Fix Leaks and Increase Your Win Rate!

[nabmom]

What do you think is the biggest leak in a player's cash game that, if corrected, could increase their win rate?

I'll start:

Leak: Not understanding the dynamics of multiway pots (which happen a lot in cash games). For example, understand that your premium pocket pair does much better heads-up than it does multiway.

Fix: Your game will improve as you improve your reading of the board and getting better at letting go of a hand that was great preflop but is losing its value as the hand progresses. Don't just focus on your pair of Aces. Look at the board texture. You may still have that same top pair after the turn, but if the board has straight and or flush possibilities (that don't help your hand), and there are multiple players in pot, and they are eager to keep putting their money in, you probably don't have the best hand.

 

[fundiver199]

Learning when to fold or not bet an overpair or a strong top pair is for sure one of the more difficult things in cash games (100BB). And not just in multiway pots.

 

[Sebbour]

What do you think is the biggest leak in a player's cash game that, if corrected, could increase their win rate?

I'll start:

Leak: Not understanding the dynamics of multiway pots (which happen a lot in cash games). For example, understand that your premium pocket pair does much better heads-up than it does multiway.

Fix: Your game will improve as you improve your reading of the board and getting better at letting go of a hand that was great preflop but is losing its value as the hand progresses. Don't just focus on your pair of Aces. Look at the board texture. You may still have that same top pair after the turn, but if the board has straight and or flush possibilities (that don't help your hand), and there are multiple players in pot, and they are eager to keep putting their money in, you probably don't have the best hand.

Leak: Lack of patience. Some players come to the cash table with 100BB and they're playing it like it's a hyper turbo tournament (like the blinds are increasing every 3 minutes). They're playing to many hands and calling to many raises just to see if they're going to be lucky at the flop (or even turn or river).

Fix: They should be more patient and pick their hands that they are going with in the pot. Blinds are not increasing and you have time to wait for the better spot (premium hands and/or heads-up play) to call or raise. And even then there will be situations that their hands are not going to be winners in the end. There is no quick profit in poker.

 

[Gallarado777]

that's right, but sometimes emotional players forget about everything when playing for 3-4 hours and think they have the best hand and go all the way even with 2 or 3 pairs on the board, the main thing is to have patience in poker and try to give away fewer chips when possible and earn more then you will benefit from it

 

[YLAN]

LEAK: Not identifying your leaks is a leak. Some players play routinely that they unconsciously repeat their leaks again & again.

FIX: Be conscious on the hands where you loose too much & analyze the hand history. There would be a lot of leaks & fixes that will be identified in this thread. Perhaps some will match yours. Pay attention on your leaks & try patching them.

 

[pentazepam]

This one is easy.

Short version: Table selection is the key to success in cash game poker.

Leak: Just sit down at a table and play for a couple of hours. Fighting it out with other regs and losing to the rake or bad luck. Or winning because of luck.

Fix: Table select until you find at least one table with a player that you see clearly makes a lot of mistakes and plays way too many hands in a terrible way.
This almost guarantees that you win money in the long run.

Remember poker is not so much about how good you are, but how bad the players you are up against are. It's all relative.

 

[Tero]

Playing cash is so different when compared to tournaments. So far I have tried to steer away from them. In that sense I'm the wrong person to detect cash leaks.

On the fix side the question becomes simpler. We are usually blind to our leaks (in any game), otherwise we wouldn't have them. So my solution is having another set of eyes (hopefully in a head of someone smarter) looking at your play and giving feedback. That is a step forward.

 

[zorro222_zorro222]

Leak: Game selection, this includes playing a cash game outside of your current bankroll and/or playing in a game even when you know you shouldn't be (this includes playing in a game because you are bored, your usual game isn't running or you are on tilt).

Fix: Before you start playing, realize your current bankroll and when you find a game running within your current bankroll, decide how much you are ok with losing if things don't go your way and how long you might want to play for.

