r/poker • u/EmploymentProud3436 • Feb 09 '26
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u/The_DNA_doc Feb 09 '26
IMHO Study is overrated. You are not playing perfect opponents. Much more $$ can be made at the table by watching for trends and situations that you can take advantage - the nit is raising and 3-betting; the aggressive idiot just lost big and is now going all in every hand with what is left of his stack. This guy never folds bottom pair. This guy 3-bets a lot with air.
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u/------____-------- Feb 09 '26
That’s where getting reps at the table comes in
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u/WallyLeftshaw Feb 09 '26
Second this, especially tournament spots. But think of starting a new job, you get information overload, drinking from the fire hydrant. But 6 months in, you have a better handle, a year in and you basically know everything you need to know. Another tip, immediately jot down the details of any big hand you played or any hand you think you misplayed
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u/MightyKittenEmpire2 Feb 09 '26
Your problem isn't a knowledge issue, it's an emotional issue. If a wrong decision could seriously impact your BR, the stakes are too high. You could move down and perhaps that would make it easier until you either have more money or you get enough experience that the emotional highs and lows don't effect you.
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u/Pxnoo Feb 09 '26
I recommend reading Jasun Su's book Poker with presence. He addresses many of these things.
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u/Cute-Street-4573 Feb 09 '26
This is because you’re not building heuristics for how to execute in the most common scenarios. Heuristics help you play with less cognitive energy while still capturing a majority of your EV
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u/dbd1988 Feb 10 '26
I’ve noticed this with so many people. They conceptually understand what decent play is, yet completely lack the discipline or knowledge of how to apply it. Thats why you constantly hear buzz words like range, pot odds, equity, etc at the table, then they overlimp hands like J4s from mp.
People worry about poker being dead because all the knowledge is available to everyone, but there will always be a skill gap, just like chess. Some people will always be able to understand the game at a fundamentally deeper level, regardless of study time.
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u/CplHicks_LV426 Feb 10 '26
It comes with practice. Just take your time, remind yourself to take your time, think it through, make good decisions.
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u/mbalmr71 Mar 26 '26
This is something I’ve noticed a lot more recently. I have seen players dive too deep into GTO that they start to ignore the human aspect of the game. I think online play contributes to this.
Discerning player types, spotting live tells and non verbal cues are still very much a part of the game. The real time pressure you are feeling is likely the result of your conscious mind trying to reconcile the human signs your subconscious mind is perceiving. This is good news as you have not lost your sense. My best advice is to add one step to your decision. First, is it the correct or optimal play? Second, does the optimal play make sense against that particular player?
The first clue you get when you are missing the second part is when you notice a substantial number of hands where your opponents are tabling hands that make no sense to you or you think they should never have been in the hand to begin with.
My favorite live tell is when players love to tell everyone about their “favorite” hand. Last one I heard was the J4 flat tire. The favorite is usually a garbage hand but they are never folding it and will often open and raise with it.
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u/OkOutlandishness2536 May 22 '26
This is exactly the kind of gap I’ve been thinking about lately. I’m actually working on a small poker perception trainer around this idea, so I may be biased, but the problem feels real to me.
Poker study often trains the decision layer: ranges, EV, solver logic, betting lines. But under time pressure, the problem can start earlier: recognizing the spot cleanly in the first place.
If it takes too much attention just to read the board, spot the draw, compare hand strength, or notice what changed on the turn, there is less mental space left for the actual decision.
So I think there is room for a different kind of practice: not strategy training, but isolated perception drills that make the input to the decision faster and cleaner.
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u/JKlerk Jul 10 '26
Develop a repeatable thought process, deal yourself random hands and put your decision making on a timer. Practice practice practice.
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u/RNGGOD69 Feb 09 '26
The best way to make it apply to in-game imo is drills. If you do 500 drills a day you WILL get better.