Poker Chip Leaks, And How To Plug Them

One way to think of the winnings we take from poker is to think of them as water being poured into a bucket. Profound maybe, but stay with me for a moment here! In an ideal world, we would play a game, win a game and pour our winnings into our bucket. The bucket over time would fill and gradually get closer to being completely full. After a while we would probably need to invest in a bigger bucket as our winnings would be close to spilling over the sides. Problem is, real life isn’t like that. The fact is, most players develop ‘leaks’, gaping holes in the bottom of your bucket that allows your hard earned winnings to escape out almost as quickly as they are replenished. Every time you lose, every major mistake you make at the table, every time you grab the credit card to even things out, you’re leaking, and the only way to stop leaking is to plug the leaks. Here are a few common leaks, complete with possible ways to cap them.

Playing Too Many Hands: Take a look back at your games and figure out the number of flop you see, on average. If it’s a high percentage, you’re playing too many hands, simple as that. The fundamental rule of poker is to invest more money when you’re ahead and get out when you’re not. Aggressive poker players don’t like to fold (who does?) but then there aren’t any poker players out there who enjoy losing money. Ideally, you should be seeing the flop no more than 20 – 30% of your game time.

Learn Pot Odds! It’s amazing how many so-called skilled poker players out there know nothing about pot odds. It’s a fundamental part of playing poker with the aim of winning money and is something you must pay attention to.

Staying focused on Poker. Speaking of paying attention, how many people are guilty of playing a game of poker online at the same time as talking to their buddies on MSN, researching where to get the best prices for that concert you want to go to next month and trying to outbid somebody on EBay all at the same time? Multi-tasking is great but if you’re not paying attention to a game of poker, especially one where your money is involved, you can’t seriously expect to come out the winner. Watch the other players, make notes of their moves and learn all the time, it will pay dividends in the long run.

These are just a few examples and there are many more for you to consider, but perhaps the biggest way to leak chips is to not consider how or where you’re leaking chips! Never stop looking at your own style of play and never stop trying to uncover your flaws. Keep at it and pretty soon you’re going to need a much bigger bucket!

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