Brain turns off at table. Help.

[piratemike]

I feel like I'm a pretty knowledgable poker player--after the fact. I can look at hands after they're played and know exactly what went wrong and why. However, I find that while I'm seated at the table, I'm generally playing on autopilot. I'm paying attention to what's going on around me, but I feel like I'm not thinking hard enough--calculating odds, sizing up opponents, etc. Granted, I feel like I'm good at reading people, and most of the time my reads are correct. However, alot of the time I'm not thinking about making great plays, what kind of players are seated around me, what is the perfect amount to bet to throw off people's pot odds, etc. I play alot based on intuition, and go with my reads and my gut.

How do I block out all the distractions, and turn my brain on to further focus my game? Or is it something I should be happy about that I can put myself on auto-pilot and still play a pretty consistently profitable game?

[Bodhi]

Require yourself to make the reasons for your actions explicit in language. Otherwise, it sounds like your game is enviable.

[jimymat]

Everything comes together the more hours you log. If your playing online make a list of all the things you want to think of when your involved in a hand and go through it until it becomes natural. Example...

1.your position
2.opponents position
3.your hand
4.opponents hand and there known starting standards
5.pot odds
6.number of opponents in pot
7.will your opponent bluff

You can expand or shorten the list but use it to make your decisions when facing raises or betting out yourself. If your multitabling cut back to just 1 table and make yourself go through the motions of thinking a problem through. Its tough to do but you have to to win.

[Dentist]

Always sit there and think.... WWDD?

And i'm sure you know what that first D means

[Jazza]

[ QUOTE ]
Always sit there and think.... WWDD?

And i'm sure you know what that first D means

[/ QUOTE ]

NH

i too have this lack of concentration in live poker, and i've come to the conclusion that it's because i'm playing 15-20 hands per hour as opposed to my usual 400 hands per hour

[blatz]

Sounds stupid, but make sure you are always breathing deep and slow, and notice your breathing,

I was having the same problem 4-tabling. I'd make a play and afterwards, I'd realize it was the wrong play against the wrong person, but I never stopped to think about what I was doing, which, to put it mildly is essential in Poker.

Autopilot does not maximize profits, and there's no penalty for taking a couple of seconds to decide, so before i made any play I would take a deep breath in and out, even if it was simple decision, just to get used to it...Forced myself to think about why I'm doing what I was doing even for basic decisions.

Funny, how poker has turned me frickin' zen...I breath like a Buddhist, and don't get angry when I lose $500 while making correct plays. Close down the temples and open casinos and maybe everyone can be as centered as me.

Incidentally, the breathing trick I learned from an awesome, and very funny, book about competitive Scrabble...Word Freak...former champion was talking about about how it was an essential part of his game