As you all know I have been asking a lot about theory; but the more I play the more I realize you were all right.


So rather than worrying about theory and advanced strategies I think my time is best spent on not making as many mistakes while playing; however I would like to ask you guys for help with this...


So I have noticed my main problem is truly knowing what I want to do in a hand and I know that all actions in the game can be associated with: Value betting, bluffing or semi bluffing. And like all weak players I dont know when to do each as there is incomplete information.


I think sharpening my inner voice is key. So my question is, what you ask yourself in a hand and how you realize your current objective and make sure you act accordingly?

Post actual hands with your thoughts.

Part of my problem is my thoughts during the hand, in hindsight and when analysing hands I am quite good. But during hands I cant keep up with all the action and would like it if you guys could tell me some questions you mentally ask yourself in a hand to realize your objective and understand what to do

Better late than never !

Post a hand (without results) where you were unsure what to do at some point. Explain what you were thinking and why you were confused.

When I'm playing my A-game, I do a lot of thinking about ranges and future action, and sometimes there's some meta-game going on too (e.g. Is villain tilted, or getting tired of me 3-betting him?) The basic questions would be something like:
What is villain's range?
How often is he calling/raising/folding if I bet? Does his range change if I use different sizes?
What is my plan for future streets?
What am I trying to achieve? (e.g. win the max/lose the min, get to showdown or make villain fold?)
If I bet, is it for value, protection or a bluff?

The latter is pretty fundamental and it's what you should be most focused on as a beginner imo. If you don't know if you're betting for value or as a bluff, you're just clicking buttons. There's got to be a reason for betting. If you can't think of a good reason, it's often best to not bet at all.

e.g. A good reason to bet might be "I have a set on a wet board where I think the calling station villain has a pair or a draw pretty often. Therefore I'll bet for value as I'm trying to win a big pot."
Another good reason to bet might be "This nit never has anything on T72r, so I'll bet my QJs as a semi-bluff expecting him to fold, but if he calls, I'll barrel the turn if I hit top pair or pick up an OESD or FD. If the turn is blank, I'll probably give up, as I don't have enough equity to keep firing with queen high."
A good reason to not bet might be "I have QQ on K72r. Very few worse hands will call, so I can't v-bet, and better hands are literally never folding, so it would be a failed bluff, so I'll check, because I have some SDV and want to keep the pot small."

Pausing to think of the reason for taking an action should help you make better decisions. Just ask "What am I trying to do here? What is the best way to achieve it?"

do u play live or online? if latter post hand histories

Then hopefully you've turned a corner and will listen to everyone's advice:

Just takes practice and experience. Play a ton of hands-> review them-> post here if you have any questions.

Save the theory for when you got the basics down on lock.

"our objective" isn't really what i focus on. Our objective in poker never really changes. Its always just to enjoy the game and make as much cash as possible. We don't dictate what we do. The other players, the action, and the cards dictate what we do. Once we have that info then we can make a decision about what the best play is. Always take your time and walk through every option on every street. Watching good players make the decisions is one of the most effective ways to gain knowledge ie twitch.

Also play fewer tables and form solid habits in your thought process, I.e. "If I bluff the river with a pot sized bet, how often does it need to work" or "my opponent bet .75 PSB on the river, I think he has a polarised range, what ratio of bluff : value combos does he have in his range to make this a +Ev call with my bluff catcher"

Arty has a good list, but if you want to start somewhere, the most important is "have a plan for the hand." That means when you're in a hand, you know what you're going to do if you are raised or called. You also know what you're going to do on the next street when certain cards appear on the board and you face checks, bets or raises.

That's why posting hand histories are important. People will show you how they approach the hand. Your goal is in time to get to the point that you won't need to post HHs because you'll have done the analysis yourself.

So you have opened like 20 billion threads already, you might as well make a new one. Only this time it will be with an actual hand history (with the proper format) that we can comment on. I don't care how you played it as long as you actually have an interesting hand that will let you ask questions based on real events.

Are you multitabling? If you can't keep up with all the action you should start by playing only 1 table. Think before you click. Then analyze your hands afterwards. Read articles, books and watch videos. Play tons of hands.