In the poker world, the term leak refers to a pattern of behavior that leads to a flow of dollars out of the bankroll. For some players, Omaha is a leak. For some players, home games are a leak. For some players, chasing bad beat jackpots is a leak. Every player should carefully evaluate his results, emotions, and motives, and then determine if he has developed a leak. The following list of the most common leaks may be instructive.
- Craps, blackjack, roulette and other table games – If you lose more at these casino games than a single buy-in-to the smallest tournament you might play; then it’s no longer recreational—it’s a leak. Assuming you play 150 tournaments per year with buy-ins ranging from $100 to $500; and the average buy-in is $200. Your total yearly investment is $30,000. If you cash in 18% of those tournaments (27 cashes); and if the average cash is $2000; then your cashes will total $54,000 and your profit will be $24,000. If once a week you lose $100 at “table games”, then that represents a 20% of net profit leak. If once a month you only blew $1200 and your net profit reduction is only 5%(or a buy-in to a WPT or WSOP preliminary event! IT’S STILL A LEAK
- Sports betting – the principles and the numbers are similar. And trust me, you’re probably not the rare person who wins at sportsbook or you probably wouldn’t be reading this article during football season. Billy Baxter makes millions every year betting sports. He is so good at it that he stops playing poker during football season. His edge is greater at sports betting than at poker, and he has 4 WSOP bracelets. If you are truly that good, take a break from poker and concentrate all your focus on sports betting. Otherwise, you have a LEAK.
- Re-entering a tournament (not a re-buy tournament) – Some tournaments allow players to buy a dead stack after losing their buyin (in some cases their buy in and a re-buy). This is almost always a poor tournament investment (and poor tournament investments are LEAKS). You have lost your initial buy-in—either through playing at less than your best, a sequence of bad cards, coolers, or bad beats. You elect to re-enter the tournament. The early blind stages are gone. You will have less than an average stack. Your attitude has been negatively affected by being card dead, being fearful of another sequence of bad beats, or coolers. Or, you re-entered when you have been playing poorly. If you ever had an edge in this tournament, you now have none. If you are capable of admitting that your edge seldom exceeds 2 times the average rate of cashing (10%); then it should be easy to confess that because you are behind the average stack size and are probably playing at less than your best, re-entering is a mistake. Re-entering is therefore a LEAK!
- Playing a same day second tournament – The second tournament in a day is often referred to as a second chance tournament. The criteria suggesting this is a poor investment is identical to that in #3 with the following exception: You will be able to start with an average chip stack. This exception is offset because you will be testing the limits of your “focus endurance” (Dan Negraneau contends that after 8 hours of play your play will begin to deteriorate). If you played the noon tournament for 5 hours, and enter the 7PM tournament; you will reach the bubble stage just as your focus has ebbed. If you bust out in the first hour and R&R for a few hours before the evening event; you are probably capable of playing your best. Without a reasonable break; playing two tournaments in one day is a LEAK.
- Failing to select tournaments that offer you an edge – This mistake can be nearly impossible to quantify, but it is real. Players with endurance limitations should avoid 3-7 day events. Small ball experts should avoid tournaments that are structured to end in 4 hours. Any tournament with a buy-in that exceeds your bankroll comfort level is discouraged. Playing in a HORSE tournament because you love OMAHA is a mistake. Playing in a tournament with a hangover, just before a return flight home, or when you are expected for dinner. These are all LEAKS.
- Refusing to commit to improvement – This is another leak that is not quantifiable. To maintain the edge you have today requires continued practice, study, development, and coaching. Great athletes never stop studying, they practice regularly, they develop new skills, and they demand coaching during pre-game preparation,from sky-boxes,and from the sidelines. Many players refuse to learn new strategies; some assume that there is little new to learn. The time it takes to read and digest a new book, or to test new concepts is jealously surrendered.
- Playing without family/friend support – Conflicts with non-supporting significant others is a huge LEAK. Dan Negraneau attributed his player of the year award to the support he received at home and the prior years debacle to the harassment and pressure he felt from an ex. Phil Helmuth and Doyle Brunson never fail to give credit to the support they receive from their families. To succeed in tournament poker, you must be able to plan tournament trips in advance, have the emotional comfort of knowing that these 5 days belong to your poker business, and then choose to play or not to play based on your edge today. If it isn’t there today; you have tomorrow, if not there tomorrow, you still have a definitive plan for next week.
- Stubborn refusal to accept a slump – I recently was forced to recognize that the embarrassment some players feel when in a slump causes them to “hole up”, refuse to correspond and “go it alone”. As a coach, this was painful. As a coach it left me wondering why? As a coach I was impotent. The player had a LEAK. I hope that the next person who begins a devastating slump calls daily.
Jan Siroky is a poker coach in the Colorado area.
