How to fix your leaks

Hey guys

Ive been a poker player for about 2 years now and have been losing on a constant basis. I just had my worst run today, getting great cards and just losing despite the fact. But I dont want to talk about bad beats or bad luck here because thats not going to make me feel better or play any better in the future.

What I want to know is how to winning players identify their leaks and fix them? I know I have them because if I don't, I would be a winning player. I play proper strategy, playing tight, stealing blinds, and trying to avoid risks as much as possible. I read poker articles on online tells, statistics, probabilities, calculating odds, and STT strategy and yet I still lose in the $2s. I want to start winning and build a bankroll but that just doesn't seem to work for me. I want to improve, move up along with my bankroll, and play higher games and implement more advanced strategies like bluffing, reading hands, thinking on different levels, etc. Can anyone help?

Bolded is probably the biggest leak in probably 80% of 'regular' players.

Welcome to Cardschat.

Your best way to improve right now is going to be posting in the Hand Analysis forum (http://www.cardschat.com/f51/). Here you can post hands that you found difficult and get feedback from the regulars here. Perhaps more importantly you can also answer other people's questions. I say this is more important because it requires you to really think about why a certain play is correct in the particular situation, as you have to be able to explain it to that person. Even if you're not 100% sure what the move is, spend some time trying to reason your way to the answer - it's really a fantastic critical thinking exercise.

Also, the SNG/STT regulars here at the forum have a monthly chat thread, where you can talk strategy, complain about running bad, or just shoot the bull. Here's the link: ***Mischievous March SNG Thread***

For now those are going to be your best tools, and it will help you hone your fundamental STT skills.

Study, study, study

Study Hand Analysis (others) - Harrington books are filled with them. Phil Gordon's Blue Book is all about that. This gives you a baseline for proper play from real life hands.

Study Hand Analysis (yours) - Now that you have a baseline, start using that format for reviewing your own hands.

Study Your HEM/PT3 Data - If you are not using this then you are playing at a huge disadvantage. By going through some of my PT3 data I found out I was greatly over valuing AJ (and others). By being aware of it I fixed it and am now profitable with those hands. f I had not taken the time to go through it I'd undoubtedly still be bleeding from those hands.

1. Read books. The best books to read are Harrington, Sklansky, and Moshman books. Devour them for all they have.

2. Invest in software. Hold em manager and sng wizard (or similar products) will make it easier to go back and analyze your game. sng wiz will help you identify bubble mistakes (if you know how to use it right). Most players that know the basics lose a lot of their equity with poor bubble play. I can only speculate that this is one of your biggest problems.

3.Like somebody else said, post hands that seem like close decisions on here and on 2+2. Feedback from your peers will help you make more optimal decisions.

4. Stay positive and try to avoid tiltin off your money. I take pride in being able to break even or come close to it during the sessions where I'm getting sucked out on more than Lil Wayne at a brothel. Don't let the variance get to you.

Studying and playing is what I do. I think I may have posted a similar response elsewhere but rather than trying to do too much at once, I tend to bring in new concepts to my play when I feel like I've got a solid grasp of other concepts. So when I first started, I didn't feel comfortable stealing blinds, for example. So I worked on other areas until I felt ready to concentrate on blinds. Once I'd grasped stealing blinds, I found something else to incorporate and so on. The more you play, the more you learn and it's okay to make mistakes.

I've only been a CC member here for a few weeks but I already feel like my game has improved just from reading hand analyses and interesting posts from other members. I feel like poker is like learning a language - if you immerse yourself as much as you can, you'll become fluent much more quickly!

We could start there - what do you call getting great cards?

AJ?

66?

A9?

KJ?

Any of these great cards?

it depends on the blinds and my stack relative to the blinds. In early stages, I try to stay tight and only play QQ, AK, AA, KK, or JJ. Since its turbo, the blinds often rise quickly so I start to steal blinds (at around 50/100) with Axs or paint. I try to be patient as other players knock each other out and pretty much never call all ins unless I have the early stage cards. I do shove with A5, K8,Q8, and JT when I get desperate and my stack starts dwindling.

I avoid the big stack and try to steal blinds off the medium and small stacks unless the small stacks seem like their going to be blinded out. Other than that, I wait patient. Although I do occasionally fold into the bubble, I try to build a stack at and before the bubble so I can bully players. Unfortunately, luck has not been on my side recently.

First if you can admit your a losing player you are on the right track. I have a friend that loses more than he wins but he seems to only remember his winning sessions.

The first thing i would do is review all the big hand you lost. Look at what the other person bet on each street and what were they telling you. Who was pushing the action? Do you have a pattern? Did you betting fit the pot odds and implied odds? What position were you in for these hands? This can tell you a lot.

Then look at the big hands you made. How much money did you make on these hands? what's your position?

One of the biggest mistakes is building big pots post flop with little hands.


