Plugging the Leaks

A few small, miss-played, hands per session can be the difference between posting a profit or a loss. I define a leak as a missed opportunity, to either save money or make more money. Weak play that can lead to reduced wins or increased losses. 

Here we will look at the leaks in my game specifically, and leaks that I see in others that I can exploit.

 

Omaha 8

My leaks

  1. Calling a raise with a weak hand.
  2. Playing marginal hands out of Position.
  3. Playing Tired (go home, another game soon)
  4. Raising too quickly with Strong hands.
  5. Calling from the small blind.
  6. Betting all three streets with draws against conservative players
  7. Not Putting Tight pre-flop raisers on A23
  8. Raising to get people out when I should be raising for value.
  9. Being third caller on river with a weak hand.
  10. Not folding flops with a small % chance of winning Half.
  11. Not playing Bomb pots tight enough.
  12. Hero calls, I need to stop that, unless I think A2 or A3 suited is drawing for nut low and nut flush and misses. There are not that many river bluffs in our circle.
  13. Calling when I know that I am beat.
  14. Paying off the check raise, most check raisers have the nuts, not a draw.(see above)
  15. Letting my actions show my intention to bet raise or fold, before it's my turn to act.
  16. Playing uncoordinated big pairs.
  17. Not giving up the chase when tights are betting.
  18. Showing hands, need to stop this.
  19. Need to get in the habit of announcing raises and calls, speeds up the action, fewer errors
  20. Playing when Distracted (Phone)
  21. Not Looking at a players stack size when they raise.

Leaks that I see

  1. Limping in with very strong hands
  2. Only check raising with the Nuts
  3. Betting out when they catch the nuts
  4. Betting out 2 streets with nut/nut draw then checking on river
  5. Playing A5 low
  6. Calling 2 bets on the flop or turn with a bad draw or weak hand.
  7. Short re-buys
  8. Seeing too many flops and turns
  9. Raising people out on the river. instead of letting them call (Raising when you should call)
  10. Bitching at the dealers. When the dealers aren't happy with you, they can make mistakes in others favor
  11. A player on the river saying "How did I miss this hand?"
  12. Players that will bet you heads up saying it's just the 2 of us and checking to you. (they are weak or on a draw)
  13. Players will show intention to bet raise or fold, before it's their turn to act.
  14. Paying off on the river, the unbluffable.  Giving up that extra big bet
  15. Drinking and playing

Thoughts

Bluff to exploit players that fold too often.

Value bet to exploit players that can't fold weaker hands.

Call to exploit Over Bluffers

Three bet player that raise too much

Straddle/Raise conservative blinds

Fold to river aggression

Lucky players are usually players that only chase Nut hands, When they hit the hand, it is a winner - Bad draw and all. If you are going to chase bad draws only chase Nut ones!

Losing Streaks: Every Poker player will have periods of losses that defy explanation. It is the wildcard nature of Gambling. Proper bankroll management and game management will allow the informed player to ride out the losses and return to profitability.

Running good bleed. When you play bad because you are up big, giving back 20+% of your winnings being stupid.

Running bad bleed: When you are running bad you try to bluff more, chase more and Tilt more. Players will pick up on this and generally call you more. They run you down and you respond by tilting even more.  When you are running bad, Pause, and  return to your A game. Play solid poker, the poker that has made you a winning player. We all want to get even, but it's not a requirement for profitable play, it's ok to lose today as long as we can play well and win next game.

Running Good Bonus. When losing players stop paying to see that you beat them. You are wining, they are losing, so they start to give up on marginal hands, Your opportunities to bluff increase

Poker is a continuing game!!! Fold this Hand there will be a better one in a bit. PLAY that one. Each day is just a small part of the whole, a win or loss today doesn't mean I played well or poorly.

Players

Player X is successful in a low stake game and not so much at higher limits, why?

There are fewer bad callers at higher.  (The money donated by bad callers is enough to offset His marginal play at low stakes) Conversely this is why he does poorly in and hates shorthanded games. Fewer weak players

NL Holdem