Common Mistakes Made by Low-limit Players in
NL Single Table Tournaments

Home > Poker Tournaments

June 4th. By PPadala

Example of Single Table Tournament at Party Poker

This article will discuss some of the common mistakes made by low-limit (less than 20$ buy-in) players in no-limit single table tournaments. The mistakes are shown with real-world examples, and various aspects of playing the hand correctly are explained. The examples are taken from real games played on Party Poker (PP), Poker Stars (PS), and Full Tilt Poker (FT).

Like everything else in poker, there are various ways of playing a particular hand. The recommended correct strategy is to be taken only as recommended. As you gain more experience, and move up to higher limits, depending on your opponents, the recommended play may not be the most optimal play.

Early game

Most common mistakes include:

• Playing speculative hands
• Mis-playing small-pairs
• Mis-playing big-pairs
• Mis-playing hands like AK, AQ etc.

Playing small pairs like big pairs

Often, I see a goofy player make a big raise from middle position, and a late position player goes all-in with a middle pair in the early stages of the tournament. People usually defend their move by saying that they are usually ahead of hands like AQ, AK etc. This reasoning is flawed, because..

• Your opponent might have a higher pair, and you will lose 80% of the time, which is a very bad position to be in.
• You will win a little over 50% of the time, against hands like AK.
• It's too early in the tournament to be taking such risks. You will have far more opportunities to apply your edge

Here's an example from a PS tourney.

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t10/t20, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t1480
Hero: t1500
MP1: t1320
MP2: t1080
MP3: t1480
CO: t2100
Button: t1470
SB: t1460
BB: t1610
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with 8♠ J♦
UTG folds, Hero folds, MP1 calls t20, MP2 raises to t60, MP3 calls t60, 3 folds, BB calls t40, MP1 raises all-in t1320, MP2 calls all-in t1020, 2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t240 returned to MP1.
Flop: 3♠ T♠ 3♥ (t2290, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2290)
Turn: 6♦ (t2290, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2290)
River: 4♥ (t2290, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2290)
Results:
Final pot: t2290
MP2 showed 5♠ 5♦
MP1 showed 3♣ 3♦

Here, both opponents have made huge mistakes. MP1 correctly limps from early position with 33, and tries to see a flop cheaply. MP2 raises with his 55, which in itself is not a big mistake, as the small raise may get the blinds to fold. Now, MP1 tries a goofy move by raising all-in representing a big pair. This is a big mistake, because at lower limits, your opponents do not believe you, and call with marginal hands.

Correct strategy for playing small pairs (early game) is to see the flop cheaply and play for the set value. Note that the odds of hitting your set are 1:7.5, so you have to call small raises accordingly. If you hit a set, you can easily get your opponent's whole stack.

Not betting high enough with big pairs

Premium hands like QQ, KK, and AA should be played aggressively to avoid giving right odds to your opponents. If your opponent has a small pair, then his odds of hitting his set is 1:7.5, so you should raise enough to drive away the small pairs. Another reason is to get your opponent to commit to his hand before seeing his flop.

Party Poker, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t15/t30, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t815
UTG+1: t700
MP1: t695
MP2: t615
MP3: t1045
CO: t1640
Button: t730
SB: t310
BB: t1450
Pre-flop: (9 players)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to t70, 3 folds, CO calls t70, 2 folds, BB calls t40.
Flop: 9♣ 6♦ 5♥ (t225, 3 players)
BB bets t55, UTG+1 raises to t150, CO folds, BB calls t95.
Turn: A♣ (t525, 2 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks.
River: J♠ (t525, 2 players)
BB bets t450, UTG+1 calls t450.
Results:
Final pot: t1425
BB shows 9♥ A♠
UTG+1 doesn't show Q♣ Q♦

In the above example, EP raises too little with his QQ, and lets two opponents see the flop. It will be tough to get your opponents to fold a top pair on the flop, and you tend to get trapped with your big pair.

Correct strategy is to raise big, 4-6xBB early game. The raise should be high relative to the stacks of your opponents. A raise that is usually 1/10th of average stack should be good enough. In the above example, a raise of 120 would have done the trick.

Calling raises with A(small x)

This is by far the most common mistake seen in almost every game I played. The biggest problem in calling raises with Ax hands is that you are easily dominated, and it will be tough to get away from the hand after hitting top pair. An example follows

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t15/t30, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t1590
Hero: t1500
MP1: t1580
MP2: t1160
MP3: t1470
CO: t2170
Button: t1450
SB: t1180
BB: t1400
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with K♦ A♣
UTG folds, Hero raises to t90, 5 folds, SB calls t75, BB folds.
Flop: 4♣ T♣ A♦ (t210, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t120, SB calls t120.
Turn: 8♥ (t450, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t480, SB calls t480.
River: 4♠ (t1410, 2 players)
SB is all-in t490, Hero calls t490.
Results:
Final pot: t2390
Hero showed K♦ A♣
SB showed A♥ 5♣

This hand clearly identifies the problem areas in calling raises with Ax. Once you hit the top pair, it is tough to get away from it, and you may lose your entire stack against a tight-aggressive opponent. You are often looking to hit two pair with your Ax, and if you can get to see the flop cheaply, you may be able to trap your opponents.

