One must learn to trust their gut when playing poker. The subconscious mind is often aware of that which the logical, conscious mind has not yet figured out. The subconscious is well trained to sniff out the ultimate bet cheating scams and serves as an early warning system. The subconscious calls upon patterns, and familiar situations. It knows the answer before we do. In poker, the subconscious is our barometer for danger, or deception.
When faced with an important decision in life, at work, or on the felt, we often spend more time second-guessing ourselves than we did reaching an important decision. Sometimes time is on our side and we have the benefit of taking time to work through a big decision. Other times, however – such as meeting a deadline on a big project, or determining whether to make a big all-in call late in a poker tournament, we do not have the luxury of time. We have to reach a snap PokerStar decision and execute.
Trusting your Gut
We have seen far too many hands, and are familiar with much more than our conscious mind can comprehend. Often, when I am faced with a big call on the river – my gut tells me to snap-call, but I second-guess myself and try to bring reason into the equation to the point of nearly talking myself out of the call. This is twice as bad for extremely logic-based thinkers such as me. I am often very calculating and methodical in my decision making process, as I prefer to know what I am doing, and why I am doing it.
As seasoned Full Tilt Poker players, we have experienced many situations, encountered many different opponents and playing styles – we have seen and done quite a bit. We have given the mind “on the job training” and talked poker on forums, read up on poker strategy, and reviewed situations repeatedly. Our subconscious mind is well developed. As experienced poker players, we must trust our gut feelings, as this is the subconscious slapping us in the face with reality.
Realistically, my gut feeling is all I really need to make my decision at the poker table. My gut is in tune with my subconscious mind. My subconscious is in tune with my internalized logic, as well as my experiences just like the situation I am now facing. Instead of talking yourself out of a big decision late in a poker tournament, take some time to call upon your experiences and poker knowledge and further convince yourself to trust your gut and that the first decision is usually the correct path to take.