Plugging Leaks
Hey
As a somewhat new poker player, I find I am constantly noticing leaks in my game when viewing forums, reading books or just going over hands with friends
I have really enjoyed trying to use Dave's five finger checklist as a way to monitor some of my leaks, but I am interested if anyone else has ways to make them cognizant of there leaks
Someone mentioned the golf analogy- a pre-shot routine which I think is a great comparison - it really helps my golf game to have the same swing thoughts each time I hit the ball in a given situation. I also go as far as writing SG above the seam on the ball, which stands for smart golf.
Thanks
Scots
As a somewhat new poker player, I find I am constantly noticing leaks in my game when viewing forums, reading books or just going over hands with friends
I have really enjoyed trying to use Dave's five finger checklist as a way to monitor some of my leaks, but I am interested if anyone else has ways to make them cognizant of there leaks
Someone mentioned the golf analogy- a pre-shot routine which I think is a great comparison - it really helps my golf game to have the same swing thoughts each time I hit the ball in a given situation. I also go as far as writing SG above the seam on the ball, which stands for smart golf.
Thanks
Scots
Comments
That's actually the other piece of advice I'd give - focus on what to work on. As a newbie, there is so much to learn that I've been trying to "do to much" and I've been focusing on the wrong things. First, work on the situations that occur most frequently, and make sure you're improving those. The fringe cases (which IMO are the majority of the interesting discussion on this site
I believe it was me that used the preshot routine analogy. The biggest thing that does is help me to slow down, and avoid rash decisions. For me, the way to plug leaks is to study, study, study, play and repeat. I study books, forums, anything I can get my hands on.
I also think that hand posting to allow discussion is the best way to analzye your game. Let others have a look, which only leads to different viewpoints and learning.
Jay
- when you play golf, there are certian shots that you 'instinctively know' what club, what ball etc (i don't play golf, but flyfishing is like that for me), you get that instinct from practise. When you have seen a certian instance over and over again, the checklist is internal. Same can be said about any sport. It can also be called 'muscle memory', if your an accomplished basketball player you dont think about making a foul shot, you just shoot
Poker is very similar, there are alot of plays that happen over and over, ie a pair on the flop. How many times have you seen this? 10, 100, 1000? What does a bet (and size of bet) mean from each type of player? You only learn that by seeing it hundreds if not thousands of times. That's what micro limits can do for you.
It also gets you alot more comfortable with pushing in half your stack, all your stack in certain situations. It really allows you to learn to be aggressive as well (not a maniac/jackass) but pushing on a draw against a vulnerable holding, or how to bluff and steal.
Be prepared to lose, but take what doyle or harrington says and apply it. It won't hurt when you have to rebuy for $2 (and you can make it back quickly at these levels). LOOK at the situations where you lose and win. Could you won more? Did you let someone draw out on you? Did you misread a situation? Is the other guy a clown and 99/100 you would have won? Did it affect your next bets? etc
There is NO substitute for this experiance.
Actually, good sound advice. Online poker is quite possibly the pinnacle of man's achievement.
Ill let you put me in the box.....
I like to think of myself as... sitting pretty, with your chips
BTW why arent you going to shopsy's tonight?
p.s. Save a few of my chips. I'll grab them next time we play.
I think the biggest hurdle people face when trying to figure out how to plug leaks is that they dont know what to look for in a leak and what leaks are worthwhile to fix. The worst mistakes you can make in poker are the ones that present themselves in situations often. A player that knows how to play one pair perfectly is going to be far more successful then the player that devotes all of his time to extracting every possible bet he can get whenever he has quads.
I guess that would mean the best place to start looking for leaks is preflop. (which makes perfect sense...starting at the start of a hand...duh) After all, every hand you play, you are dealt hole cards. Over the past 21,399 hands, I have received 32o, 42o, 52o, 62o, 72o, 82o, 92o, T2o, J2o a collective 1929 times. Imagine if I played those hands every single time and lost a fraction of a small bet. In a 3/6 game, say these mistakes cost us a third of a small bet, thats a whopping $1,929...all because of a bad limping habit. Obviously, there are very rare Nemos that play these hands (but god bless them...) but its not hard to see that any single mistake in our preflop strategy where we get our hand in with the worst of it (...yes, i know about implied odds...) is going to cost us dearly if we are making the mistake. So think twice the next time you think that limping QTo utg isnt that bad...make that mistake often enough, and it could be a killer.
Postflop, it becomes much much more difficult because there are so many more considerations to make, in-game and meta-game. The only way to find the leaks is the dissect hand after hand and try to find an underlying game strategy that will encapsulate various similiar situations.
Dave's Checklist is a great way to do this, but dont just use it IN HAND, use it after the fact as well.
I am a great believer in asking the right questions to find the right answers.
Based on what I believe my opponents are holding...
1. ...How likely am I to be the best at the showdown? (Notice, I dont say, "How likely I am to be the best now?")
2. ...Do I have a hand that I want to protect?
3. ...Do I have a hand that doesnt need protection?
4. ...Can I extract maximum value while protecting my hand?
5. ...How much value am I willing to give up to protect my hand?
6. ...What conditions will cause me to fold?
7. ...How best to avoid these conditions if I have a hand that I want to showdown?
and of course...my all time favorite...
8. ...is this line likely to win me the most when Im ahead, and lose me the least when Im behind.
I still find myself searching for more information and analyzing my plays, but I do feel I have plugged my major leaks
Cheers
Scots
I go through all my hands, find the worst ones, figure out why they are costing me money. I also look heavily at my position stats. Example QJ was a loser hand for me. Through my PT database I found I was playing this hand too early. My low suited Aces are not doing well so I am tightening up with those as well. You can find your most/least profitable opponents, replay hands, sort the stats seven ways from Sunday. The software is invaluable.
Moose:
I play 100% at Pokerroom - will Pokertracker work there?
cdnmoose what's your screenname?
Thanks for the info
Screen name is scots28ca
One other question - did you buy Pokertracker directly through there website? pokertracker.com
Thanks
Scots
If you are willing to sign up, play 250-300 hands, you can earn it for free as well as get some bonus money for your first deposit.
Depends how you want to go about it, just watch which site you sign up to do it through, as some are easier to clear than others.
This isn't an ad, simply a way to maybe save yourself 60.00 and get it legitimately. I love Poker Tracker, I think its great.
www.pokersourceonline.com
It is more than worth the money if you choose to simply buy it.
This is why Dave is always suggesting "more time in the trenches" to help your game get better.