It's best to fold Ax hands to raises especially early in the game. If you are the first to act, you can limp with Ax suited hands to hit your flush. Raising with Ax from early or middle position may cause big problems. Remember that you are looking to hit two pair with Ax.

Calling raises with marginal hands early

People who are accustomed to playing ring games (especially limit) usually make this mistake quite often. They tend to play speculative hands like JTs, KTs etc. There are various problems with playing these hands.

• You usually win a small pot, or lose a big one with speculative hands
• When you hit top pair, and you have two opponents behind you, it's tough to gauge whether your kicker is good or not.
• These hands are usually played by limping, and it's easy to get trapped by opponent who hit trips or top pair on the flop.

An example of getting trapped follows.

Full Tilt Poker, No Limit Holdem Ring game, Blinds: $15/$30, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: $1440
Hero: $1290
MP1: $1500
MP2: $1500
MP3: $1815
CO: $1500
Button: $1485
SB: $1470
BB: $1500
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with 7♦ 6♠
UTG raises to $90, Hero folds, 3 folds, CO raises to $315, 3 folds, UTG calls $225.
Flop: 9♥ T♥ T♠ ($675, 2 players)
UTG is all-in $1125, CO calls $1125.
Turn: K♥ ($2925, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2925)
River: 6♥ ($2925, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2925)
Results:
Final pot: $2925
UTG showed 9♦ 9♠
CO showed 8♦ J♦

The right way to play these hands is to fold. It is ok to complete in SB with these hands, and make a play at a favorable flop.

Overvaluing AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ

Many low-limit players over-value hands like QJ, KQ, KJ, AJ and even AQ. These hands are troublesome to play from early position, and often are troublesome to play especially against a raise. I often see people limping with KQ, and KJ from early position, and then calling a raise and getting trapped.

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t10/t20, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t1500
UTG+1: t880
MP1: t1500
MP2: t1500
MP3: t1500
CO: t1500
Hero: t1490
SB: t2130
BB: t1500
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with K♠ K♦
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls t20, MP1 calls t20, 3 folds, Hero raises to t60, SB calls t50, BB folds, UTG+1 calls t40, MP1 calls t40.
Flop: Q♥ 5♠ 3♦ (t260, 4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets t140, Hero calls t140, 2 folds.
Turn: K♣ (t540, 2 players)
MP1 bets t100, Hero calls t100.
River: 7♠ (t740, 2 players)
MP1 bets t100, Hero raises to t400, MP1 calls t300.
Results:
Final pot: t1540
MP1 mucks J♣ Q♠
Hero shows K♠ K♦

Don't play hands like KQ, KJ, JQ, or even AJ from early position. It's ok to play AJ or AQ from late position, but it's tough to extract value from these hands, and you can easily get trapped. It's ok to limp with some of these hands, if both cards are suited.

Middle game

Most common mistakes include:

• Raising with relatively good hands and not giving up to significant action
• Trying to play too aggressively
• Going all-in on steals

Raising with relatively good hands and not giving up to significant action

Beginners often get married to their hands, and forget one of the most important aspects of poker: the strength of your hands changes depending on the situation. Say, you raise 3xBB with AQ from middle position with blinds at 50/100. This, by itself, is not a bad move, and you are looking to pickup free blinds without much hassle. Now, a late position player raises, and BB goes all-in for all his/your stack. What is your move? It should be an easy fold, because you are usually behind at least one of the hands that your opponents have been raising or re-raising with. An example follows:

Full Tilt Poker, No Limit Holdem Ring game, Blinds: $80/$160, 8 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: $1300
UTG+1: $2450
MP1: $370
MP2: $3100
CO: $1230
Button: $680
SB: $2930
Hero: $1440
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with 6♥ 6♠
6 folds, SB raises to $560, Hero raises all-in $1440, SB calls $960.
Flop: 3♥ 7♠ 7♣ ($2880, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2880)
Turn: Q♦ ($2880, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2880)
River: 9♣ ($2880, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $2880)
Results:
Final pot: $2880
Hero showed 6♥ 6♠
SB showed 2♣ 2♠

I actually like the 3xBB raise in the above example. This puts me in a tough spot to decide what to do. I figured, I had the best hand (I am only behind higher pairs), and pushed. My opponent makes a mistake by calling, because 22 is a good hand to raise for stealing blinds, but will be far behind any of the hands that re-raise you.

