ROOKIE mistakes made tournys

I've had this in my poker folder for a long time it is a great read that i think alot of you will enjoy althought i didnt write this i have to share as the internet is huge and infomation is free but i am one to agree with this 100 % cheers nemesis aka dadsrusonline

Rookie mistakes
In large tournaments online one thing is abundantly clear,The consequences of a mistake can be brutal.By large tournaments,I mean tournaments with hundreds, sometimes thousands of players.
In the early stages of these events,it resembles a free-for-all firefight.The chips are flying and the bodies of the unskilled and unlucky are stacking up like a pile freshly chopped wood.Most of the bodies belong to newbis . Or, they belong to someone who just made a rookie mistake, and paid the ultimate tournament price. As both a player and a student of the game of poker, I've observed, considered, digested and documented some pretty common mistakes. Here then, in no particular order, are the most common mistakes I see being made in large tournaments.

FAILING TO READ THE BOARD
I don’t know if they’re ignoring the board, or just not seeing why someone is betting so heavily with three raggedy clubs out there, but if someone is stacking chips into the pot, there’s a really good chance that you’re looking at a flush. It’s hard to lay down a big pocket pair, but that big pocket pair doesn’t beat a flush no matter how pretty it looks, or how many times you’ve seen that hand turn into a winner on some poker tv show.

GIVING OPPONENTS POT ODDS TO CALL
This is also known as “pricing in” your opponent. It involves betting the minimum or raising the minimum bet by the minimum increment when you’ve hit a hand. You don’t have to worry (yet) about implied odds, but if you’ve got at least a big pair and don’t want a drawing hand to beat you on the turn or the river, you must bet a big chunk of the pot. That means no less than one-third to one-half of the pot. This makes calling you a mistake. It doesn’t mean someone won’t do it… and win (mistake may be yours for being in the hand in the first place)

CALLING WHEN THE POT ODDS PRICE YOU OUT
A flush draw has about a one-in-five chance at hitting on the turn or the river (assuming you’re drawing four to the flush). A straight draw has about the same chance. If you’re drawing to a straight, or a flush and the bet to you is more than one-fifth the pot size, it is a mistake to call. You might still hit your hand and take the pot, and if you like to gamble, go ahead. But understand that you have left the realm of poker and might as well be playing roulette, or placing “hard way” bets on the craps tables.

PUSHING YOUR CHIPS IN BEFORE THE FLOP
I don't care what Chris Moneymaker says. Pushing your chips in before the flop is asking for trouble. This is especially true when you are well out of the tournament money, and the table you're playing at is full or almost full. A lot of people will disagree with this advice. On a full (or nearly full) table, the odds are just too good that there is at least one hand out there with the cards that will draw out and beat you. It doesn't matter what you have in the hole. Sit tight and play big pairs aggressively.

CALLING ALL-IN BETS WITH GARBAGE HANDS
People don't go all in on a bluff in a tournament. They just don't. If you don't have a monster chip stack and at least a big pair, don't call. Throw your hand away, and let some other rookie with a garbage can make the call. One of these two will likely be eliminated, and you'll be one seat closer to the money.

GAMBLING
Gambling is making a bet with no idea of the outcome. Poker is decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. While gamblers don't know what's going to happen next, a poker player has at least some idea. Both the gambler and the poker player face a certain risk, but the poker player's risk is much lower. Chasing a draw when the pot odds price you out, making large bets on low pairs and hoping to hit a set, calling down to the river with naught but an ace in the hole. These are examples of gambling. They are certainly not the things that any decent poker player does. There not even examples of smart gambling, because for every one of those bets, there is probably a poker player calling them. And what do you think the poker player is making his decisions on? It's his knowledge of the outcomes, their probabilities, and the expected value of placing a bet.

NOT FINISHING OFF A WOUNDED OPPONENT
Maybe your opponent is a friend of yours. Maybe you feel bad that they just took a nasty bad beat. So, you lighten up a little, and before you know it they?ve crawled up off the floor and are back in contention. This is a huge mistake. If you?re going to evolve past the rookie stage, you have to put your boot on the throat of a wounded opponent, and finish him off. That means playing in pots he plays in, betting aggressively, and making him either fold winning hands or make bad calls on a loser. A short chip stack is a dangerous situation. Players often get desperate. Use their despair against them, and finish them off.

cheers all hope ya enjoyed the read dadsrusonline

It's a good read, ESPECIALLY about going all in pre-flop. I dont know how many times a week I have to tell people to quit complaining about bad beats when monsters get cracked that way.

I'll always try to at least see a flop before shoving my entire stack of chips, unless I'm already priced in to have to call, or really have to double up.

Thanks for posting this, it helped a lot. Now I understand a lot more about playing straight and flush draws.... just got to remember one fifth of the pot.