Do You Know The Poker Leaks in Your Game?

What is a Poker Leak?

I couldn't find a good definition of a poker leak online, so let me try to define it here:

A poker leak is anything you do on a consistent basis at a poker table that ends up costing you money. You may or may not be conscious of your leak, but since it is based on your actions (and not the randomness of the cards) you do have the ability to eliminate it from your game.

Examples of Poker Leaks

When you let a bad beat on one hand of poker get you so upset that it effects your play negatively on subsequent hands, you are on tilt. This is probably the most common leak among players.

When I first started playing poker, I never went on tilt. However, thanks to online poker, tilting is something I tend to embrace. I need to stop that leak.

You will notice that top pros don't go on tilt. You may watch Phil Hellmuth get upset but you won't see him go on tilt. Instead, he marches away in anger willing to miss the next hand of poker in order to calm himself down.

Another leak is when you let an opponent get under your skin. Often it is because he or she seems to be bullying you and maybe stealing the blinds. Or, maybe the player is just being obnoxious and raising and re-raising with any two cards. Whatever the reason, instead of playing your A game, you focus on this one opponent. The result is that you play sub-optimal poker the rest of the night, costing you money.

Tells are a leak that are found in many players. The most common tell is when you act strong when you are weak, and you act weak when you are strong. You may have a tell or two and not even know about it.

Years ago I met a friend in Vegas who told me that he had no tells in his poker game. He wanted to prove it to me, so he asked me to watch him play. Oh my! I think he had more tells than any other poker player I had ever seen.

One of his tells is that his body gave away the strength of his hand. If he had a big hand pre-flop, he would lean into the table. Then if he improved on the flop, he would lean in even more. But if he didn't improve on the flop, he would lean back into the chair.

Another leak is when you give away your hand by the size of your pre-flop bet. Some players will make raises five, six or seven times the big blind when they have pairs and they don't want action.

In fact, being predictable with your betting patterns is a major leak in your game. For example, if you never check raise with a flush draw on the flop, your opponent can take advantage of you. If the flush card doesn't come on the turn, he can bet big enough to get you off your hand. And if the flush card does come, he can safely check and fold.

Conclusion

Every player has poker leaks. The key is to plug your leaks and find the holes in your opponents' game.

Very little has been written about poker leaks and yet they are something that you should address. Maybe I need to write another book. 101 Poker Leaks: Plug the holes in your game while spotting the ones in your opponents.

11 Steps From Poker Beginner to Poker Winner (2)

Here are steps 6-11

Step 6: Know these 4 most common probabilities in hold’em poker.

•If your starting hand is not a pair, the probability of hitting one pair on the flop is about 32%. That's right, you (and your opponent) will not improve on the flop 2 out of 3 times.
•If your starting hand is a pair, the probability of hitting three of a kind on the flop is 12%.
•If your starting hand is two suited cards and 2 cards of the same suit flop, called a flush draw, the probability of making a flush is 36%.
•If you flop a straight draw, 4 cards to a straight, the probability of making a straight is 36%.

Step 7: Knowing the probabilities helps you decide how or if you should play your hand. All you need to do is compare the probability versus the pot odds.

The pot odds are the amount of your bet compared to the amount of money in the pot. For example, let’s say the pot has $50, and your opponent bets $50. To call that bet it will cost you $50 to win $100. That means you are getting 2-1 on your bet (the pot odds).

Now, let’s assume that your opponent made that bet on the flop, and you have a flush draw. You believe that if you make a flush you will win the pot. So, your probability is 36%, which is about 2-1. Since the pot odds are right, you should make the call.

Step 8: A trick in making the correct decision is to know not just the pot odds, but to know the implied odds.

Implied odds simply includes how much additional money you will win if you make your desired hand. Using the above example, if you and your opponent both had $1,000, and you hit your flush, your implied odds may actually be the $50 to win over $1,000! That means your implied odds are 20-1!

But wait. Your implied odds are really much less, since if you make your flush (let’s say on the next community card or turn), your opponent will see that you made your hand, and he will just fold to your bet. So, you end up with winning just the $100 in the pot for your $50 call.

That is why if the hand you are trying to make to win a pot is hidden from your opponent, you will usually win a lot more money. Your implied odds are higher, since he will not know that he is beat and will call your bets.

Step 9: In a poker tournament since the bets increase each round, you must learn to accumulate chips.