Two similar hands are shown below.

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t10/t20, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t1500
UTG+1: t1820
MP1: t1490
MP2: t1600
MP3: t1470
CO: t1470
Hero: t1080
SB: t1570
BB: t1500
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with A♦ K♥
3 folds, MP2 raises to t80, MP3 folds, CO calls t80, Hero raises to t260, 3 folds, CO calls t180.
Flop: 9♠ 9♥ 6♣ (t630, 2 players)
CO bets t500, Hero raises all-in t820, CO calls t320.
Turn: 3♥ (t2270, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2270)
River: 9♣ (t2270, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2270)
Results:
Final pot: t2270
CO showed K♣ Q♣
Hero showed A♦ K♥

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t75/t150, 5 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t2410
CO: t5555
Hero: t2555
SB: t1320
BB: t1660
Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is Button with K♣ K♠
UTG raises to t300, CO folds, Hero raises to t1200, 2 folds, UTG raises all-in t2410, Hero calls t1210.
Flop: 8♥ 6♣ T♣ (t5045, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t5045)
Turn: A♦ (t5045, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t5045)
River: Q♠ (t5045, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t5045)
Results:
Final pot: t5045
UTG showed Q♦ K♥
Here showed K♣ K♠

Going all-in on steals

This move is usually made by players who are frustrated by the lack of hands. They look at their stack which has dwindled to 2/3 of original stack due to blinds, and decide to just push when they see a decent hand. I see this pattern too many times with blinds at 25/50 and with a T1000 stack (started with T1500 stack). In the middle game, where you usually have more than 20xBB, this is a horrible mistake. You still have time to play the normal tight game, and wait for better opportunities when blinds increase.

It's usually wrong to open-push with stacks greater than 10xBB. It is sometimes ok to push with hands like AQ, to dissuade limpers.

Late game

Most common mistakes include:

• Not stealing enough
• Not understanding the value of Shove EV, FE, ICM etc.
• Not re-raising enough to re-steal
• Calling too much

Not stealing enough

The meat of an SNG tournament is in the late levels, when stealing is very important. You often find yourself being eaten up by the blinds, and need to steal successfully to stay alive. If you have followed the strategy outlined in the Tight Poker No-Limit tournament guide, you will find yourself with a healthy stack in the late stages. However, you have to steal often to avoid becoming a short-stack. Stealing is sometimes counter-intuitive and works because of various concepts explained in detail in the blind stealing theorem. It is a complex process that depends on various factors that require an article of its own.

Not understanding the value of Shove EV, FE, ICM

Expected Value (EV), Folding Equity (FE), ICM (Independent Chip Model) are some of the advanced concepts you will be learning as you gain more experience. These concepts require a bit of mathematical understanding and this article is too small a space to explain all of them in detail. Simply put, when you go all-in, you have two-ways of winning.

• All your opponents fold
• You win at the showdown with the best hand

Folding equity comes from the first scenario above. So, you can sometimes take the risk of pushing a marginal hand from the late position to win the blinds. However, don't do this indiscriminately. MJ's blind stealing theorem has some of these concepts explained in detail.

Not re-raising with what turns out be the best-hand pre-flop

Many times, late in the game, everyone is frantically fighting for the blinds, and often raise with marginal hands like Ax, Kx etc. Now, the action comes to you in BB, and you find a good hand like AJ, AQ. Depending on the stacks, sometimes it's better to re-steal than to just call. An example follows.

Full Tilt Poker, No Limit Holdem Ring game, Blinds: $80/$160, 4 players,
Stack sizes:
UTG: $1775
Hero: $4285
SB: $3625
BB: $3815
Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is Button with A♦ 8♦
UTG folds, Hero raises to $480, SB folds, BB calls $320.
Flop: 7♣ 7♦ K♣ ($1040, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
Turn: 4♦ ($1040, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $500, BB calls $500.
River: T♦ ($2040, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1000, BB calls $1000.
Results:
Final pot: $4040
Hero showed A♦ 8♦
BB mucks A♠ Q♠

Note the stacks in the above example. Since the Hero, and BB have almost equal stacks, and there is one person ready to bust, both are not looking to take unnecessary risks. If the BB had raised all-in, I would have folded, as I can wait for the short guy to bust.

My opponent also made a mistake by calling with Ace high till the river.

Re-raise with your good hands in the BB, when faced with a steal. Do not use this in-discriminately. It is sometimes read and stack-size dependent.

Calling too much

In the late stages of the game, it's often incorrect to call with marginal hands. This is because of the gap concept explained by Sklansky in The Tournament Poker for Advanced Players book. You need only a semi-good hand to raise with, but will need a stronger hand to call or re-raise. There are too many examples of this bad play to list here.

Mind the gap !

