Worst poker advice you've ever seen?

Propane Goat · Aug 7, 2025

What is the worst advice you've ever seen given regarding poker strategy and why was it so bad?

I'll start: author of an obviously self-published (and extremely poorly edited with typos and bad grammar everywhere) book on tournament poker strategy that I saw in a thrift store claimed that how many times in a row you've won or lost with AA/KK should determine how you play those hands the next time you get them. In short, if you've won a few times in a row, start folding them pre-flop because you're guaranteed to lose and vice-versa. Just an elaborate attempt to justify the Gambler's Fallacy.

Tero · Aug 7, 2025

Any advice can be a bad advice if we do not take into account the skill level of the individual who is asking an advice.
Example, a new player has just been introduced to the game. He struggles even with ABC poker. If he asks from us how can he improve should we really start telling him about solvers and GTO? No, of course not. We should talk about something more simpler like bankroll management.

From another angle, we should also consider from where the advice is coming from. Does it come from an established, known player or from random Joe? If we act on advice that some rando gave us then it's usually just us we can blame.

pentazepam · Aug 7, 2025

Advice: "You must play a balanced game so no one can read you."

If you have to play that GTO-like, you are sitting at the wrong table.

If your opponents aren't playing optimally themselves, you gain more by exploiting their mistakes rather than trying to be unreadable.

Against beginners or bad players, balance is irrelevant.

Exploit them instead: If they fold too much, bluff more. If they call too much, value bet relentlessly.

If you have some really good players at the table, you can play balanced against them, but you should always have some "fishy" opponents to earn money from.

reska11 · Aug 7, 2025

Take a shot of tequila every time you miss a draw. If you can still see the screen, you're not trying hard enough.

Sunz of Beaches · Aug 7, 2025

In my opinion the worst advice I ever got is to never ever limp. While I agree limping in general is not a good play it can be a decent weapon against certain opponents at certain times. Especially heads up at certain stack sizes.

Newzooozooo · Aug 7, 2025

Propane Goat said:
What is the worst advice you've ever seen given regarding poker strategy and why was it so bad?

I'll start: author of an obviously self-published (and extremely poorly edited with typos and bad grammar everywhere) book on tournament poker strategy that I saw in a thrift store claimed that how many times in a row you've won or lost with AA/KK should determine how you play those hands the next time you get them. In short, if you've won a few times in a row, start folding them pre-flop because you're guaranteed to lose and vice-versa. Just an elaborate attempt to justify the Gambler's Fallacy.

I have a friend who persistently convinced me that any ace is an all-in. To my surprise, by adhering to this banal concept, he somehow managed to win several fairly serious tournaments.
In my opinion, this kind of game is more like a lottery, but as my friend's experience shows, sometimes even a lottery can bring money

IPlayToWin · Aug 7, 2025

Try to play your best game, and try to hide your monsters hands.

Always try to change your game, and the opponent wouldn't read you.

Try to read your opponent, and respect the good players, and for sure some players will give a gift to you their stack.

Growing, and learning form good position, and learn form good players as well.

If you losse your flip or a bad beat, then act like a man, and keep in your minds it's poker.

Winston831 · Aug 7, 2025

Play poker, it'll be fun they said! Worst advice ever.

najisami · Aug 7, 2025

Here's an advice: "When on the SB, always complete no matter what you're holding".

I've seen a poker club owner giving it very often to people. Many of us told him again and again that he was wrong, but he always insisted that it would be stupid not to see a cheap flop with any 2 cards. The funny thing was that he always ended up getting angry when people raised him

.

I don't know if that's the worst advice ever, but I think it's one that could only lead to disaster on the long run. In fact, its very obvious downside is that the BB is going to realize what's going on real soon and take advantage of the situation.

userX · Aug 7, 2025

Propane Goat said:
What is the worst advice you've ever seen given regarding poker strategy and why was it so bad?

I'll start: author of an obviously self-published (and extremely poorly edited with typos and bad grammar everywhere) book on tournament poker strategy that I saw in a thrift store claimed that how many times in a row you've won or lost with AA/KK should determine how you play those hands the next time you get them. In short, if you've won a few times in a row, start folding them pre-flop because you're guaranteed to lose and vice-versa. Just an elaborate attempt to justify the Gambler's Fallacy.

