What do you guys do to fix a nagging leak?

[Sean Fraley]

I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair, sometimes when the action is moving fast with TPTK or an overpair. Normally this is against a player who has been rather donkish throughout the game. I know this is just plain bad, but sometimes I have trouble remembering this in the heat of the moment. Do you guys have any suggestions for this kind of problem?

[_TKO_]

I would need a read to lay down two-pair on the flop. With one-pair, it depends on stack sizes and how the betting went. I'm new here, but I suspect this thread will end up locked.

[Sean Fraley]

Before locking it, I would like to say that those are just examples. I'm interested more in how the better players here work on fixing chronic leaks, any leak.

[_TKO_]

Experience, mostly.

[Sir Winalot]

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I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair

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I hit you in the face if you try to fix this "leak". Start folding if you hate money.

Fixing a leak: 95% finding it (go trough your big loosing hands/lost pots in poker tracker, read this (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=ssplnlpoker&Number=494666 9&fpart=1&PHPSESSID=) ), 5% actually fixing it (post at 2+2, maybe with some example hands).

[Route66]

[ QUOTE ]

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I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair


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I hit you in the face if you try to fix this "leak". Start folding if you hate money.

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This is right, not to mention funny /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

As far as fixing nagging leaks in general, I keep a list of my top leaks and try to remain conscious of them during a session. It's just a notepad file, so I usually keep the file open while playing. My biggest leak had been getting stacked with 1 pair (overpair, TP) when most of my money when in after the flop as a huge dog. AA and KK seemed to be set magnets for me and I couldn't get away from them after the flop. Staying conscious of this, I started playing these hands to win small pots PF with larger raises, especially after a raise or several limpers, large enough to deny set odds (e.g. 1/5 of my stack). I've also started letting these go post flop under certain conditions. I'm sure I've folded a few winners, but the cost of being wrong so often was killing my winrate. If I win a big pot with big pairs now its "usually" when I've gotten all in PF against another big hand. Other leaks on my list include playing too loose PF esp from EP (I would limp with any SC down to 54s from any position, then end up folding to a LP raise... playing much tighter from EP now) and poor table selection. I still don't put as much effort as I should into selecting an initial table, but I'm very willing to leave a table that is full of tough players or rocks, which I wasn't doing before.

So I'd suggest keeping a list of leaks, determining the corrective action for each, and keeping the list open while playing.

[KungFuManchu]

thats nothing compared to my leak of calling off with under Fulls.

[MadMike]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair, sometimes when the action is moving fast with TPTK or an overpair. Normally this is against a player who has been rather donkish throughout the game. I know this is just plain bad, but sometimes I have trouble remembering this in the heat of the moment. Do you guys have any suggestions for this kind of problem?

[/ QUOTE ]

um... unless the board texture is really funky or I'm up against a well-known setmining nit, I'm felting two pair 100% of the time and feeling good about it. With overpairs/TPTK and a read, I'd be happy to get it AI if I'm ahead of the villians likely range. I think the 2+2 concensus is that advice to always avoid getting it all in with TPTK or and overpair is too weak/tight for 25NL and lower.

Maybe the leak is more in your reading of the board and your opponents- there are definately situations where I'm getting away from overpairs and TPTK even against donks, but it is totally situation dependent. Post a few hands.

[bozzer]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair, sometimes when the action is moving fast with TPTK or an overpair. Normally this is against a player who has been rather donkish throughout the game. I know this is just plain bad, but sometimes I have trouble remembering this in the heat of the moment. Do you guys have any suggestions for this kind of problem?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is my main leak - flood - too, I am loosing a huge amount at 2/5NL with TPTK/overpair type hands. I would save so much money by just folding every single one, but this does seem weak-tight.

An idea might be to improve my hand reading ability, but this seems very difficult against the players I am currently facing.

It might just be varience, but any other suggestions?

[Sean Fraley]

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I hit you in the face if you try to fix this "leak". Start folding if you hate money.

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I honestly appreciate the tough love in this forum. I'm pretty new to the game (about four months), and in the past 3 weeks hit the negative side of variance for the first time. I get the feeling that it may be rather common among new players to start focusing on the hands that you've lost when you hit your first major downswing, mainly because those of us new to the game haven't been through enough swings to really recognize what is variance and what is actual bad play. After reading the days responses to this thread, I don't feel quite so bad about the times I lost my stack to a donk who just happened to have a set this time instead of his usual gutshot or second pair.

[ QUOTE ]
Fixing a leak: 95% finding it (go trough your big loosing hands/lost pots in poker tracker, read this ), 5% actually fixing it (post at 2+2, maybe with some example hands).

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I will do so. I've started to post hands a bit more on here, and will gradually increase the number I post.

[Sean Fraley]

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Maybe the leak is more in your reading of the board and your opponents- there are definately situations where I'm getting away from overpairs and TPTK even against donks, but it is totally situation dependent. Post a few hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

My board reading is fine. One of the things I've drilled into my skull over the past month has been to look at the board very carefully, and make a list of all the hands it allows that could beat me. My skill at hand reading on the other hand is not remotely as good as I would like. In addition, my current level of inexperience makes it difficult for me to do EV calculations against my opponents possible range in my head in a short time frame. This is aggravated by a very real learning disability that has tendency to screw with my ability to do arithmetic in my head. For lack of a better way to put it, doing arithmetic in my head is very similar to a dyslexic reading. A dyslexic can learn to read, and read quickly and fluently, but the learning process to get there is abnormal and tedious. The same goes for me and math. Given time and effort, I'll get there and be quite good at it, it's just going to take time. Should anyone else out there be in a similar situation, let me know what helped.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

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I have a problem with calling all-in bets on the flop with two pair

[/ QUOTE ]

this isn't a problem