 

[mattiebumpo]

Leak: Playing too many hands from the Small Blind (SB).
Fix: This is the worst position in poker and even though you have 1/2 the blind in the pot, that is not enough of a reason to complete the blind or call a raise with a mediocre hand. I know this is a leak so I need to look more closely at how many chips I am losing in this position. Overall, I need to just fold more often from the SB (sticking more to the recommended hand ranges). I will study more on this subject, especially SB vs BB.

 

[belladonna05]

Straddles in local games
Know your players and unless you are in a position to squeeze, just don't and also to quit treating them like bomb pots.

 

[ADRI7HO]

Leak: Playing from too many positions with borderline or weak cards.

Fix: Regardless of the size of the buyin, it is important to play with a tight and considered hand range from the given positions, because you can also win money with this.

 

[Station_Master]

Leak: Playing too many hands from the Small Blind (SB).
Fix: This is the worst position in poker and even though you have 1/2 the blind in the pot, that is not enough of a reason to complete the blind or call a raise with a mediocre hand. I know this is a leak so I need to look more closely at how many chips I am losing in this position. Overall, I need to just fold more often from the SB (sticking more to the recommended hand ranges). I will study more on this subject, especially SB vs BB.

I think you need to define what 'too many' is. SB is a good steal spot so you want to open 44% of hands or so. If you follow GTO charts it's not too bad a start point , opening more against someone who overfold BB and less v a decent reg

 

[eetenor]

What do you think is the biggest leak in a player's cash game that, if corrected, could increase their win rate?

I'll start:

Leak: Not understanding the dynamics of multiway pots (which happen a lot in cash games). For example, understand that your premium pocket pair does much better heads-up than it does multiway.

Fix: Your game will improve as you improve your reading of the board and getting better at letting go of a hand that was great preflop but is losing its value as the hand progresses. Don't just focus on your pair of Aces. Look at the board texture. You may still have that same top pair after the turn, but if the board has straight and or flush possibilities (that don't help your hand), and there are multiple players in pot, and they are eager to keep putting their money in, you probably don't have the best hand.

Leak --#1 all time makes you more money than anything else you can do---------- game selection

Fix --hunt good games--- abandon bad games and do not play if there are no good games- Tagging your player pool really makes this easy online-- Live always go to the table where the players are having fun and or are loud and excited.

 

[kon44]

What do you think is the biggest leak in a player's cash game that, if corrected, could increase their win rate?

I'll start:

Leak: Not understanding the dynamics of multiway pots (which happen a lot in cash games). For example, understand that your premium pocket pair does much better heads-up than it does multiway.

Fix: Your game will improve as you improve your reading of the board and getting better at letting go of a hand that was great preflop but is losing its value as the hand progresses. Don't just focus on your pair of Aces. Look at the board texture. You may still have that same top pair after the turn, but if the board has straight and or flush possibilities (that don't help your hand), and there are multiple players in pot, and they are eager to keep putting their money in, you probably don't have the best hand.

Well said and it runs vastly in so many directions. I fold AA Pre if I have to as I don't invest in situations I know will evolve badly for me. I play cash daily at the moment on Stars and I play a good 90% or more against a single player. I don't play any hand unless it's a hand I would raise with. If I can't isolate with a Prem hand I let it go, and actually more often than not fold em away.... This is only in Zoom, Ring games is a whole other playground that online is the most boring, slow past soul destroying waste of time in my opinion.

Answering your post more directly however, it's not so much increasing your win rate, it's more about increasing your profit.... But then I suppose it's a leak lol so here goes... •ZOOM Orientated•



LEAK - Limping.... Defending your Blinds with marginal hands..... Calling for value....

FIX - Play hands only if you are raising with them. Palm away your marginal hands in the blinds, shouldn't invest in situation where your on paper behind unless you intent on dominating. And the calling for Value....

 

[najisami]

Leak : Staying at a table that has tough competition.

