No Limit Texas Holdem Poker Leaks
You can’t afford to repeatedly make even small mistakes in Texas Holdem
If you are going to play our beginning poker strategy it is imperative that you plug all of the leaks in your game. You are depending on the money you make in big pots to pay for all the small pots you’re involved in. As a result, you can’t afford to repeatedly make even small mistakes. For example, if you make three 50 cent mistakes every session and play twenty sessions a month, your leak will cost you $30 every month. If it’s a $2 mistake your leak will cost $120 per month!
Common Texas Holdem Leaks
The most common leak in new players is calling small bets when they’ve missed the flop completely. Never call a bet no matter how small on the flop if you don’t have a hand.
The second most common leak is calling big bets with a shit hand. The following hands are shit hands: Pair, Two Pair, Trips. See our Texas Holdem Hand Rankings page for a unique perspective on the rank of hands. The most important information your opponent will give you in online poker is the size of his bet. A big bet means he has a big hand. Let me say that again. A BIG BET MEANS A BIG HAND. So when you are in the pot with a pair and your opponent places a huge bet or raise just get out of the way by folding. Once in a while you’ll fold the best hand, but more often than not, your opponent will have two pair, a straight, or a set. Folding with a small hand allows you to save your money until you have a hand that will win a huge pot.
Other common Texas Holdem leaks are drawing when you don’t have odds, drawing to a sucker flush, drawing to the sucker end of a straight, and playing pairs above the board too strongly. The most dangerous leaks are making a sucker draw. When you draw to a hand that will not be the nuts you not only lose money on the draw, but you often lose a huge amount of money when you make the draw. You make that Queen high flush then get a lot of money in the pot only to watch it slide to a player who was betting his Ace high flush.
Often times you’ll make these mistakes without noticing. Poker software that collects statistics about your play can help you identify and eliminate leaks. I’ve used Poker Tracker to help other players identify their leaks. In fact, when I get a complaint from someone who states they aren’t making money using this strategy I ask them to send me the hand history from one of their sessions. I’ve turned losing players into winners simply by pointing out their leaks. Remember, a $5 mistake made only four times per session can cost you $400 per month if you play 20 sessions a month.