When I started playing, one of my colleagues told me about the importance of position. He emphasised that position must always be used, no matter what. And to be honest, his advice cost me quite a lot. Position is certainly very important, but other factors should also be taken into account, such as hand strength, tournament format, tournament stage, opponents at the table, their playing style, and the size of my stack and my opponents' stacks.

psycodelic1 · Aug 8, 2025

Dont cry after losing a big hand do the reverse😅😅😅

bablovod · Aug 8, 2025

The worst advice is to play every hand

moraeskvmi · Aug 8, 2025

Poker is all about luck!
Definitely the worst advice.

BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch · Aug 8, 2025

Have seen any of my posts? lol.

monte carlo 01 · Aug 8, 2025

"ICM is for poor people"

Flyer35 · Aug 8, 2025

The value of advice depends a lot on the receiver.

I guess in my case, the advice that slowed me down the most was to play tight all the time. That may be good advice for rank beginners, and for some others. But in my case, it just caused me to waste a lot of time in my skill development.

There are times when tight is right of course, but that's definitely not all, or even most of the time in my opinion. My advice - play to the situation. That may be tight, loose, aggressive, passive or any combination of the above.

Aleksandr1991 · Aug 8, 2025

In my opinion, the best advice is not to listen to a non-professional poker player

thedarkman · Aug 8, 2025

1) Learn the game.
2) Play it.

StrangeWaves · Aug 8, 2025

See every hand to the river no matter what

Rost · Aug 8, 2025

The worst advice I ever received was to play more hands and play more actively in order to gain experience. I listened to this advice, and it was a mistake. I lost my $10 bankroll. After that, I became very selective about advice and tried to figure out for myself what would be best for me.

fishvolatil · Aug 8, 2025

"always shove every 5th hand on SB"

CRStals · Aug 9, 2025

I can recall one time when I was starting out playing that someone tried to convince me that playing two suited cards was powerful because of the ability to make a flush with them, even if they were Three-Two. I asked about losing to a bigger flush and I was told you'll just split the pot....

If I only had a way to record that conversation. And yes we did play poker with that person, and yes he did lose to biger flushes and made a fuss over it.

BillyR23 · Aug 9, 2025

Propane Goat said:
What is the worst advice you've ever seen given regarding poker strategy and why was it so bad?

Very interesting thread and in my case it's about the bankroll management - I hope it counts as "poker strategy" as it's such an important part of the game- different poker 'experts' gave similar advices to myself and some friends when we've started playing(recreational poker players), to not care about managing the money and just take shots at higher buy-ins, even going as far as using the entire bankroll for a game(not just CG, even MTT, SNG...), even going as far as giving examples of poker legends going broke multiple times(like DNegs) before becoming successful... this are just exception and should never be examples to follow and your default strategy should be managing the money set aside for playing poker to minimize the risk of going broke* of course, always separate your poker bankroll from your personal finances...

mattiebumpo · Aug 9, 2025

I think the worst advice I have gotten (but I think it is really just outdated) is to shove too soon when I get to 10 BB or less. I think it is OK to wait for a hand with two high cards or a pair rather than just shoving with any A or K. I think now that it is possible to wait until you get down to 3 or 4 BB before panicking. I have seen people come back and build a stack from even less than 1 BB, especially when playing the Big Blind Ante format.

RALF_AK · Aug 9, 2025

...the worst advice is: "Only play strong hands..."

Worst poker advice you've ever seen?

Propane Goat

Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't

Tero

Legend

pentazepam

Legend

reska11

Legend

Sunz of Beaches

Sunz Tzu

Newzooozooo

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IPlayToWin

Rock Star

Winston831

Enthusiast

najisami

Legend

userX

Legend

psycodelic1

Visionary

bablovod

stupid parody of the game

moraeskvmi

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BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch

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monte carlo 01

Enthusiast

Flyer35

Per Ardua ad Astra

Aleksandr1991

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thedarkman

Legend

StrangeWaves

Enthusiast

Rost

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fishvolatil

Rising Star

CRStals

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BillyR23

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mattiebumpo

Legend

RALF_AK

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