I hope that helps you start to look at your game.

STOP thinking in terms of luck. it's about your play not what happens after the cards fall. If you remove the word luck from your poker vocabulary you will be a better player. Think in terms of good decision bad outcome(you got your money in and didn't give your opponent the right odds but they hit anyway) or bad decision but favorable outcome.

Just because you won a pot doesn't mean you played the hand well.

I agree with seachicken that you are on the right track in admitting your weakness. I'm trying to strengthen my game a bit now too so I understand. For me I really try to look at the situation I'm in (position, chip stack, other player's aggressiveness) and play the cards from there. The most important thing for me is to be in the right state of mind. If I play with emotion and 'hope' for hand then I know I shouldn't be playing at all. Make sure you are tough mentally and stick to your game plan.

I agree with Slim who agrees with Sea Chicken. You have got to go through your hands and find out what is going on. Invariably, for me, it would many times come down to that one or two hands where I got impatient and let hopes and wishes dictate what I was doing instead of just being smart.

I do shove with A5, K8,Q8, and JT when I get desperate and my stack starts dwindling.

Okay, define a dwindling stack for you. 5M? 10BB?
Look over those hands and see if you are waiting too long and the stink of desperation is enticing callers.

BTW, what is your VPiP?

It seems like you got the basics down for sure. You should be able to kill the micros playing like this. Also might want to see some flops in position early with 'hittable' hands like small pairs sc's(not so much). Only if you can play them CHEAP though.

You may be missing some good re-steal opportunities during mid-game too. If you haven't read Moshman's book yet invest the $25 to get it new or less used. Absorb the info properly in this book and you will make your money back in no time.

You could be stealing too much. Like for instance if you start shoving the hands that in the bold above too early or OOP. Most of the time there is no reason too shove these as soon as you get below 10BBs. It is the timing of your shoves/steal raises that may be a leak.

Also if you have not played too many games yet it could very well be variance. If you haven't played at least 1K tourneys yet the way you have been playing, then don't automatically assume you are a bad player.

Post hands that you are unsure of in the hand analysis section. You will find this will be most helpful if you were unsure how you played a certain hand. I have found this to be a very affective way to be certain you are making the right plays when you just aren't sure.

After you find yourself on a good run don't move up right away. Play at least 1K games and maintain a good ROI(at the very least 5%) before moving up. Kill the micros first then adapt to having a few better players around each time you move up.

thanks for the responses. According to PT3, my VPIP is 19.17. My preflop raises is 17.31. My aggression factor is 5.82. My attempts to steal is 41.7 and I usually try to start when blinds get to 40/80. My fold BB to steal is 82.28, my fold SB to steal is 92.31 and my fold to 3bet is 76.39. I guess I do tend to give my opponents alot of respect for their hands and am not sure what hands I should attempt to resteal with since I assume hands used to steal are suited connectors, connectors (if loose player), and A rag.

Call me Side-Sally, but I think you're absolutely right.

I play so much with just pure instinct. I'm gonig to download Holdem' manager but I don't use the SharkFinder app.

Don't worry so much about stats. When I'm running 4 tables all my stats are completely different. They change depending on table condition.

Although if those are long term stats fold to 3 bet is high. BB and SB look standard(IDK I'm not a stat guru). Aggression and steal may be a little high too. Those are fine as long as players aren't adjusting to them. VPIP and PFR look standard.

The main thing is don't be stealing with trash hands! You want something that has some showdown value like high semi connected cards, mid gappers, and low suited connectors( no, not 23 soooted). Personally I don't think you need to steal that much. When early and late game stats are combined then +40% is kinda high. More like 40-50% max, in mid/late game, under the right circumstances.

Edit: I just looked at your post again and see you mentioned liking to steal with A rag. Get out of that habit quick! There are times to do it but Ax is too often dominated and usually turns out bad. Maybe A8+ A6s+ from CO. Thats as raggy as I'll ever want my aces when stealing.

you have to figure out at first what stile you want to play passive agressive mix games and go in every hand with a play like say i will rasie with my A 10 if some rasies me i will fold and the best way to get advanced in this game is by playing more houres even if it at the most smallest table you can find

You have gotten some great advice here, the only other suggestion I might add is sometimes a break for a few days is good and you will come back fresh to the tables.

I posted yesterday, asking if my playing was to predictable. In the CC tournment i've been get knocked out early. One of the posters Ckingriches told me to observe and make notes on the people I was playing against. He also metioned playing premium hands. I have won one CC freeroll, before i knew what I was doing. Now i make bad mistakes that cost me. i lost half my stack going in with A8- against AK and AJ. Something to consider in playing premium hands is positioning, matters more then hands. if you get a pair of jj in early position and AQ6 come on flop with 3 limpers, foldem your chance of winning is not very good. I quess you gotta know when to hold em and know when to fold em.