Hopefully this is the right place to post.....

I am curious if people use a "system of thinking" so to speak when playing a session of NLH (live low stakes of course).

Is there a set line of questioning you ask yourself in each hand? obviously ranging your opponents hands is standard. I am interested in hearing what "you ask yourself" when facing decisions. Are there certain things you think of as more important than others?

What is important to you in a hand of NLH to make the right decision......

TBH, this is too broad a question to be answered in a thread. I'll let this stay open for a while, though.

The main question you should be asking yourself every hand is, "Am I ahead, chasing, or beat?" If you are ahead, you're betting or trapping. If you are chasing, you want to consider if you're getting IO to chase. If behind, you should be folding.

When deciding to bet: "If I bet, will I get called by worse (bet for value), or will I fold out better (bet as a bluff)?"

When facing a bet: "What odds am I getting to call?" If I have a made hand: "Am I beating enough of his betting range for this call to be profitable?" If on a draw, as venice said: "Can I make enough money on later streets when I hit for this call to be profitable?"

When I'm facing a bet or a raise, I always ask myself first if my opponent is likely to be bluffing in this spot. I play in a game with the same (mostly transparent) players, so this is usually pretty easy to determine. Once the fist question has been answered, I then move onto whether he/she has hands in their value range which I can beat, for instance:

I hold AA in a board of K55hh and know my opponent would c/r with a hand like KQ or AK

If their range contains both bluffs/semi-bluffs AND value hands that I can beat then It becomes more of a call than fold. Again, a very broad topic, but I hope this helps.

It depends on the opponent but you should try to think one level ahead of them (if they are on the level of knowing what they have and thinking about what you could have, then you need to figure out what they think you have).

Since most low stakes opponents play very straightforward and only consider their cards, if I'm facing a bet or raise I consider the following:

Is this opponent capable of bluffing? If so, is this a spot where he is likely to do it?
What hands would my opponent bet/raise for value? Does he tend to overvalue hands? Does he play draws aggressively?
Of the hands he would bet/raise for value, what actually makes sense for his range given previous action in the hand?

The most important things I evaluate are position, stack sizes, villian tendencies(lag,tag,rock,fish,etc.) and ranges.

Always ask yourself can I get called by anything worse and always check all stack size is behind you before making any decisions. And a huge one. How many big blinds do I have

-Darth

what does my opponent think of me? what are my opponents tendencies? what is my opponents stack size? What story am I trying to sell? What is he trying to sell? what is my opponents mesh point between hand strength and bet sizing to call or fold in a spot? What has been happening lately in game? What is my opponent doing that's the same or different compared to previous hands. What is he capable of? How does he value his chips?

When my inner fish want's to come out I say "What Would 2+2ers Do?" (WW2+2D) Bracelets on sale soon LOL). Better yet before calling preflop ask "What is this thread going to look like?" Then fold.

Seriously...

I do think Miller/Mheta's R.E.M. from PLNLH vol I was helpful for me as an easy starting place to at least force myself to stop and think. What is my opponent's Range? What is my Equity against his Range? And how do I Maximize my value against that range? Each of these of course leads to other questions but starting there does help.