My biggest leak by far is acting too fast. My main game is Zoom 50nl on Stars. In large pots, I have a huge problem in that I hit the call/raise button when I know I should stop, look at villains stats/notes in a little more detail, try and range him THEN call/raise or fold. No matter how much I try and prep myself before a session, I still have these stupid rushes of blood to the head.

Anyone have any tips to try to get around this? I've tried post it notes on the screen, a huge banner across the screen saying "THINK IT THROUGH!!!" but it all goes out of the window in that moment. I guess the adrenaline rush is somehow shutting down a part of my brain in that moment.

I've found the best way to overcome auto-pilot is making some changes - any changes. After playing for a while it's easy to settle on the perfect setup, chair, mouse, software, table layout, table theme etc. Being slightly out of your comfort zone can help you focus a bit more. Playing a session of an unfamiliar game can help too (lots of new spots to think about).

When you're on auto-pilot you're making decisions based on instinct, sometimes the hard part of learning something new in poker isn't the learning itself, it's breaking old habits and applying what you've learned.

It's a bit of a cliche but reducing the number of tables you're playing always helps, if you're playing 4 Zoom tables it can be hard not to feel rushed at times!

Ha, I think I posted something similar to this about 10 years ago.

You need to train yourself to have a different physical approach. This should involved taking your hands off the mouse and sitting back so you make yourself think it through. Punish yourself by stopping playing for an hour every time you snap click.

In live I made myself think about calling an all in. I make far less mistakes there now. It's just a will power. I rarely have an adrenaline rush in poker though. Not anymore. It's fun, interesting but not exciting.

I understand the problem. You're acting fast, because you've made your decision before all the information is in. What that means is that you don't know poker as well as you think you do.

The solution is to study the game more, so that you have a clearer picture of what you're doing. The easiest way is to post hands in a strat forum.

Hi NoSurprises:

Let me throw out something that in your case could be completely wrong. In today's poker psychology literature, there's a lot of emphasis on hand histories. The more the better, and in my opinion once you study the proper recommended amount of hand histories, you'll go crazy.

But if this is your approach, and now a situation comes up where you may need to think a little, perhaps your approach is to say, "Hey, that's similar to a particular hand history I recently looked at" and thus since you know the answer your decision is quickly made.

In my opinion, the right approach is to emphasize the appropriate poker concepts. Now when a tough situation comes up, think about the concepts that apply, and some of these may contradict each other, and this should slow down your decision process and perhaps lead to better decisions.

Also, I'm not saying to never look at a hand history, and when playing it can be important to remember a hand or two to think about later. But try to think about them from a concept point of view and not as a presolved solution.

Best wishes,
Mason

I am not claiming that this is the case, but chances are that you do not have the analytical thinking capability in your consciousness, but rather in the subconscious.

In other words, maybe you are one of the people that has to sleep on things to come to a decision.

Stop playing ZOOM..

You need to press a button to call or raise, but not to check or fold. If you are entering a difficult spot, switch your game from button pressing to doing nothing, waiting for a timeout. This will increase your chances of 'betting' or 'calling' being a definite willed act / break from default rather than just another button press. Call or bet/raise is a much more weighty act and this way you are shaping the action to reflect that weight.
I've resorted to sitting on my hands a few times also.