[James47]

It really annoys me when I'm playing against a newbie in poker. Newbies don't usually fully understand the way poker works and don't really know when to fold. The number of times that i've lost to newbies betting on nothing is unbelievable. Does anyone else find it hard to beat newbies?

[scotthughes]

I find this too. Sometimes I though it was silly, but I've figured out what you said, they play hands they aren't supposed to, and thus end up winning when they should have lost. Unfortunately, they are hard or impossible to read because they don't even know how good their hand is. So, all the normal methods of getting money are out the window. In a way, the game is a game of luck when playing a newbie, or even harder because what should work ends up backfiring due to the unexpected stupid moves of the newbie.

I think newbies lose their advantage when playing for large sums of money because the newbies get scared. I'd feel bad about taking a lot of money from a newbie though, because I'm not a shark.

[louis]

I find playing against beginners so hard because you can't second guess what they have. What looks like a bluff could be them genuinely thinking they have a good hand when in fact they have very little.

As much as I like not playing top players, I think more skill is needed against beginners. Patience is essential, to wait for a premium hand and try and take them on head to head knowing you've got a strong hand. Trying to bluff a beginner is often a futile and suicidal option in my experience.