Char's tip o' the whatever (month, week, day)
TIP = Wait to make your decisions.
Ok - we all know I am a little long winded, so there's the tip plain and simple. If you don't like my babble you can stop now.
If you've read my list of leaks, you know that one of suggestions is to take your hand off the mouse and use your time. Probably the first hurdle for most beginner poker players is to learn how to tighten up and play better cards. The only problem with learning this first step is that it places such an emphasis on your cards. And this is where taking your hand off the mouse and waiting to make your decisions comes in to play.
The biggest obvious mistake I am seeing lately is mid to late in tourneys where players get a hand like 55 when they have about a 7xBB chip stack and it becomes clear that they only look at their cards and think "well this is it - it's either double up or out time this hand no matter what." They then fail to realize that there is an EP raise and a reraise in front of them and still put all their chips in when they are clearly behind and curse their luck when they bust out against AK and QQ.
I think one huge step for a poker player to make is to learn that you should never get emotionally or psychologically attached to a hand. For me, taking my hand off the mouse and actually thinking about how the hand just developed helps me to break whatever emotional or hopeful ties I have to the hand.
