Constant work on yourself is the key to success in any industry, including poker. Many newcomers come to the game expecting easy money. Reality turns out to be cruel and quickly destroys these illusions.
Players are faced with a choice: quit poker or learn how to fix leaks. One of the most effective ways to develop your skills is to get rid of leaks.
What Are Leaks in Poker?
The meaning of the word “leak” is synonymous with the word “error”. A leak is any mistaken action at the table that leads or may lead to a loss.
For example, entering a 3-bet with 87 off suit is a leak. Playing for stack with top pair on the flop in great depth against a nitty opponent is another failure in assessing the strength of the hand.
A leak is some kind of repeated mistake that leads to a loss of profit or win rate. For example, if a player often checks/folds without a made hand, then his obvious choice is to fold to his opponent’s aggression.
Many poker players became acquainted with their leaks, thanks to the Leakbuster program. The software analyzes a player’s statistics and provides detailed output using several filters. It studies the user's strategy in relation to the standard set by the developers and gives it a rating. Leakbuster found problems in the strategy and made recommendations on how to fix them.
Common Leaks of New Poker Players
Many new players make the same mistakes, so it's easy to generalize them. The most common leaks include:
- Too many limps. Calling the big blind amount in hopes of seeing the flop is called a limp. Often, limping signals that we are dealing with an amateur. Limpers are constantly attacked with aggressive raises and are forced to fold or pay against the odds.
- Low aggression. All beginners are advised to play carefully and only use a strong range. Top combinations come infrequently, and even more rarely do they turn into strong combinations. The rest of the time, newcomers behave passively. They are easily squeezed out of the pot when rivals learn how to exploit them.
- Folding easily to continuation bets. Since we rarely hit the board – we often give up.
- Low 3-bet frequency. The most common 3-betting range for value is JJ+, AQ+. In total, this is 44 combinations out of 1326 possible. It is recommended to introduce bluff 3-bet bets gradually because beginners play predictably and do not 3-bet often enough.
- Playing without position. Starting players rarely know how to exploit position,opening up a range of leaks.. Constant defeats in hands played out of position help you understand its value – simply because it is quite inconvenient.
Most leaks do not go away with time. You can’t read about it in some book or watch a video on the topic and say goodbye forever. What is needed here is system analysis and painstaking work. Let's start with the search.
How to Spot Leaks and Fix Them
There are several ways to detect errors. The most effective are through analysis in special programs, analysis of hands with a coach, and practice. Let's go through each of them in detail.
We remind you that on GipsyTeam you will find all the necessary materials on how and where to play poker for money. Learn the rules of poker or learn how to overcome tilt.
Studying and Working in Poker Software
The poker software industry has grown greatly in recent years. Before, players only had trackers and simple homemade programs. Modern players have more choices, but at the initial learning stages, it is most useful to work in the Flopzilla calculator and use poker trackers.
- Flopzilla and Flopzilla Pro: The best equity calculator for independent work. Teaches combinatorics, helps memorize ranges, and suggests situations for bluffing. Just a few weeks of fruitful work will change your perception of poker and improve your thinking speed. The program costs $25 and pays for itself in a matter of days. There’s also a free trial.
- Holdem Manager 3, Hand2Note, and PokerTracker 4 are trackers that save all played hands in a database. Due to this, you can always find a tricky hand and sort it out. Trackers are also suitable for analysis – the programs offer a large number of filters, which allows you to systematically work through errors. They also display statistics on opponents directly on the tables – in poker rooms where it’s allowed.
Flopzilla, trackers, and other software can be purchased in the GipsyTeam store.
Do You Enter Poker Freerolls for Practice?
If you are interested in free tournaments offered by other top poker rooms, then the full schedule and current passwords for freerolls can be found in a special section on GipsyTeam.
To participate in tournaments, you need to create an account in the appropriate poker room using the link from our website. Just go to the room page and follow the instructions.
If something doesn’t work out or you have questions, write to the GipsyTeam support service. Specialists are available 7 days a week to chat on Skype, Telegram, online chat, and Discord.
They will help you register in any poker room with maximum bonuses, buy software, get into freerolls, or make a deposit. All consultations are free.
