You will know...when you are calm, at peace (theory-ish)

[MikeyPatriot]

There are plenty of ways to play bad - bluff the fish, play passively and call down too often, stop trusting your reads, but I find that there's always one constant that may be the source of all these problems...playing too quickly. Online play, by nature, encourages it, especially if you multi-table. Even when I play well or have a fairly successful session, there are always one or two hands I think I could have played better if I didn't have to rush my decision.

I've come up with a checklist to run through to help guide myself through my decision making. I'm not sure if this is complete, so if you find something that you think about isn't on this, I would appreciate the input.

Stop and Think, Stupid

1. What is our immediate situation? - The very basic information. What are we holding? What position are we in? Postflop, has my hand improved? Does the turn or river card scare or help us?

2. How many and what kind of opponent(s) are we up against? - Basic stuff, what does PAHUD show? Have we played many hands with our opponent? What kind of plays is he capable of - big bluffs, big laydowns, bets with draws, etc? These are our reads.

3. What is the action to us? - If we're first to act, there isn't much to figure out. After that, have we been checked to? If someone has opened the betting, what sort of effective and implied odds have we been offered?

4. What was the action on previous streets?

5. How does our opponent view us? - Have we been raising a lot hands? Have we played aggressively and not shown much down? Did we recently lose a big pot?

6. What kind of hand do we put the opponent on?

7. What kind of hand can opponent put on us?

8. Based on this information, what kind of situation are we in - WA, WB, WA/WB, 50/50?

9. Based on this information, what is our optimal play? - If opponent is capable of laying down TPTK to a river scare card, raise. If opponent calls down with marginal hands, bet/raise TPTK.

Hopefully this checklist will help out those like me who sometimes rush their decision-making. Even if you don't/can't think through this whole list, stop, evaluate the situation for 10 seconds, and then act. There have been countless hands where my initial read shot into my head, but I was so focused on my strong hand that I a) overplayed and lost action or b) overplayed and lost a lot of money.

For instance, when you C-bet with a pocket pair and get called. The turn hits your set, but also gets the straight and/or flush draw there. A lot of money has been lost by people who go nutso with their set (which may not be bad considering stack sizes and pot odds, but is usually no goot).

As always, I enjoy feedback and discussion. Hit me up on AIM at MikeyPatriot.

[ChipStorm]

In Psychology of Poker, Schoonmaker recommends verbalizing your thinking on every play. I've found that to be the most effective basic tool along the lines you're describing. If you can't say to yourself in words why you're making your play, don't make it.

[salloch]

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For instance, when you C-bet with a pocket pair and get called. The turn hits your set, but also gets the straight and/or flush draw there. A lot of money has been lost by people who go nutso with their set (which may not be bad considering stack sizes and pot odds, but is usually no goot).

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I always try to imagine what the board will look like if I hit my miracle card, BEFORE it comes. esp. if it will complete a flush or str. This also enters into my thinking about whether to continue on in the hand or not.

I like your check list. I think you have to play enough poker that these things become subconcious, like driving a car.