As Bruce Wayne's father says in Batman Begins, "We fall down so we can learn how to pick ourselves back up."

I agree. Falling down and making mistakes is part of being a rookie. The players who learn to stop making them quickly separate themselves from the rest of the fish out there.

As I promised earlier, here are Daniel's Top Ten Rookie Mistakes. Are you still making any of them?

1. Bluffing too much.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Playing unaffordable limits.
4. Drinking alcohol while playing.
5. Quitting while you're ahead.
6. Playing in tough games.
7. Elevated ego.
8. Playing too many hands.
9. Playing on tilt.
10. Playing too many hours.

In the link below, Daniel addresses each of these points in greater detail. It is a very worthwhile read.

I play a pretty solid game these days (if a bit too tight,) but at one time or another, I have been guilty of each of these mistakes, some of them recently enough at I really should have known better.

Number seven is a real danger for any of us to play frequently, especially online. It's easy to lose respect for players who are donking away chips, then sucking out on you with terrible play. It's easy to get married to middle pair when you convince yourself t' you're so good they wouldn't dare play back at you with anything other than overs . . . until they turn over TPTK. Whoops. As they say in Zen and the Art of Poker: Even if you don't respect the player, respect the game.

Number ten kicked me in the junk during the WSOP this year, when I stayed up all night playing 3/6 limit at Mirage with Paul Phillips. I lucked out and sucked out on the first hand I played to build a huge stack, which allowed me to survive Paul's constant straddling of my big blind, and had a blast playing all night long (I didn't violate number four, for those of you keeping score at home). We started at 10:00 PM, and played straight through until about 5:00 the next morning, when Paul had to go home. Lee Jones joined me when Paul left, and Lee and I played until around 7:00, when I realized I was a little too tired to play effectively . . .

I was under the gun, and I thought to myself, "You know, I think I'm due for aces."

The cards were dealt out, and I looked down to see what I had. The first card was the Ace of diamonds. I let it drop to the felt, and found the Ace of clubs behind it.

"I can't wait to write about this," I thought, "it's my own version of the called shot!"

"It's your action, sir." The dealer said.

I looked down at my stack, and saw the big blind sitting in front of me, so I tossed out three chips. "Oh shit. I just limped with my aces under the gun," I thought. "Please someone raise me so I can re-raise."

There were three callers, plus the big blind who checked. I'll spare you the details, but there was obviously a straight on the flop, and I donked off a big pile of my chips because I couldn't get away from aces, even though I knew I was beat.

I'll never forget Lee putting his hand on my shoulder, and gently saying to me, "Maybe it's time to get up, sir."

I rubbed my eyes, toked the dealer, and shook hands with the players around me. After a waffle in the cafe, I collapsed into bed and dreamt of donkeys and fish . . . all with my head on their shoulders.

Next time, I'll open up my skull, and talk a bit about the ultraconservative style I'm trying to move away from. Am I a solid, tight player, or am I just playing like a pussy? Daniel has a thing or two to say about that.

(Link via Pokerfilter.net. Thanks, Bill!)