Mental scripts

Chris Ferguson takes 9 seconds to make a move...
What is he thinking about?

Do you have a predetermined set of questions that you ask yourself?
Please share you r mental "script" here.

What do I have?
What are the range of hands my opponent may have?
What do I believe my opponent thinks of my table image?

Lets get these mental processes out and see how they are working for all of us.

Bill

Good 1! I will start , post post flop only .


A.IN the blinds or called the blinds.in early position
1) outs and odds (I have a playable hand)
2) is my hand good enough to open? and for how much
3) I have a good hand how will the players behind me react / how will I react to a raise?
4) I have a great hand how do I wnat to play it (basaed on the flow of the game)

B. Late position called an opening raise
1) " "
2) what was the openers starting hand, why did he raise, did he hit his hand
3) how strong of a hand di I make
4) even if his hand is better than mine can I rep a strong flop hit or push him out turn or river
5) What the hell did I call that raise for any way

C. some one is raiseing strong from the start and the turn still has me live

?????????????? next?

The easiest way for me to do this would be to post a nice sample hand with my thoughts inserted. I'll choose a nice hand that I won, rather than one of the many I've lost because I've come to the wrong conclusions.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (6 handed) converter

Hero (t3707)
BB (t11780)
UTG (t3255)
MP (t1495)
CO (t12915)
Button (t5340)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ac, Th.
UTG raises to t400, 2 folds, Button calls t400, Hero calls t300, 1 fold.

I have a playable hand and money already invested in the pot, so it's worth playing even though I'm out of position. UTG seems a pretty standard player who must have at least a decent hand here, Button is loose/aggressive and his call signifies a probable weak/marginal holding, as he's aggro preflop and would most likely reraise with good hands. I call to see a flop, hoping to hit but thinking the pot is winnable even if I don't.

Flop: (t1400) Ad, 7s, 8c (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t400, Button calls t400

Nice flop. I check, expecting a bet from one of the other 2 players (Button bets when checked to on the flop most of the time). Pretty sure UTG would have bet more if he'd hit the flop - seems like a continuation bet with KQ/similar or a mid-low pocket pair that the flop missed. Button's call signifies he's hit something but it's weak or he's going to try to take the pot away at a later street with nothing - Button is very much a "raise or fold" player postflop (same as preflop, so 2 calls is odd), so I guess he has 7s, 8s or a weak Ace (A2-A6). I think I'm ahead of them both, and I don't want to give a "free" card to them - I raise and would be happy with isolating one of the other players or taking down the pot now.

Hero raises to t1600, UTG folds

As I thought, probably KQ or a low pocket he couldn't justify calling the reraise with.

Button raises to t2800

Oops? The last thing I expected was another raise - let's re-evaluate Button's possible holdings. I don't think he'd play a set or 2 pair like this, (a) slowplaying with 2 other people still in the pot is dangerous, (b) he just isn't the slowplaying type, and (c) he overvalues pocket pairs preflop. The only possible draw on the board is a straight involving 78 - it's possible he's semibluffing with this. I figure the probability of him having a pair of 7s or 8s, a weak Ace, a straight draw or absolutely nothing is a lot greater than the probability of him having 77/78/88/AA/A7/A8/AK/AQ/AJ given his style of play and his betting so far. Possibly he's sensed I've changed gears and raised my aggression over the last dozen hands or so, and is trying to push me out of the pot, figuring I have a vulnerable hand. I think I'm ahead, so I push, fully expecting a call whatever he has as he's pot committed now (it's also strange that he didn't raise quite enough to put me all in, but I have no idea what, if anything, to make of this)

Hero raises to t3307, Button calls t507.

Turn: (t8414) Kh (2 players)

River: (t8414) Ks (2 players)

Final Pot: t8414

Results below:
Hero has Ac Th (two pair, aces and kings).
Button has Ah 3h (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: Hero wins t8414.

Yay! Chips!

Basically, to summarize in general, I have no predetermined questions, but depending on the situation some of the questions I will ask myself are...

- What is my opponent's playing style? What can I derive about his possible holdings from this?
- Why did my opponent bet/check/raise preflop/on the flop/on the turn/on the river?
- What are my plans on later streets if I call (preflop or on the flop)? Can I bluff my opponent off the pot if I miss my draw, for example?
- What holdings does my opponent put me on, given my actions in the hand and at the table so far? How close is this to my actual holding? How can I take advantage of this?

This was a great post and I find myself asking myself whether I do the same thing. I found I ask about half of the questions you do so I need to work on figuring out what opponents have post preflop so this thread has helped me greatly.

Thanks Dorkus Malorkus

Jonathon

How about "Did I have four of five beers?" Just kidding.

[QUOTE
- What are my plans on later streets if I call (preflop or on the flop)? Can I bluff my opponent off the pot if I miss my draw, for example?
- What holdings does my opponent put me on, given my actions in the hand and at the table so far? How close is this to my actual holding? How can I take advantage of this?[/quote]
I like these . Its easy to over think a situation , but to not think them all thru a litle is foolish.