[neuroman]

I'm putting this in Psychology because this is mostly about being able to follow through on your own reads. (Critique on my play is welcome though if you wish.)

Does anyone have any psychological tips or tricks for listening to your guts and avoiding playing like a fool? In this hand below I was able to correctly analyze the situation, but I couldn't make myself lay the freaking hand down. I just went into zombie mode and called down the villain. I think I subconsciously shut myself off from thinking about HIS hand (which was likely kicking my ass) and only focused on MY hand, which was good but had very slim chances of being the winner. Anyway, here's the hand.

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$1/$3 NLHE game in a casino. (I'm fairly new to the table, and haven't played a hand yet.) I limped Ah Ks from UTG. Two or three more limpers until it came around to the SB who raised it $20. I put him on a large-ish pair (10s or better), and called, telling myself "be careful, if this guy has kings or aces you could get into a lot of trouble here." (I might have let the hand go right then, but that seems too weak.) It's heads up for the flop.

Flop: Kd 5d 5x

SB leads out for $25. I raise it to $60, and he calls reasonably quickly. "Holy crap," I tell myself. "You need to slow way down. He's probably got aces."

Turn: 2

SB leads out for $20 this time. This time I don't even think. I just call it.

River: A, for a board of A K 5 5 2

SB goes all in for about $90. My head tells me he has AA. The twinge in my gut tells me he has AA. But like a mindless befuddled fish, I call anyway.

Of course he flips over the AA and takes the big pot. "Why didn't you listen to yourself?" I ask. Why the %!@# did you call that river bet when you KNEW you were beat?

When I make these bad fishy plays, as I occasionally do, I usually find it's very early in a session. Maybe I just need to watch myself closer in the first 15-20 minutes. Or maybe I need some kind of different mental approach.

What do you do to avoid playing like a deer in the headlights?