Just like with everything else, a beginner will make lots of mistakes.  While making mistakes helps you learn, in poker, it can cost you a lot of money.  Learn from these mistakes made a majority of beginning poker players and try to make sure you don't make them too.

1. Playing Too Many Hands

Most beginner's like to be involved in every hand. They don't want to fold until the see a flop, and if they catch something on the flop, they continue to the turn, then river, and then lose the hand. While there will be some hands you do win, if you play this way, you will end up losing all your chips either slowly by making poor preflop calls or quickly by catching a great hand that gets taken down by an even better hand. To win at poker, wait to be dealt premium hands before you play.


2. Being Too Comitted to a Hand/Pot (Chasing)

Don't chase. Chasing is when you are on a draw and keep calling bets, sometimes large bets, to see the next card in the hopes of hitting your hand. If you don't have the odds, don't chase. It is the same odds that, when in your favor help you win, will help you lose your chips. Every so often you will win the hand by chasing, but in the long run, you will lose more times than you win, and I can almost guarantee that you will lose a LOT more chips than you ever win.


3. Making Emotional Decisions

Keep your emotions in check at the poker table. Poker is a game of numbers and people. If you are on tilt or just don't have your head together, you won't make decisions based on the odds and you won't be able to make rationally sound decisions based on the other players. Even if you suffer a bad beat, the hand is over - learn from it and move on. It is easier said than done, but doing this will help you win back your lost chips and will keep you from losing even more chips by making poor decisions after the fact.


4. Playing Higher Limits than you Should

Would you rather win $500 or $100. Obviously $500. However, the $500 game will have more swings, tougher players, and will be harder to beat. If the limit is so high that you become afraid of losing your chips, you won't make logical decisions but instead will make emotional decisions which will put one more obstacle in your way. As a beginner, start off by playing lower limits until you can consistently win. Then move up to the next level and repeat. It is better to win a $100 game consistently than needing luck to win a $500 game.


5. Playing Any 2 Suited Cards

Another common beginner mistake. You are dealt two suited cards and they look so pretty (especially if they're spades). You are thinking that you can hit that premium flush hand and will be able to take everyone's chips. Well if you play any 2 suited cards, if you hit the flush, it may not be the best flush out there, and if you don't hit the flush, but say middle pair or top pair with a bad kicker, you are likely to get beat when you turn your cards over.


6. Playing Any Card with an Ace

"Hold'em is a game of top pair, top kicker." - TJ Cloutier.

Just like playing any 2 suited cards, playing anytime you have an ace is not a good idea. Sometimes, you will have an ace with a bad kicker. You may catch an ace, a small pair, maybe even a straight. However, playing these types of hands will get you out kicked or you may find that you have the lower of two straights. Just like with the above mistakes, playing an ace anytime you have one will eventually lead to you losing more chips than you can gain.