ADVICE

I usually sit in a 1-3 NLH live game a few hours a day. I do a pretty good job at hand reading, observing betting patterns and I'm usually spot on when I see what opponents are showing down.

When I actually get involved in a hand I turn in a retard. I make a lot of mistakes and I usually find a way to misplay the hand.

When the hand is OVER I clearly can identify the mistakes I made and I have no logical reason for my foulups.

Is this HAZE or FOG something that will just disappear with time and experience? Should I count to 10 before any decision? I dont know how to SNAP BACK in to reality and turn my brain back on. I feel so frazzled and I'm not logically thinking.

Ideas. Does this happen to everyone?

Brad

It happens at times where I feel I'm "sure" of my reading.

The way I found was helpful was to take 2 to 3 deep breath, slowly exhaling while thinking about how the hand was played until the decision I have to take.

Slow-down the playing and distance yourself from the game will allow you to make better decisions.

I feel anxious when its on me. I don't think I'm taking the proper amount of time to do this. Think people are going to get mad if I take more then a few seconds for a decision. It's MY money. I need to get over this trait of worrying if I'm going to piss someone off or not.

I do it when I'm in conversations or general interactions as well.

If you’re feeling rushed, it’s okay to announce to the table that you need to take a minute to think. Everyone will understand, and it takes some of the pressure off.

One time when I did this the dealer said, “Take all the time you need, sir”, which I thought was nice.

Sit up straight, take 3 DEEP breaths.

This merky feeling happens to me at times as well. Not sure why. I've been playing many years now. Too much coffee?? Hmm...

One trick I do that has worked wonders for me is to pretend that I'm at the WSOP or WPT and that Mike Sexton and Norman Chad are discussing my hand.

Mike: Well, he woke up with JJ in MP, I expect a raise here.
Norman: There are 3 ways to play pocket Jacks and they're all wrong
Mike: Oh, the BTN 3-bet him.
Norman: Yeah, that BTN's been pretty frisky all day and making a ton of moves
Mike: His range is pretty wide, I wouldn't be surprised if he has T9s like he had 2 orbits ago when he 3bet from the BTN
Norman: Okay, Hero made the call, we are heads up to the flop

Flop(20bb) 4 T 2
Hero checks, V bets 10bb

Mike: Hero has got to love this flop and I see he's going for the c/r
Norman: I still don't like pocket Jacks

Flop(20bb) 4 T 2
Hero checks, V bets 10bb, Hero c/r to 25bb

Mike: I really like this c/r, I expect V to call this with his entire range
Norman: I still don't like pocket Jacks

Flop(20bb) 4 T 2
Hero checks, V bets 10bb, Hero c/r to 25bb, V calls.

Mike: This call tells me that V is going to make a play for this pot later. He's too aggressive to just give up.

Turn( 70bb) Q

Norman: Yep, see, that's why hate pocket Jacks, Hero's got to check.

Turn( 70bb) Q
Hero bets 50bb

Mike: I like this bet by Hero, its a decent bet that can serve as a blocking bet as well

Turn( 70bb) Q
Hero bets 50bb, V shoves all-in for 200bb

Mike: That is a pretty big overbet by villain. He made that same overbet 2 orbits ago when he had the nuts
Norman: I think he's bluffing
Mike: Well, he raises a lot preflop and he makes alot of moves and even 3bets light quite a bit, but he's only shoved all-in 3 times in the last 3 hours and each time he was called he had the nuts. I think this is a fold.
Norman: Yep, that's why I hate pocket Jacks...


I find that this sort of dissociation really helps me engage all the higher order levels of thinking while i'm in a hand. Now, I don't have to do that anymore and I naturally think things through in a hand. But every so often I will call up Norman and Mike to get me off auto-pilot...

This is awesome dgiharris I would not be able to stop laughing while thinking that haha !

Well, OP, you've got many ways of figuring out how to get better at this !

I can't help but think that you probably don't have a lot of hours logged "at the table". Obviously it gets easier with time & experience.

In the mean time remember that you can take a little time on major decisions -even the best players in the world need time to think about complicated hands, and no one plays perfect poker. It may be as a simple as; A) because you feel some anxiety when the action is on you (just part of your personality as an individual) this is compounded when you've got a legitimate decision to make, B) you're being overly hard on yourself -which only adds more pressure and more anxiety, on somewhat minor mistakes...no one plays perefect poker. Give yourself a walk on the little mistakes...learn what you can, and then move onto the next hand.

Kindly keep in mind that its REALLY EASY to chat/post and talk about a certain hand over & over, for hours, days, sometimes weeks on this forum, having the liberty to beat a hand to death and get input from others and sleep on it makes it really seem simple......... versus when you're actually sitting at the table and have to make a timely choice.

Specific to making choices at the table, *stop* for a moment, ....this is YOUR TIME (as you said, your money),....you have the same equity in the game as all of the other players, you give them respect & courtesy when they're in a hand the same as they give you ....... ask yourself one or two simple but pointed questions; 1) why am I making/calling this bet -what does it accomplish, 2) whats my plan in the future, if the next player raises, or someone behind ck raises, do I have a good hand or good odds to draw out, ect. If you can not answer question 1 then obviously you're not going to be able to answer the more complicated question 2, so muck your hand and try again next time.

Nothing takes the place of experience. The more you play and the more times you find yourself in similar situations, w/ similar holdings, and you're facing a similar bet, similar position, similar stack sizes, ect.....its gets easier the more times you do it.

I noticed that you didn't mention anything about money, good. I'm glad to hear you're not being hard on yourself for losing some money, this tells me your focus is on playing better so its a good assumption that you're not playing higher than you can afford......this can cause great anxiety.

I used to have this exact problem when I first played live

"fog brain"

after playing a bunch and getting comfortable at the table/club it stopped happening

I think it's just a teething problem op

any1 have this problem when playing online?

i play for about 3 years poker and i must say that i have this problem
like im not getting in the zone or something

Smoke weed calm the nerves

Dont do drugs they are bad.

That's online poker. It's so fast pace that if you don't make a decision quick your timer will run out.

First off, get over the thought "what are they thinking of me?"(in the self-conscious sense). Everyone else at the table is a person just like you wondering the same kinds of things. You separate yourself from the "common" player when you stop caring about details like this while you're playing. In general, this ideal will help you in life overall.

When you're feeling anxious at the table its because you know the attention is on you. There is an element of curiosity in "what will others think of the action I want to make?", this at times will freeze a player up and they either make a bad fold, call or check. They do this merely so as not to disturb anyone else's comfort level at the table or something along the line of the acceptance factor imo.

The solution is confidence. You should start approaching a table like its your work desk that you have sat at for years and years. When you are sitting at the table with other players, you can relate it to a conference meeting.. at your own desk. Pay attention to actions, follow along as you would in any other forum outside of poker, i.e. football game, class, etc.

Don't THINK about breathing, don't THINK about counting down from 10, in fact, don't think about anything but what is going on in front of you. Nothing else should be on your mind when you have cards in front of you and money in the middle. Especially in a live setting, if your opponent ever notices you lost focus or look lost in general, they are going to put more pressure on you than if you had a more confident composure during the hand. Your thoughts and general focus should be on the hand and actions, using the knowledge you have gained to solve your action. Try to keep your thoughts in check and quickly pull yourself out of any non-productive thinking while in hands or while playing poker altogether.