Fix : As soon as you realize that most players at the table are better payers than you, leave immediately and look for softer competition.

 

[Suns of Beaches]

Leak: paying off to much big bets on rivers with marginal hands.

Fix: folding more often to large river bets with marginal hands and bluffcatchers. Folding a lot of very good hands to river overbets.

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

the leak is when my pocket AA runs over a guy with a 27 in his pocket😂

 

[bapfel]

Leak: to play only your pocket cards and call to loose, not collecting information on the player types around you
Fix: being new at a table in the first 20 minutes I play very tight, to use the time to get those information, to see on which players stealing blinds might be easier, where calling a continuation bet with a midpair or draw is not regularly followed by a next expensive raise of the opponent which melt down my stack to fast.

 

[fundiver199]

Leak: paying off to much big bets on rivers with marginal hands.

Fix: folding more often to large river bets with marginal hands and bluffcatchers. Folding a lot of very good hands to river overbets.

Definitely agree with this especially for micro and low stakes players. Its easy to get into a "table sheriff" mentality and see big bets as likely bluffs. But in general its just the opposite at least on the river and to some extend on the turn as well. There are good situations to bluff catch, but if you are not sure, you will rarely make a significant mistake by folding bluff catchers to big river bets in micro and low stakes games.

 

[LUKADONCICMVP]

most poker leaks are on the mental aspect of the game.

 

[GarotoMaroto]

I would shove that aces in pre flop or flop anyway XD
God bless

 

[antonis32123]

Leak : better players , actually sharks that target you and try to play at your tables , like poker stalkers lol
Dix : try to take notes , avoid these players by all means , better play at poker rooms where usernames are hidden or where you cannot choose specific cash tables but you are sat at a random available seat . Maybe try zoom or fast forward kind of cash games .

Many times I have fallen victim to such sharks , some times some poker buddies of them follow and join the table . This is a cancer at poker tables , it destroys fun of the game . What's even worse they usually leave the table when dynamics change , all together they leave the table when you start winning , leaving you alone , disgusting behaviour . A major reason why I started zoom instead of regular cash tables .

 

[Marcwantstowin]

I would shove that aces in pre flop or flop anyway XD
God bless

@GarotoMaroto

You saying you would shove with AA pre- or after the flop in a cash game? I can understand that in a tournament, but then not in a cash game? I am no expert on playing in cash games, at all, but my thinking would be to extract value from a premium hand like that?

If that is your leak, what do you see as a fix?

Just interested to know???

Until you have told us how you would fix the leak, I will wait on approving your post, as it does ask what the leak is and how you would fix it?

Thanks Marc

 

[Station_Master]

Leak : better players , actually sharks that target you and try to play at your tables , like poker stalkers lol
Dix : try to take notes , avoid these players by all means , better play at poker rooms where usernames are hidden or where you cannot choose specific cash tables but you are sat at a random available seat . Maybe try zoom or fast forward kind of cash games .

Many times I have fallen victim to such sharks , some times some poker buddies of them follow and join the table . This is a cancer at poker tables , it destroys fun of the game . What's even worse they usually leave the table when dynamics change , all together they leave the table when you start winning , leaving you alone , disgusting behaviour . A major reason why I started zoom instead of regular cash tables .

If you are getting targeted, then you have been tagged a fish, so probably have some other leaks in your game, e.g. limping, too passive, playing without a full stack, being a station etc.

However it could also be in your mind, as the regs are often multitabling so will often sit at your tables. I often have multiple tables with the same regs, sometimes across two different sites. However they arent targeting me as we all sit out when the fish leave!

Playing harder games, like zoom is not the solution. Play normal tables and work on your game.

 

[Gritz18]

What do you think is the biggest leak in a player's cash game that, if corrected, could increase their win rate?

I'm going to let this one pass, because I've never played cash games, and I don't intend to, but I've seen some videos of professionals who play, and according to them the game dynamics are very different from tournaments.