Didn't know how to title this better, but let's go with this.
First of, talking about the hand that made me create this thread...

I just paid off a straight flush when I had the A high flush. It was a 3bet pot, I was in position.
He check/raised all in on the river, and well you almost never see anyone x/r all in as a bluff at these limits ($25), so even if the only hand he could have to have a straight flush was exactly pocket 6's calling a 3bet... There wasn't any other hand he could have.
But I paid him off anyway.

If I was to see someone else post this hand, I would call it an obvious straight flush. But in game, I couldn't get myself to the same conclusion, even though nothing else made sense other than the straight flush...

How can you get yourself to make the same right plays in game, as you'd make them in a fictive scenario?

It's always going to be easier to analyze things from a distance, In game, you will make some mistakes that may seem foolish in hindsight; this is part of the process

Pretty much what tmo said.

When you are playing in game, you have to deal with multiple things:

- The feeling of pressure that you have to make a decision within a time limit;
- Other decisions pulling on your attention;
- Distractions like your phone;
- Fatigue from making multiple decisions.

The thing is mistakes are going to happen.

They are inevitable.

And what's useful is to really internalise this fact. As well looking to develop a different tendency than judging yourself for making mistakes. Because this will eat at your motivation to play and is ultimately a waste of your finite levels of focus.

Really getting into meditation helps with all of this btw.

because motivation is conflicting. in sim you want to make the best play. in game you want to win. causes mental pressure making hero prone to mistakes.

great question

i have often thought the same thing after making a mistake in-game which i could have easily spotted in a hand analysis/as a spectator

its one of these things where we already know the answer: detach, become objective, use the analytical part of your brain instead of the emotional etx.

But applying these ideas in game is way easier said than done

If i could give you one piece of advice that has helped me tremendously it is this: in those critical decision points use as much of your time bank as you need and then some more to second guess yourself. take your sweet time and break down the problem that is in front of you. oftentimes our first instinctual reaction is correct, but oftentimes it is wrong and it takes 10-60 seconds to weigh all the variables at hand and find the right decision

FWIW I don't consider folding the nut flush because the other guy "might" have a straight flush to be any sort of mistake. That's like folding a full house because the other guy might have quads.

yeah thats a winning play op

i feel like basically every poker player classifies the hand values above FH's in the 'rouge wave' category lol

/thread.

(Turn off your phone during a session though).

Whilst your in the heat of battle during a hand your heart rate will go up and you will be in a more intense emotional state. You may also have other tables commanding your attention at the same time distracting you from the decision.

The key is to stay calm and focused on that one decision. Eliminating distractions and also practicing meditation and mindfulness will improve your emotional management in game.

Don't be too hard on yourself, you had the nut flush.

I just ran into this article that might be somewhat related to what might happen in the brain when playing vs. humans and not bots.

https://www.news.com.au/world/breaki...c5a26abae32130

To me, all humans are different but the bot or so that one plays against is always the same. That is why one needs to consider a more conservative strategy vs. humans compared to vs. bots, as a big mistake is easy vs. humans.

If you would know one player as well as the bot or so, then it would be somewhat similar but the humans adjust and the bots or so might not, and the humans view the situation different from the bots or so and one knows that one is less likely to pull off some obvious looking bluff vs. a human.