What calculations do you do in the heat of battle?

[ptmusic]

You've studied a ton - books, posts, experience. You've got most of the good tools and you make use of them away from the table. You think about stack sizes, pot odds, EV, folding equity, opponent tendencies, alternative plays, etc. You post some hands here.

But many of the math calculations take too much time to do in the heat of battle. So what calculations do you actually do in the 30 seconds you get to make a decision WHILE PLAYING?

-ptmusic

[benneh]

pot odds.

in big/important/all in hands, ill sometimes run pokerstove

pot odds I can do in my head within seconds and know where I am at, and outs are easy to count. Those are both fast and easy, and reads are not that hard to do either, especially if you take good notes. I was always good at math though, so it don't take anytime for me to know that calling 150 in a 700 pot is slightly under 5:1, and I know basically which hands are good to call with in that range. I was always good at math, and the more you play, the more similar situations you will run into, and can make decisions based on similar situations and the texture of the table based on that.

[DarrenX]

Great question.

Pot odds, definitely. Once I see I'll be getting into a big hand I check the notes on the player(s) ahead of time. Other than that it's mostly on instinct/experience based on running the numbers away from the table.

[ QUOTE ]
pot odds.

in big/important/all in hands, ill sometimes run pokerstove

[/ QUOTE ]

[TakenItEasy]

You should already have done most of the calculations before the hand starts.

Know your stack vs the blinds/ante vs the table avg and know everyone elses stacks, especially the blinds, stacks to left, stacks to right.

Understand what kind of betting for pot control. What kind of stacks will be commmited after how many standard bets/raises.

Have a plan for each opponent based on position, stack size, aggressiveness, etc.

It seems like a lot to keep track of but by just paying attention, most of this will become automatic.

being prepaired before the hand can make your betting more powerful since you don't have to take as much time to figure things out and not give up a timing tell.

I usually go with my gut but I keep pot odds in my mind for making it easier for me.

[Exitonly]

i have the PowerTools Calculator (just like the windows calculator on steroids) open, and i just use it to do pot odds real quick. That's really the only calculation.. then i'll just stare and think about the odds and previous action.

edit: not that i need a calculator to add up bets, but i like seeing it exact nuumbers like "1.45:1"