when do you know you finally "get it"?

[Reef]

when I could snatch the mouse out of my teacher's hand.

[slavic]

When I was sitting in a 20/40 game and knew I had a value bet with an unimproved AQ on the river I thought I "got it". The next hand when my top house was "noo guut! Ship it!" I realised I may never "get it".

[MilkFish]

just when i thought i get it, i really do...i'm in the button looking down at AQ offsuit with a large stack...early position triples the blind, next player goes all-in (this guy also has a large stack but i have him covered by a few thousand) and i don't even think for a second and called his all-in bet. that's because when i saw my cards i've already decided to raise and stuck with it. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] well, the all-in guy had QQ and no Ace fell on the board....that's when i realize i still don't get it. i usually fold AQ to a bet but the worst part of me...the ego...got the best of me that day. what a stupid call.

[jedi]

[ QUOTE ]
Ianco15, you follow my posts and hassle me in each one...this is not a flame board. thanks and take care

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, you have 10 posts and already have your own personal troll? Feel honored, not insulted.

Anyways, to answer the question, it IS a process, but the first time I knew was when I was able to read 3 opponents on the same hand at a live table. I had been playing there for about an hour and realized that some of the thinking I had been struggling to do before was starting to come naturally for me now. There's still work and study, but when I instinctively know what to do against a turn check-raise (and not worry about it if I'm wrong) I believe I'm starting to "get it."

[Keres]

Greg Lemond, the Tour de France winning cyclist, in response to being asked when does training get easier - "It doesn't get easier. It just gets faster".

Similarly, for poker I think you can change it to "It doesn't get easier. The limits just get higher."

[wdbaker]

When you have a decent bankroll and can make substantial withdrawls, weekly or monthly, on a regular basis...

When people are sucking out on you and you realize you will soon Own this table and their chips.

When your heart doesn't feel like its going to beat out of your chest when you push a large amount "all in".

When you lose an all in and you just hit the rebuy button and carry on with out becoming mentally impaired.

One Street at a Time
wdbaker Denver, Co

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Other than the obvious consistant win rate, I'd say you finally "get it" when nothing that happens at the table evokes an emotional reaction.

[mojorisin24]

I don't think you'll ever have an epiphany, but I do think that you'll realize that poker is a very profitable hobby once you begin to make enough money to supplement your income. Also, once you can consistently win at poker, be it online or at home or at your local casino, then you should consider yourself a decent player.

[aron]

I started playing online this summer, slowly picking things up but still a pretty stupid style of play.
This fall I moved and had no connection to internet, however I got SSH, read the whole thing in two days and felt like I understood a whole lot more.
A few weeks later I'm visiting a friend and gets able to use his broadband connection while he is at work.
After a couple of hours two-tabling 0.5/1 at Party I'm up 90 BB which was a result of variance but gave quite a boost.

That night we go to this club and I get really drunk. All of a sudden I start to compare everything to hold 'em. In a conversation with a girl I could find myself thinking "I'll go for a checkraise here" or maybe "I'm not so sure about this so I'll just call it down". And there and then it made so much sense.

Anyway, I'm no where near getting it I think I'm barely beating the game. And this thing wasn't an epiphany for me but it ceartainly left me with a feeling that I had moved up a step....

[PokerMaster]

I think Im finally getting it, its been 1 year and I have played a couple of tournaments and im doing good finally!!!

I think u have to start playing with money as soon as you start getting it though, I made my first deposit at 2 months after playing fake money. If you dont play for real money you will never get it. thats my humble opinion.