More than the Fundamentals
February 22nd, 2010There will be situations in a game of poker where you find yourself in a tight spot. When all your hand knowledge, all your betting strategies, and all your mathematical logic fails you. Let’s say you’re faced with a tough opponent who is not giving you pot odds to draw to a straight. You have AKh. The board reads Jh-Qs-9h-2d. And you’re on the turn and it’s your move. The opponent in front of you has just moved all in.
You think back, and you realize that this is the first time he’s ever moved all-in in the two hours you’ve been playing this guy. He just limped preflop and only called a bet from someone in late position.
You think long and hard and you decide to make the call. With just your ace high, and the possible straight on the board, you get one more card to make your straight or flush or even top pair. And you decide to call.
“I think I have you,” you say, “with ace high.” And you shove your chips in the pot. The river comes another 2, this one spades. Another blank card and your opponent turns over 78 suited.
This is a different kind of poker strategy. This is what we call instinct. Going with that gut feeling. Some people call it intuition. Others call it subliminal perception, but whatever you call it, it exists in the game of poker online. And when you get in situations where all the standard strategy leaves you dumbfounded, sometimes you have to go with that intuition.
But remember, if you go with that gut feeling five times and it’s wrong, you will have to put some thought into it, figure out why you had that gut feeling to begin with, quantify it, and then adjust. Just because it feels like instinct doesn’t mean it can’t be calibrated.