[DeathDonkey]

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Thanks for doing this.

For any format of LHE:

Are you aware of which of your skills are due to talent; what do you think your talents are (directly or indirectly related to poker skill)?

What poker things that you do well are from hard work and/or experience?

What are a couple that you struggled most with acquiring and why?

Having worked from the very bottom, what are the most important things you either did or should've done along the way?

Besides the hand value and before betting starts, what are you thinking when you're dealt a hand?

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Hi downrange,

I truly don't believe I had any poker "talent" but I did have an inclination for: strategy games, doing stuff online (I played online computer games forever before poker and it was just the next video game to me), fast mental math (which now is sort of intuitive math, I rarely make calculations while playing), and I guess gambling but I really never was a gambler before poker. I wouldn't say talents but my biggest strengths are creative strategy (thinking of lines no one would consider), not tilting (though I'm not perfect at all), and I guess just enjoyment of poker - I still love playing and don't think of it as a "job".

I feel pretty much everything is from experience, but you can enhance the experience by thinking about the game away from the table, reviewing hands, and talking to other similarly skilled people about the way you play and what you can consider doing differently. I know the biggest jumps I made were in the old 2+2 games that were filled with tough thinking players, and by chatting with people on AIM as one of us played and discussed hands / the table dynamics / etc.

I struggled with not being results oriented a lot at first I guess. I wanted poker to be simpler than it was and I was used to playing games where I could point at something and say "see! this is because of this..." and it rarely works that way in poker.

I think I did a good job of taking shots at higher levels and maybe wish I did it a bit more so. You learn soooo much seeing how the game is played the next level up and even if you have to return to your previous game you find it so much easier. I should have been more social right away, not chatting with people about strategy on AIM or in person until later, I would have picked things up quicker probably.

I'm thinking about what has happened in the recent past, who is likely to be on tilt, what that will mean they will be more likely to do (some get weak tight, most get LAGgier), my position, whether I want to quit or not, what I will do with various hands in this spot (for instance UTG in tough big game I'll decide before looking at my cards if I am going to LRR AA/KK or not).

-DeathDonkey