How to avoid quick decisions?

1 of my biggest self-criticisms is making decisions too quickly (online). This can lead to snap-calls when i should be making folds.

1 method of combating this problem is to remove my hand the mouse, so like live poker i need to reach for the mouse much like id reach for chips. It has helped, but it's still a problem for me.

If playing just one table I can see that working. But if you’re multi tabling I think a process might work more effectively. A process where you ask yourself a list of questions before making the decision is a good idea.
I’d say some of the questions could be: what’s the size of the bet in relation to the pot; from this, what percentage of the hands I could have here should I fold/call/raise; what hands are possible on this board; where does my hand rank in these?
This could probably be refined/added to but it’s a good place to start.

Something that I do is think of the decision I will make before it comes to be. If I am on the button with whatever hand I will think (ok, if this folds to me I am stealing the blinds because of xyz. If theres a raise from the CO I can defend with a 3-bet with this hand. If the raise comes early, I'm folding. If my steal is reraised by the SB I am folding, but I'll call a BB 3bet because he's weaker),

Now, I only play 1 table at a time so it is easier for me to do. If you are playing multiple tables, I can't give much advice.

Yep, a proccess like that seems impossible to do at muti-table playing, but seems you do avoid a lot of trouble at showdown.

Well 'thinking' for starters is always a good one. And then just not clicking buttons before thinking.

Honestly what are you thinking when just click buttons? Are you even putting villain on a range of hands given the previous action & other dynamics of the hand. Is the other player's hand even a consideration when making a call? I'm really confused.

When i play 200+ hands online i certainly get a case of "auto-pilot" and play too quickly without giving hands adequate thinking time.


A good example is a hand i played today. I can't remember the specifics but i had 8-9s. The pot is raised to 3x bb preflop, 2 callers & 3 players see a flop. Flop comes 8-9-J. First player checks, i bet, next player (fairly tight) raises 3x. Player 1 folds. At this point (with very little thinking time), my 'auto-pilot' realises I'm well ahead of overpairs, & ahead of draws and bluffs... and only losing to a set or the Q-10 nuts. Given i beat more hands than i would lose too in this spot my autopilot decides I'm ahead so i make the call. Bricks on both the turn & river seen me insta-call 2 more bets, that were approx 75% to pot... and ofcourse lose to nuts.


Had this hand played out in live play, maybe i still get to a showdown but i would easily have spent a minimum of 30+ seconds on every street, yet something about online play brings out a fustrated impatience in me & how i play my hands - a problem I've been able to recognise but not conquer.

I don't know about online - but live I like to count to 5 in my head when the action comes to me - this stops me making impulsive decisions.

snap calling is a problem, you need to condition yourself, especially when the bet is large you have to take your time and go through the hand, Discipline is hard but important.

Yes I would also think about what kind of player you are against- you mentioned fairly tight and also how you are perceived at the table. If you are perceived as tight and you are being raised by a tight player you better slow down and think about whether you want to call a big bet. Sit on your hands and count to 3 before you even think if that helps control the impluse to just click.

I think the issue is not avoiding making quick decisions but to make better decisions. One way may to be take more time but another that I am working on is to study more so there are less decisions to make and the spots just become second nature.