The key to all successful poker is information. Without information you will be gambling blindfolded. A situation that looks the same on a superficial level usually isn’t – it’s always a sum of all the players involved. For this reason you should avoid certain situations when you’re new to a table.
Always take some time to get to know the table and your opponents when you sit down. Try to play cautiously until you have a good grasp of your new table. Identify the players that stick out, like tight aggressive and very loose players. Get to know how large a standard raise is, if the table is tight, loose etc. If you have players at the table that you played with before you should try to see if they play their regular game, or for some reason play in a different way than usual.

All this is off course easier to do in a live game, where you play against the same opponents for longer periods of times. It can also be done online, but here you have to keep in mind that the nature of a certain table can change very quickly. Always try to analyze how the game changes when players leave or enter the game (especially players that stick out in any way.) If a maniac for example leaves the table it can go from loose to tight in a second.

Your worst enemy can often be yourself. Therefore it is equally important to know what state of mind you are in. Often you can’t know this until you sit down at the table. You might be restless, tired or upset for some reason and this will almost certainly affect your game. So take some time and try to read yourself when you sit down at the table.

Playing with caution in the beginning on a session will help you avoid dangerous situations in which you don’t know where you stand. This decreases the risk of taking a big loss early on, which could threaten to ruin your whole session. I would argue that a big part of the losses good players experience can be blamed on sessions starting in a bad way, which affects their game more than they are ready to admit. This can often be avoided if you play cautiously until you feel you have a good grip of the game.

Good luck at the tables!
Mike G

Read more about betting patterns here.