My Subconscious Game...Good or Bad?

[.KeviN.]

My NL live game (haven't played limit live yet) is mostly based on subconscious impulses. To put it in other words, I'm not really listening to clear words in my mind when thinking about a play. It's like a feeling inside me that weighs options and puts opponents on likely hands, but these option and hands are not clear to me where I can logically seperate and dissect them. After the hand, though, I can talk to someone and describe the hand and my thought processes in immense detail to the point where I ask myself was I really thinking this?

Now my worry is this. In Psychology of Poker and elsewhere, the recommended method of thinking is visual. You clearly think everything out like you're talking to yourself. Now I do this when ghosting, but when I'm in the hand it is totally the opposite. So far I've had very good results playin live NL to the point where I think I'm just running very very lucky.

My question is how dangerous is this approach to the game? It seems like it can take away a sort of certainty that a more visual player might have. It also seems that it will result in bigger losses on off nights. Does any one else play like this, and what are the pros and cons of both approaches?

[Maize]

What you're talking about is what some players call
"instinct". It's actually a valuable tool. The fact
that you're aware of the danger here is a good sign.
You probably won't overuse the tool.
Have you ever been alone somewhere, & all of a sudden
you get the feeling that you're not alone? You look up
& someones there? The subconscious mind can be rather
amazing.
From time to time, especially in NL, decisions come
up,where,after thinking everything out logically, you
still have a borderline decision. Now it may be time to
listen to this inner voice.
This is what the top players mean when they say: "Trust
your instincts."
Just be careful not to overuse this,or, and this is the
tough part, confuse it with emotional decisions.

[.KeviN.]

[ QUOTE ]
Just be careful not to overuse this,or, and this is the
tough part, confuse it with emotional decisions.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is something I have worked very hard on to get past and believe I am. I'm just worried about how I will handle this during a downswing...

[CHAx]

Winning players do not play hands when they have a feeling. Combined with your post a few days ago (obsession or addiction) and after reading this, you need to re evaluate your love of poker, you could very easily be a losing player over-estimating his abilities.

[.KeviN.]

[ QUOTE ]
Winning players do not play hands when they have a feeling. Combined with your post a few days ago (obsession or addiction) and after reading this, you need to re evaluate your love of poker, you could very easily be a losing player over-estimating his abilities.

[/ QUOTE ]

hahaha... you're right it sounds bad when combined with the other post. I'm not really talking about feeling. I know what you mean by playing by feeling and trust me it's not that at all. I think the feeling you're talking about is something like cold calling raises pf bc for no reason you think the raiser is weak or your gut says you're hitting your hand, chasing draws bc you feel your cards coming out, etc. I'm talking about logically thinking things out without consciously realizing them...

Example. A couple of weeks ago this girl who's interested in poker wanted to go to the casino and watch me play for awhile. So she sat next to me the whole time and I'd explain each hand to her. Here's a hand...

1/2 $100max NL let's say effective stacks are $150
PF: UTG+1 limps, UTG+2 raises to 10, fold to me on CO 42s, I raise to $25, all fold. Nothing really went through my head during the course of action.

Now when my friend asked why I did it I said that UTG+2 raises way too many hands, and the $10 raises he has shown down so far have been weak like K8s. I told her I couldn't be sure if his $10 were weak so I figured I'd test him out now so I could know for sure. I also told her I noticed when he raised, small blind toss his chip in like he was done with the hand and UTG+1 took his chip protector off his cards. Now none of this really visually went through my mind, and when I explained it I was kind of suprised.

This is what I mean by "feeling". Even though I didn't techincally think it out it wasn't like I was making a compulsive move.

[UpstateNYAAonly]

42 is not a reraising hand....wait for hands like 83s [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[pokerisme]

I like your response very much. I believe that you capture the essence of what a poker player should strive for - Trust.

[ QUOTE ]
This is what the top players mean when they say: "Trust
your instincts."


[/ QUOTE ]

I do not disagree with the top players but I do believe that it is not your instincts that you want to trust. You need to trust your judgement. Instincts are not something that one may be able to develop or improve upon. Judgement is. By learning through study,trial and error, awareness and application one can improve or optimize their judgement based upon the inputs one recieves and logically analyzes. This is why I believe that focus of what your opponents and you are doing during play is so important. Your decisions should be influenced by what you have learned and the inputs you recieve during play.

pokerisme

[otter]

It depends though. Was you instinct based on 23 years of experience or on 2 weeks of play?