Five Common Live Poker Leaks

Live poker is a very different game to the online version, and some of the leaks in your live game will be unique to that format. Here are 5 leaks I have found to be quite common, spotting them, or eliminating them from your own game is sure to increase your chances at the tables.

Ipads/Mobile Phones

I see many poker players spend every moment outside of a hand either on their phone or on their Ipad. I’ve actually sat next to people who have downloaded movies to watch on their Ipad while they play live. Obviously this is a major leak, and one that you can capitalise on if you catch your opponents falling foul of this bad habit. Spending too much time on your phone or Ipad defeats one of the main advantages of live play and that is picking up physical tells on your opponents. Often times these tells will be picked up while you are not in a hand and can play closest attention to your opponents. Another major drawback is accidentally acting out of turn because of lack of attention to the game. Repeat offences can get you a penalty at the table as well as the fact that you prematurely give away your intentions to your opponents. There is definitely an advantage to be had against someone more absorbed in the sexy texts their bit stuff is sending them or the movie they are watching. For starters they are much less likely to be 3bet bluffing pre flop, as they are probably happy to get back to their movie (or their sexting) and wait for a premium hand than get out of line with junk. Also the live tells you happen to pick up on them are all the more valuable if they in turn are surrendering the chance to pick up any tells they may be able to find on you.

Online vs live hands per hour

Online poker obviously gives you many more hands per hour than live poker. Aside from the fact that a virtual dealer takes microseconds to transition from one hand to another, not needing to collect the cards in and shuffle them, many players play multiple tables at once. Some people will go from grinding 20 tables online, getting 2 hands or so per minute per table, to getting one hand every 5 minutes at a particularly slow live table. This can result in some otherwise solid players, with well-defined ranges for each position, to spew their chips away after having been forced to sit still without any decent cards for a long time (and by some players I do of course mean me). There are many useful solutions to the boredom that can occur at a slow live table. Watch for tells of the opponents still in the hand, or talk to your neighbour. Talking to the person next to you, especially if they are a stranger to you can not only lead to you meeting a new and interesting individual, but they will often reveal things about their game which you may be able to use to your advantage.

Table Talk

While I would advocate talking to the people at your table outside of a hand, just to make the game a friendlier and more sociable experience than anything else, during a hand you should probably shut up unless you are confident with your table talk game. You often do not know just how good your opponents are at reading tells from people, and unless you are well practiced, a poker tell wizard might just be listening and exploiting your chatty nature.

Alcohol Peer Pressure

I mentioned the negative effects of alcohol in my previous blog. One this I didn’t mention is the danger of peer pressure when it comes to alcohol. The poker community, especially in England, are a great bunch and a heck of a lot of them love a drink either during or after the end of day 1. If you need a clear head, either the next morning or in the immediate future, just say no kids.

Stack Size Monitoring

In a live tournament, as opposed to online, the exact stack sizes are not displayed for you on a screen. It really pays to keep apprised of the stack sizes around you before making a decision to avoid any nasty surprises. I’ve seen many a player 3bet bluff and accidentally commit to calling an all in because they hadn’t realised the stack size of their opponent (and by many a player I do of course mean me). Another tip would be to confirm the stack sizes with a quick glance at their chips before looking at your cards. I’ve seen some people only ever ask to see peoples stack when they are checking their implied odds, and if you notice them do this, you can eliminate the premium hands from their range and play post flop accordingly, weighting their range to set mining pairs and suited connectors.