This is one of the most important things to learn in tournament play. You can’t sit back and wait for the best starting two hands. You must steal the blinds, especially as they increase each round. As a result, you need to learn the different ways to steal blinds, pots and accumulate chips.

Here are some tips:
•Blinds steals: When you are one of the last players to act pre-flop, and no one has entered the pot, raise with any two cards. Specifically, if you are on the button (the player to the right of the blinds), or the cut-off (The player two to the right of the blinds), just raise. You only have to beat a few players to win the pot.
•Power steals: Raise pre-flop when other players just call. When a player calls the blind, he has a good but not a great hand. When he raises the blind, he is telling everyone he has a strong hand. If other players call, raise them and tell them to fold since your hand is better.
•Continuation bets: If you do raise pre-flop and a player calls your raise, don’t give up. On the flop, your opponent will not improve his hand 2 out of 3 times, so make a continuation bet; that is, make a bet on the flop as if you made your hand. It will often force your opponent to fold.

Step 10: Play your opponent’s hand and not your hand. This is the most important tip in poker and most players don’t even know it.

Since your opponent can’t see your hole cards, you can always hold the winning hand. If you know when your opponent is weak, you can play your cards like you have the winning hand.

Example: Let’s say your opponent raises pre-flop with pocket Aces. You call his raise with pocket 2’s hoping. The flop comes down 8-7-6 all of hearts. This is a bad flop for you. But, forget about your hand.

Unless your opponent has an Ace of hearts, he can’t be feeling too comfortable. When he bets on the flop, think about what you can do to win the pot. If you call his bet, and a heart, 4, 5, 9 or 10 hit on the turn (21 cards), what’s your opponent going to do since it looks like you may have made a flush or straight.

If he checks the turn and you bet, what will he do? If he bets the turn, and you raise him, what will he do?

It’s important to know what your opponent will do in these situations and to play his hand not your hand. No limit tournament poker is about accumulating chips, stealing blinds and pots, and playing your opponent’s hand. Since most of the hand is revealed on the flop, figure out the range of hands your opponent is holding and play against these hands. Even if you don’t really have a better hand, you can win the pot because you are playing your opponent’s hand.

Step 11: Don’t go on tilt!

Poker is gambling. And even when you are a favorite to win a pot, you are not really that big of a favorite. If your opponent hits that one card to beat you on the river, don’t get so angry that you lose your composure. This is called going on tilt (If you want to laugh at a player who goes on tilt for all sorts of reasons, just visit YouTube and put in “Hellmuth.”)

When you go on tilt, you make bad decisions. If you do get angry at the poker table, before you play another pot and make a bad decision, walk away from the table. Take a break and calm down. They will deal you another hand when you return--I promise.

Do You Have Any Poker Resolutions for 2009?

I am open to any suggestions on how to improve my list of poker resolutions. If you have any resolutions you think I should add, please let me know.

I guess the first one should be to win the Main Event of the WSOP, but that may be more of a dream than a resolution.

1. I will not go on tilt.
2. I will not go on tilt, really.
3. Damn, I will not freaking go on tilt.
4. Oh f-ck me! How f-cking unlucky can you get. I will walk away from the table to avoid going on tilt!
5. Pre-flop, I will look for a reason to play a hand and not fold a hand.
6. I will embrace the risk in the game and be aggressive.
7. I will look for pre-flop tells of the players on my immediate left--especially the players who peek at their cards before it is their turn.
8. I will move all-in even if it is a big overbet on the turn, so bad players will be less likely to make a bad play and call my bet.
9. I will review my book before I play in a tournament, since I always get better results afterwords.
10. I will focus more on winning a seat to the WSOP main event rather than only playing in events that pay-out in cash.

Lock Up Sharp Objects While Playing Poker...Part 2

Sunday at the Oaks
$225 buy-in 135 players

We are down to 11 players. 6 players at my table.

Blinds $3,000-$6,000 with a $500 ante.

I am in the cutoff.

Players fold to me, and I look down and find A-A! I am in 3rd place with $60,000. I raise to $18,000. The big blind moves all in for $35,000. I call. He has A-Q.

The flop is K-2-4. The turn is a 10. The river is a J. Noooo!!!!!!!!!

I go on tilt and take myself out of the event in the next 2 hands.

Win $200 for over 5 hours of play.

Yes, one of my biggest weaknesses in poker is that I go on tilt.