In any Casino, whether it is online or land-based, there are three groups all players can fall into: The Beginner, the Amateur and the Professional. But no matter what a player’s level, everyone makes mistakes and these can often be very costly. To not let it happen again, a player must understand exactly what that mistake was and how they can avoid it in the future. Here are a few examples of common scenarios being played out every day.
	Scenario One An architect, who had played poker during university with his roommates, gets interested in Texas Hold'em so he goes to a nearby casino and starts playing. After a few times playing the game, he decides to read books and browse the Internet for any information that could give him an edge. He becomes very interested in the ESPN broadcasting of WOSP and other variations like Celebrity Poker and Heads Up. While watching TV, he sees numerous Internet advertisements for online poker. He joins one of them and starts playing for "play money". He considers himself a smart guy that understands the odds, so he decides to approach the game scientifically. He is also mesmerized by the amount of the money that can be won in tournaments and thinks he could be the guy winning the WOSP championship. After several days of minor success in the casino, he loses a very large sum of money. He goes back to get his lost money and loses more money. He is baffled; He thought he had an excellent understanding of the odds and could read some of the players who tried to bluff him.
	Scenario Two An old-timer who has been playing poker for over thirty years, goes to casinos on a regular basis. He knows the game and has seen it all. Since he finds himself with lots of time on his hands, he figures that he can supplement his retirement salary with a little winning money. He is not there for the glory or the big money, just to pass the time and make a few extra dollars while doing it. One day at the table, he sits with a few of the young players, and from the get-go they start raising and re-raising pre-flop. He has seen it all, so he wants to wait until he gets the right hand so he can make a profit. Meanwhile, the young players tell each other stories and narrate the game in loud voices, and he gradually tires of the commotion at the table. He gets his break and calls a big pre-flop with his pocket kings but the raiser gets lucky and wins with his 8-6 off suit. The old-timer is disgusted, as he has lost more than he should have. Even when he had been lucky and won a pot or two, the young players bought chips and came back at him by catching cards on the river.
	Scenario Three A security guard working night shifts comes to the casino to play poker so he can both make some money on the side and socialize with the people at the table. He used to play with his buddies once a week but they never took the game too seriously but just used the game as an excuse to get together and have a good time. Dealing with a tight budget, he knows that he cannot afford to lose money, so he plays with caution and tries to avoid multi-player pots and players who chase everything. He still always ends up walking out with less money than he came in with but he does not understand where he’s going wrong.

What is Wrong Here?

Skill-based games such as poker are a sequence of condensed decisions made within a very short period of time. Although some decisions need to be made just once, such as what level of game one would want to play (1-2 or 2-5 no limit), many others are required to be made repeatedly. Calculated decisions require as much data as possible so that the data can be used for making the most favorable choice. To favorably interpret the data a number of skills are needed, such as an understanding of the mathematics relating to the particular game. A good skill-based game player should know the likelihood of them winning in every game. For example, a poker player should know that the chance of them hitting a set in a pocket pair is 1 in 8.5 and the chance a player will complete a flopped flush draw by the river is 1 in 3. To make good, calculated decisions, a player should understand every possible scenario and probability. Also, a successful skill-based player must be disciplined while understanding that different games do require different disciplines. A good no-limit poker player can be a foolish limit poker player (and the other way round) and a good limit Texas hold’em player will have solid pre-flop skills. Another common mistake made by gamers, is not understanding how high/low a table’s transaction volume they are comfortable with. Also very important, is estimation of risk vs. reward. A good player always knows when to raise, pass, go all in, or when to fold or leave the game.

 In the first scenario, the architect went on tilt. He lost control but there was nothing to tell him or help him to understand it.

 In the second scenario, the old-timer did not know that the table had a much higher transaction volume than his comfort zone. How many people are bored playing on a table with a small transaction volume, and how many players are disgusted and disappointed playing on tables with higher transaction volumes?

 In the third scenario, the security guard played many more hands than he should have even though he thought he was playing tight.