Poker is an easy game to learn but it takes years of experience to master all key aspects of the game. Like master chess player is one who can find a checkmate, similarly a successful poker player needs to be trained in all aspects of the poker game. Thus, it is important to find and fill the gaps in your poker game in order to increase your chances of winning at the poker tables. Following are the common leaks that you can experience while playing online poker:
No Knowledge of Position Play
Position plays an important role in poker. Basically, you should play your game depending on your position at the table. Position play comes with experience as standard play is based on hands.
For instance, amateur players play only best hands like high pocket pairs and fold medium and low hands. As their game learning progresses, they start concentrating on flop texture and opponents tendencies. This indirectly helps them to play a variety of hands instead of just strong hole cards.
To see what your opponent does before its your turn to act trains you in playing hands depending on your position, for instance, you should play fewer hands from early position and open 50% of your hands from late position if it’s an unraised pot.
Very Predictable
While playing poker, many of the players tend to keep their bets unpredictable but their one mistake can make their game play predictable. You will find many amateur players follow a common approach to acting strong when weak and vice a versa which is easily spotted and exploited by their opponents on the table.
On the other side, there are players who groan, contort and moan before flipping over quads or beg for a call and then muck their hand or reveal nothing more than middle pair when called hero. Such players usually act strong when holding weaker hands. So, you have to be unpredictable and play strategically to bluff your opponents and win profitable pots.
Overplaying Pocket Pairs
Many poker players, by default, play pocket pairs when dealt AA, KK, or QQ regardless of the flop dealt or opponent’s aggressive bets. Such a game play leads them to lose the hand and use up more chips than in routine hands. This is an expensive leak and you should never get married to your poker hand.
You should chase draws on the right spots, play suited connectors, and never forget that a pair is only a pair. So, avoid being a pair poker player, and hold the guts to fold high pocket pairs.
Value Betting Errors
A value betting is one in which a player steals more chips from his opponents when holding the best possible hand. You need to maximize your equity in the hand to win more chips. For instance, when holding the best hand, you should make value bets so that it does not cost you valuable chips and also make your better opponents feel like their hand was a winning hand. This forces them to give up their chips to the value bet that you made.
Moreover, while value betting, the most common leak that a player makes is during the river. They do not bet much on river thinking there are already enough chips in the pot. So, you should value bet enough on the river to maximize your chances of winning.
Unable to Control Tilt
Tilt is the chief leak in the poker game. While playing online poker, if you experience a few bad beats or continuous bad run of cards for sometime, you can go on tilt. It is frustrating as you cannot avoid it.
All you can do is take a break and relax your mind. And, if you continue playing on tilt, you will lose more by making incorrect value bets or overplaying hands and this is definitely going to curtail your progress. Hence, you should learn to manage your emotions, and continue playing your best game.
Therefore, to be a long run winning poker player, you should try to keep game play errors to the minimum and plug the leaks where you find them.
