- Completing with weak hands in the blinds. I'm talking really weak, like 92s and J6o. While you have to defend against maniacs, even huge implied odds don't justify these calls multiway.
- Sticking with medium pairs with an overcard. If you have TT and the flop is KJ3, there is just very little chance you still have the best hand. You'd like to believe the maniac is going wild with A3, or even better A6, but it's not worth calling every street to find out you're wrong and he has K2. Even with a K94 flop it's questionable.
- Playing trash hands because the odds dictate it at a wild table. Enough said.
- Drawing to the non-nut flush. While I think it's OK to occasionally draw with a singleton ace and a 3-flush on the board, other draws just don't make sense. Drawing to a jack high flush is idiotic, since even if you make it you're probably against a bigger one.
- Calling early position raises with ace hands. Likely that raiser has a bigger ace, so you'll just get in trouble if one falls; even if you pair your kicker, you could lose when they pair a higher one.
Now, I have also amazingly picked up a few good habits, of the sort that Sklansky and other gurus would approve of (I think):
- Betting middle pair with an ace kicker as a semi-bluff. If you hold A9 on a J96 board, that's a good time to try a semi-bluff. The guy with QJ won't fold, but you're ahead of someone with QT and the guy calling with AK really only has a 3-outer, since his ace is no good if it hits.
- Leaving alone draws to the non-nuts, or draws when you have no overcards. An inside straight draw is not one and the same thing; what you want is KQ with a board of T94. Compare that to T9 with a board of J7K. Even if you make your draw, you may lose to a higher straight it a queen or ace falls; and if you miss your draw, you're behind to some pretty pathetic hands. If you "accidentally" pair one of your cards, it's almost surely no good and you're drawing to a 5 outer or less, because you may be drawing dead to someone else's straight. One-overcard draws are ok but can similarly cause trouble: if you hold J8 with a flop of T72, a jack may be a good card for you, but it may make 2 pair for someone else.
- Folding offsuit connectors unless on the button or the SB. You're just not giving up much by folding 76, 98, even JT if there aren't at least three callers in front. Often you'll flush a weak gutshot draw without overcards, and the only thing to do is hope it's checked to you and check behind.
- Avoiding low cards. While I think hands like 64s have tremendous value in no-limit for deception and to catch overpairs with an unfavorable flop, you'll face too many tough decisions in limit with suited one-gappers below J9. Mostly you'll completely miss and fold, because you can't even beat 72o. If you catch a flush draw, you stay in but have nothing if you miss it - no high card that you may pair up by accident. If you flop two pair, it will usually be counterfeited, e.g. with 53s and a flop of Q53, another queen or a running pair kills you. A guy holds on with Q2 and either hits trips or gets running sixes to kill you. You're only ahead on the flop and rarely by much, especially without a four flush.
- Never playing king-rag, even in the small blind. What possible good can come from playing K6o? I used to agonize over pseudo-good hands like K8; but they're rarely good even with two pair. Best you can hope for is 883, but that doesn't come around often.
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