So there are two main aspects of poker, the thoughts you put into a hand, and how well you range your opponents hands.
There is no question you can be a successful uNL'er without good skills in either, but just knowing fundamentals and using your basic deduction skills.
As I have progressed in poker, I have discovered what I think are four levels to real time thinking.
1.) I has xx, I know its a _____ strength hand.
2.) I has xx, the board is xxx, I know the relative strength of my hand to the board.
3.) I has xx, my opponent has done ___, on this board he can have this range of hands and my hand has ___ value agaisnt that range.
4.) My opponent's range is ____, on this board he can have x combos of ___, if i take ___ action my EV is ___.
I don't know if everyone else has trouble with this, but I certainly do. I often hear people refer to their A,B,C games etc, from what I have discovered, the way I am thinking is directly related to the way I would label my play.
I am not quite sure why [perhaps muscle memory of the brain], but I have had a lot of struggle getting into the correct thinking mindset, and sometimes still regress. Now, I have been playing poker for ages, and have really just discovered what I feel is the correct way to think in the last few months. It still disgusts me that it is so challenging to think correctly, and I feel like it is actually quite a hurdle to players. [as it is to myself]
I would like to know, how do you all think in real time ? Why do you think that way ? and how do you want to think ?
AG
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A big leak at the micros for thinking players, imo, is thinking that your opponents are thinking. Or to be more precise, not having a good idea who among your opponents is a thinking player. Your post sort of blenders lines, levels, and ranges into a mishmosh, whereas you would profit more, imo, from mentally keeping these concepts discrete. Arguably, they aren't entirely separate, much as the shankbone connects to the calfbone to form the lower leg, and when you are walking along you aren't thinking about how you have two (plus two!) bones down there: it's just a system that works. But if you got run over you'd want a surgeon who knows how the pieces fit back together and so it is with these pieces of the puzzle you present. Hah, I'm rambling and trying to sound deep, but I hope you can take something away from that....
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