Disguise Your Real Poker Abilities and Win

Are you a poker newbie? If this is the first time that you've played poker, then you belong to that class of beginners or "newbies" in poker. You might have heard of all the good things about poker and now you want to give it a try.

Being a poker newbie is not at all bad. All poker players, including the great ones, were newbies at the start of their careers. Nobody becomes a seasoned player right away. What's bad about being a poker newbie is the fact that many experienced players take advantage of your lack of skills to beat you and grab your money.

If you are new to the game of poker, it's in your utmost interest to avoid looking like a novice. More seasoned players can easily spot a newbie through the latter's actions and emotions, so your job is to hide your real emotions and avoid making mistakes that most newbies do. If you can disguise your true abilities, your opponents will be unable to work out your play and pick you apart.

The first thing you should work on is your emotion. Many beginners don't even bother to hide their real emotions when they're playing. Showing your emotions through body movements and facial expressions is just like showing your cards to your opponent. Your opponent can use your body language, also known as tells, to gain an advantage over you.

An example of a poker tell is when a player grimaces upon being dealt a poor hand, and when he receives a good hand he smiles and then makes a call. This tell can be easily picked up by experienced players and used against you.

The second thing to avoid is string betting. Simply put, string betting is when you call a bet and then raise afterwards. A player who makes a string bet will say something like, "I call your $100 bet and I raise you $200."

String betting is a common mistake among beginners. Experienced players can easily detect this mistake and will hone on you like a heat-seeking missile. Avoid string betting as this can be a dead giveaway for more skillful players to make your game miserable all night long.

Finally, don't ever show your hand to another player, no matter how good it is for your ego. Showing your hand is not only a deadly mistake that can kill your chances of winning, it is also an unforgivable breach of poker etiquette.

Being a poker newbie is a very critical stage of your poker career. Many players don't go past this stage and become successful. To survive this phase you should disguise your true abilities and emotions until you've become more confident with your skills. Once you've done that, you will win more game and you will become a far better player than you used to be.