General mistakes

Trying to bluff out people who are pot committed or habitual callers

I sometimes make this mistake as well, as I usually do not pay much attention to the table behavior, while multi-tabling. Often, you raise with JJ, and see two callers. Now, you see a ace-high flop. This is one of the most common situations you see in Hold'em. More often than not, one of your opponents has an ace in his hand. Do not try to bluff him by trying a check-raise-all-in. Make a modest bet on the flop and fold to resistance.

Calling all-ins with improper odds and not realizing the poisoned outs

Another one of the most common mistakes done by beginners. Someone raises from early position, and a player in the middle position re-raises all-in, and the action comes to you, and you have AJ. What do you do? It's a no-brainer to fold that hand. As explained earlier, the strength of a hand changes depending on the situation. Two examples are below:

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t25/t50, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t875
UTG+1: t1955
MP1: t1895
MP2: t1750
Hero: t1215
CO: t805
Button: t1935
SB: t1405
BB: t1665
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP3 with 2♣ 6♦
UTG calls t50, 2 folds, MP2 raises to t200, Hero folds, CO calls t200, 3 folds, UTG raises all-in t875, MP2 calls t675, CO calls all-in t605.
Flop: 3♠ 5♣ 9♣ (t2630, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2490, Sidepot 1: t140)
Turn: J♦ (t2630, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2490, Sidepot 1: t140)
River: J♣ (t2630, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t2490, Sidepot 1: t140)
Results:
Final pot: t2630
UTG showed 3♦ Q♦
MP2 showed 9♥ 9♦
CO showed T♣ A♣

In the above hand, the player with ATs actually is relatively short-stacked, so he can take a risk and call one all-in, but calling an all-in after being raised by a big stack is certainly a disaster.

Party Poker, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t25/t50, 8 players
Stack sizes:
Hero: t512
UTG+1: t811
MP1: t650
MP2: t1180
CO: t337
Button: t210
SB: t2795
BB: t1505
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is UTG with T♦ 5♦
Hero folds, UTG+1 calls t50, MP1 raises to t100, MP2 folds, CO calls t100, Button folds, SB calls t75, BB calls t50, UTG+1 raises all-in t761, MP1 calls all-in t550, CO calls all-in t237, 2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t111 returned to UTG+1.
Flop: 6♦ 5♠ Q♣ (t1837, 0 player + 3 all-in - Main pot: t1211, Sidepot 1: t626)
Turn: 4♣ (t1837, 0 player + 3 all-in - Main pot: t1211, Sidepot 1: t626)
River: 5♣ (t1837, 0 player + 3 all-in - Main pot: t1211, Sidepot 1: t626)
Results:
Final pot: t1837
MP1 shows Q♥ K♣
CO shows 9♦ 9♣
UTG+1 shows A♥ A♣

There are two mistakes made by the KQo player here. While KQo is a good to steal blinds from the late position, with eight players remaining, and when a player already limped, it's tough to play this hand. Though his raise is not a huge mistake (it causes the blinds to not see the flop cheaply), once it is re-raised by UTG+1, after a small stack all-in, it is an easy fold.

Note the relative strength of hands depending on the situation. KQo on the button, when everyone folds to you is a must-raise hand with high blinds. On the other hands, facing two all-ins with KQo is a disaster. Fold that trash.

Not letting the hand go

This is again seen all too common in low-limits. It is ok to make a stab at the flop with a continuation bet, but once your opponent shows strength, you should give it up. Note that most of your opponents play weak-tight, so they don't raise with their top-pair and just call. Another reason they don't raise is that they are worried about their kicker. An example hand can be seen below:

Poker Stars, No Limit Holdem Tournament, Blinds: t10/t20, 9 players
Stack sizes:
UTG: t1500
UTG+1: t1500
MP1: t1500
MP2: t1500
MP3: t1500
CO: t1500
Hero: t1500
SB: t1500
BB: t1500
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with 9♥ 8♠
2 folds, MP1 raises to t120, 3 folds, Hero folds, SB folds, BB calls t100.
Flop: A♦ 8♣ 2♥ (t250, 2 players)
BB bets t20, MP1 raises to t220, BB calls t200.
Turn: K♣ (t690, 2 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t280, BB calls t280.
River: 9♣ (t1250, 2 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks.
Results:
Final pot: t1250
BB showed 5♠ A♥
MP1 mucks 5♥ 5♣

It's pretty clear that BB has a hand and is not going anywhere, and there is no point wasting chips on a bluff.

Your opponents will not fold the top pair no matter what, so give up after making a continuation bet on the flop. You should actually use this to your advantage when you have an over pair, and trap your opponent

If you're ready to put your new knowledge to the test, try the STT games at Party Poker and PokerStars, with thousands of daily tournaments at every limit you could want.