How to Think in Poker
When you played card games growing up, there may not have been too much thinking involved. Your thoughts in gin games probably didn’t go far beyond “I hope he throws a three out there,” or “I can’t give him this king.” Most of us certainly never thought that a card game could require as detailed a thought process as chess, for example.

Welcome to poker.

Think ahead and be prepared
In poker, as in chess, it’s important to think ahead. Poker is a game of decisions, and if you can anticipate the questions, you’ll have an easier time coming up with the answers.

In fact, one of the best things you can do is have a mental questionnaire that you give yourself before every play you make.

Step-by-step thinking in no-limit Texas hold em
For every single no-limit Texas hold em hand, you can ask yourself the following questions. If you get into the habit of doing this, your decisions will be much quicker, giving you more time to think about the important decisions and a better chance of making those decisions profitably.

Question No. 1: Should I play this hand?
Of course, the first question you will ask yourself is should you play the hand? The answer to this question should vary according to what the action is before you, your position and the strength of your hand.

However, you should enter your poker games knowing the range of hands you will play from the different positions and what the requirements will be for play (number of players in the hand, amount it will cost to call).

Question No. 2: If I play, should I call or raise?
Mechanically calling because you aren’t sure what to do is not maximizing your expectation. On each hand you should think about the merits of raising (may get opponents to fold, gets more money in the pot) vs. calling (get to see if I hit my hand cheaply, disguises the strength of my hand, keeps more opponents in if I hit).

Question No. 3: If I raise, what will I do if I am re-raised?
This is a question you must ask yourself before putting in a raise. Having a re-raise take you by surprise will be disastrous, as it can lead to mistakes in this hand and tip off opponents that a re-raise is a devastating weapon to use against you in later hands.

Question No. 4: What will I do on the flop?
Before the flop ever comes out you should know what your next action will be. What will you do if two spades appear on the board? A pair of kings? What will you do if someone bets out in front of you?

All these options should be considered before the flop comes out, so you can concentrate on putting opponents on the defensive after the flop rather than on getting your bearings.

Question No. 5: Repeat
You should ask yourself these questions on every street, adjusting for where you are in the hand (e.g. after the flop you should be asking “What will I do on the turn?”).

The more you are able to do this, the more control you will have over the game, which will hopefully maximize your profits.

 

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