players who simply call just about anything as it doesn’t matter anyway. So you will not be able to bluff as effectively as in higher levels. But there are many more differences.
You will notice at higher limit games that often there will be an aggressive player who pushes a lot and makes it very expensive to see the flop. If you haven’t learned to assess and fold your hand accordingly you will hand over your money very quickly. Same goes for your style of play. While at lower limits you will usually not have to worry about changing your personal style you will find out that at higher limits people will start to read your game quickly – so unless you are prepared to change gears every now and then and do something unexpected (and no, going all-in with 27 pre-flop is not unexpected, it is stupid) you will be an open book in no time.
That’s why it is vital to play at low limits first and learn about the game, learn to evaluate your hand, try to make an educated guess about your opponents’ hands based on their behaviour, assess the situation in combination with the community cards and the probabilities of various hands, learn about your own strengths and weaknesses, be able to adjust your game styles, learn to avoid playing on tilt,… If you still want to start playing at €10/€20 tables from the very beginning of your poker career be my guest. Just make sure to drop me a note telling me which table you will be playing at, I really want to meet you.