[PokerintheI]

I have to admit, while I don't think that I play a totally irrational game by your definition, I am currently struggling to master a more concious style of game play. My mental processes were once described by a school shrink as a sort of intuitive logic. That is to say, I am a logical person, and I analyze most situations, but as a natural part of that process my mind will sometimes make intuitive leaps.

My assumption as to how this process works is as I think work through a set of steps or analyze data, my subconcious is busy working on breaking down the pattern. If a pattern is detected, or one can be inferred from similar situations, then the logical progression jumps from whatever step I'm on to a conclusion.

The benefit of this method of thinking is that I can internalize, digest and respond very quickly to a broad range of external stimuli. Much quicker than a methodical step by step analysis.

The downside is the error rate. Assume that a step by step logical progression would achieve an logical conclusion 100% of the time. (not a correct conclusion, just the logical one) This more intuitive analysis yields that same logical conclusion perhaps 85%-90% of the time.

At the low and low-mid limits I have been playing, this has made me a winning player. But, particularly online, I am not winning what a top player would win. ie: 1.1bb/hr LH and 2.4bb/100 NLH And I suspect I have a much greater level of variance than top players at my levels. I'm going to guess that with this hole, I would end up slowly bleeding money at the mid-high stakes games. (I actually do MUCH better at live poker where I have more information to work with, and the other players are worse.)

My current goal is to get myself to hold up that initial conclusion whenever possible and make sure that the methodical analysis backs it up. Additionally I am attempting to review the subconcious analysis that my mind is doing. I need to be able to look at situations where my brain is telling me "Your Beat" or "He's Drawing" and figure out what exactly is triggering that response. Was it the betting pattern, the pause before an action, facial tics or were my emotional responses imposing the result that I desired instead of the logical conclusion.