Mind games

Playing poker is about making correct decisions in a limited amount of time. It’s a strange game because it’s definitely possible to be a far better player from the rail than in the heat of battle. The question is, can you bring all of your poker knowledge into the moment you have to make the decision? Top players, even the most mathematical, must act partly on instinct in the moment they make their decision.

It might be their analysis away from the table that is brought to bear in the moment (because they’ve thought about these situations before) but it is also their snap judgment about the specific player that makes their decision.

Judgement day

The difference between an okay player and a really good one is they never fail to back their judgment. How often have you heard a player say something like ‘I know you don’t have much’ before folding? If you know he doesn’t have much, raise his face off! Or how often do you see players time down their hole time bar knowing they’re beat before making a ‘crying call’ only to be shown the nuts they always suspected their opponent had.

Pot odds may dictate you can make a call but when you know your beat you pot odds can be hundreds to one, you’d still be burning money. The difference is good players always back their judgement. First of all they’ll analyse a situation to try and get the right play, then they’ll combine it with their reads and intuition and go with it. Older players always like to talk about ‘heart for the game’ and ‘bottle’ but these are red herrings to try and make the game sound like a test of male prowess. In fact all you have to do is back your judgments.

When you’re at the poker table, make cold calculating analysis first. Combine that with your poker intuition about the player and situation. And when you’re about to pull the trigger, always back your reads. After all, this isn’t mysticism, this is us using all those thousands of hours of play our subconscious is feeding back to us – the least we can do is listen.