Cannot pace my betting-any help?
 

Hello there.

I've been playing limit professionally (but low limits-8/16 and occasionally 20/40) for over a year and a half now, and I am frustrated in that I cannot keep myself betting at the same pace consistantly-i.e. whether I have something good, whether I'm bluffing, etc. While most at my level are oblivious, there are a few players that I am 90% sure have picked up on this and are successfully reading me.

I keep telling myself over and over to pace, but once a big hand gets going, that just goes out the window in the rush of the hand.

I know I am not exactly a beginner, but I thought this forum was the most appropriate for my question.

Any help? A device to strap to my arm/leg to regulate my speed? Any little psychological hints/tips that have helped you?

Thanks in advance,

NickinAZ

Re: Cannot pace my betting-any help?
 

In the Andy Beal book, I know he took to using some device on his leg. I think just taking a couple seconds to count to 5 or 10 before you act would be sufficent. When playing live I've also found those couple of seconds can improve your decision making.

Re: Cannot pace my betting-any help?
 

I don't count. I'm always paranoid that the look on my face is transparent, as if someone can see the blankness in my eyes and differenciate between when I am counting or actually struggling with a decision. But even if that is false, counting just feels like a waste of time. Actually, it is a waste of time if there ever was one.

What you should be doing is any combination of calculating pot odds, putting your opponents on hand ranges, running through what's happened in the hand thus far, sizing your bet, taking into account what might happen on the next street or how you'll respond if someone raises behind you, etc, etc...regardless of if you have the nuts or not. Even if the decision before you is a no brainer there's still information you can analyze that will help you on later hands.