NOT bein like Mike (l.)

[DcifrThs]

at least i think it was mike l. who had a 100-200 hand in which he had ace or king high on the turn and a villian checkraised him and he KNEW the guy had QhJh. yet when teh flush draw hit on the river, he called anyway to "prove" himself and his hand reading correct.

well, maybe this was tommy...not sure...but i do know it doesn't involve folding so its less likely to be tommy's post...

in any case, that river call certainly has haunted me a bit because, if i am to improve my game further, i am going to need to save and gain extra bets by reading hands. I feel pretty confident in hand reading now at 15/30 and 30/0 and sometimes i am capable of figuring out the precise 2 hole cards of an opponent. NOW, my problem is acting on that logical analysis.

of the times i am 100% correct in my analysis, i still take the wrong action at least 50% of the time. of the times i am less thatn 100% correct (and therefore less than 100% sure), i tend to make the wrong play (usually calling JUST shy of the requisite odds: i.e. i need to be 90% sure i'm beat and i'm 91% sure i'm beat). sometimes i make much graver errors which i hope enon will spare me and not expound vociferously upon. but those mistakes i CLEARLY see and know they are wrong and simply work to not make them again...

but these "thinking player's tilt" mistakes actually trouble me a bit because its like having the answer to a difficult question you KNOW you can answer on the tip of your tounge, but the buzzer sounds before you can get it out...

kinda a coulda shoulda woulda thing...

I guess this post is directed at those players who can help me by telling me how THEY coped with this problem of not so greatness...'cause what use is knowledge if it just falls by the wayside with respect to action.

-Barron

[TStoneMBD]

shouldnt this just be a reply to the last topic you started, and not a new thread?

[mike l.]

"well, maybe this was tommy'

no it was me. it's in the archives. i was begging for tommy's help.

for me it's an issue of ego. i want too often to prove to myself that i was right and rather than reward myself for a great read by making a nice laydown i call because at that moment it seems worth it to me to spend $80 or $200 or whatever to prove to myself how smart i think i am.

but im not smart because i greatly regret those calls later.

[DcifrThs]

do you still make those calls now?

is there a time that you recently remember making a laydown based on previous conditioning as discussed? if so, did that transition come as learned behavior from prior thought and experience (most likely)? and if not, then do you think there's a chance you'll make that laydown in the future?

because i like steak dinners...or whatever the sklansky opportunity cost thing is.

-Barron

[mike l.]

"do you still make those calls now?"

yes but less than i used to even 6 months ago, and way less than a year ago. btu still too often.

"is there a time that you recently remember making a laydown based on previous conditioning as discussed?"

yes. the more i play against players who are predictable, the better i do. the entire game is about game selection for me at this point. i went and played the other night and made two great laydowns on the river for one bet that were easy for me because of the players i was against. when i play against unpredictable aggressive tricky players in bigger games i lose a lot of the edge i have. sure im able to use my own creative plays against players like that, but i lose way too much of an edge when my hands are bound and when that happens my ego gets involved too much, i end up getting peeved and too involved, it's a form of tilt. and that tilt means you call sometimes to prove they had what you put them on. so the more i play in games where the players practically turn their cards face up with each action and tell they make, the better i do.