Most poker tournament decisions are routine, or at least you would like them to be. The truth is, even though numbers and common sense often indicate you should play a hand a certain way , there is much more to our personal make-up that complicates these strategies. In fact, we are programmed to reason using every fiber of our being. The skill then, is to manage the all of the data AND feelings you have about any particular hand and use poker tournament strategy.
Now even though I have often advised to leave your feelings and emotions out of the decision making process, that really isn’t quite right, or plausible. Without contradicting myself too much, there will always be part of your decision process fueled by intuition and emotion – and you know what? It’s okay! The thing is, you must always fall back on the 10 second rule when making game critical decisions in poker tournaments. When you are faced with a big decision, just start counting to yourself, don’t ruch for the mouse button.
Important online poker tips might seem obvious, but if you thrust into action or respond without thinking, you will often circumvent deeper wisdom and better solutions. This is also where your intuition and instincts can better serve your objective because it gives you an opportunity to tune into what may be unique about this hand or this opponent. Yes, the 10 seconds can be used to determine your best possible odds and payout strategy, but it can also illuminate an obvious bad situation for you. When you start doing this regularly, you are going to have some key moments that you look back on and say, “Wow I made a great play there”. I recently did this at a final table in an SnG MTT on Full Tilt where I went on to win the tournament. Had I not folded I would have finished out of the money as only 6 players got paid.
During those few precious moments use these online poker tips and start asking yourself things like:
What do my true instincts say?
What are the real odds of me having the best hand here?
Can I fold and still have enough left to out-play my opponents?
If I was watching this hand on TV, what would I recommend?
Is this positive EV?
You can just post these questions on stick-it notes by your computer. If you read even 2 or 3 of them in every tough situation I guarantee that you will start winning money in online poker tournaments. The best poker professionals use these online poker tips and combine all of the information – including intuition and instinct to make profitable decisions.