The 5 most common mistakes (leaks) in poker - and how to correct each one

In poker, leak is a leak: an error that repeats and drains your chips in the long run, often without you realizing it. The difference between those who lose and those who evolve is not talent - it is knowing and covering your own leaks. Here are the 5 most common ones.

1) Passivity: calling when you should raise

Calling too much, instead of raising (raise), makes you predictable and exploitable. Classic sign: your VPIP (% of hands you voluntarily play) is much higher than your PFR (% that you raise). Big gap = passive. How to correct: take the initiative. With hands to play, prefer to raise instead of calling. Calling out of position with dominated hands (ace/king offsuit low) is one of the worst habits.

2) C-bet (continuation bet) at the wrong time

Betting all your chips on a flop "because I raised pre-flop" burns chips on boards that do not favor your hand (A-high, connected, monotone) when you only have air. How to correct: read the board texture. Dry board → small c-bet (25-33%). Wet board with weak hand → check. Bet with a plan, not automatically.

3) Short stack without push/fold

Open passive with 12bb and fold to all-in = donate chips. In the short stack, the game is all-in or fold. How to correct: ≤15bb, forget the small open. Train push/fold by position and stack until it turns automatic.

4) Call an all-in with a dominated hand

"It's pretty" is not a reason. Calling with weak-kicker aces against a strong range, or calling the river in a board paired with flush (full house lives there), it bleeds a lot. How to correct: think about the villain's range, not your card. Ask yourself: "what hands does he do this with? do I win from most?"

5) Tilt and lack of discipline

The invisible leak. After a bad beat, a lot of people "recover" by playing worse - they call everything, they bluff too much. How to correct: stop-loss rule, breathe, and review your hand after, cold. Right decision that lost ≠ wrong decision. Poker has variance.

How to find YOUR leaks (not the generic ones)

The 5 above are the champions, but your can be others. The right way is to review your own hand history: see where you lost chips and why, hand by hand.

The GTO Vyve does this automatically: you upload the .txt file from your tournament and it points out your leaks, gives a score and shows you the hand in the replay - with clear explanations, for free to start with.

👉 Discover your leaks now on GTO Vyve. (play responsibly · +18)