Part one of this series said that most players won't use checklists because they think they don't need them, but they would get better results if they accepted that their memories are fallible. Checklists would help them to use more information to make their decisions.
Part two provided a checklist for deciding whether, where, and when to play. Part three provided one for selecting a game.
This article will provide three checklists to help before and after the flop and to observe the action after folding your cards.
Playing Pre-flop and Post-flop
Use these checklists much more often than the others. You decide whether to play, change games and make other decisions infrequently, but play thirty or more hands per hour.
These checklists are more valuable because most other decisions are reversible. If you forget something and muck cards or put chips into the pot, you can’t take them back.
These checklists are much harder to use. There are far more factors to consider, there is less time to think, and you can’t look at the checklists. So memorize them.
The more often you look at them, the better. Examine them regularly, say every second dealer change.
Unfortunately, you will occasionally forget something and make a silly mistake. Whenever it happens, read the entire checklist because you’ve probably forgotten others.
Take Your Time
Acting too quickly increases forgetting. Despite that obvious fact, many players act too quickly. They may be afraid that hesitating will give away information, or they may be too lazy or impulsive to analyze all the facts. So they rush their decisions and make serious mistakes. The best way to prevent mistakes is to take your time and consider everything.
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Checklist: Playing Pre-flop
- Hesitate and look left.
- What type of game?
- Skills?
- Styles?
- Pot killed?
- Anyone straddle?
- Extra blind(s) posted?
- How many players dealt in?
- What’s my position?
- Who’s in the pot?
- What did they do?
- How do they usually play?
- Is anyone emotional?
- Any tells?
- Stack sizes?
- What’s their range?
- How do they see me?
- Probable reactions if I limp or raise?
- Who’s behind me?
- How do they usually play?
- Is anyone emotional?
- Any tells?
- Stack sizes?
- How do they see me?
- Probable reactions if I limp or raise?
- Who are the blinds?
- How do usually they play?
- Is anyone emotional?
- Any tells?
- Stack sizes?
- How do they see me?
- Probable reactions if I limp or raise?
- What are my cards?
- What’s my plan? Why?
- What should I do now? Why?
Checklist: Playing Post-flop
- Hesitate and look left.
- How many opponents?
- Who’s ahead of me?
- Action previous streets?
- Action this street?
- How do they play?
- Any tells?
- Is anyone emotional?
- What’s their range?
- Stack sizes?
- How do they see me?
- Probable reactions if I check, bet, raise?
- Who’s behind me?
- Action previous streets?
- Action this street?
- How do they play?
- Any tells?
- Is anyone emotional?
- What’s their range?
- Stack sizes?
- How do they see me?
- Probable reactions if I check, bet, raise?
- What are my cards?
- How do they fit the board?
- How many outs?
- Pot size?
- Pot odds?
- Implied odds?
- What’s my plan? Why?
- What should I do now? Why?
After the earlier checklists there was a brief discussion of each point. Because there are so many points, and they may require fairly long explanations, I won’t explain most of them. Fortunately, so much has been written by others that it’s easy to get excellent advice.
Recommendations
I’ll make only a few recommendations: The first point both pre- and post-flop was “hesitate and look left” because you should never act without doing it. The other recommendations concern the final points both pre- and post-flop. (The numbers are from the pre-flop list.)
11. What are my cards? It’s step eleven pre-flop because the first ten points should be considered before looking at cards.
12. What’s my plan? Why? Make at least a rudimentary plan before doing anything. Then, when playing post-flop, relate everything you’ve learned from the cards and opponents’ reactions and explicitly revise that plan.
13. What should I do now? Why? Always know why you’re doing anything.
Observing the Action after Folding
Most players don’t use that time well. They take a mental break, relax, chat, or watch TV. If they watch the action, they usually focus on what would have happened if they hadn’t folded. “I would have made trips on the turn and won a nice pot. I should have taken off a card.” Or they see that they would have lost money and congratulate themselves for making the right play.
Instead of wasting that time, do what top players do: use it to learn about opponents and develop your skills. It’s easier to do after folding than during a pot you’re contesting. First, when you’re playing, you’re deciding what to do. After folding, you can concentrate on learning.
Second, you can focus on learning, not on how the action will affect you. For example, to learn how a troublesome opponent plays and thinks, ignore everything else and focus exclusively on his bets and body language. It’s then easier to see and understand signals.
Third, you will be more objective. When money is at stake, fears and hopes distort your judgment. When nothing is at risk, you’ll perceive the situation more clearly.
Emphasize active learning. This checklist facilitates proposing and testing hypotheses. It recommends putting people on a range of hands and anticipating whether they will fold, check, bet, or raise. Then compare those answers to their cards and actions. That comparison will show that some hypotheses were correct, while others were not even close. Using this checklist well help you to:
- Learn how these opponents think and play.
- Improve your ability to read cards and body language.
- Relieve boredom and stay more involved in the game.
- Improve your general thinking and decision-making.
- Occasionally decide to quit or to change your strategy, seat, or game.
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Checklist: Observing the Action after Folding
- What did each player just do?
- Fold, check, call, or raise?
- Any body language?
- Is that body language a reliable tell or telegraph?
- What did they do on previous streets?
- Fold, check, call, or raise?
- Any body language?
- Is that body language a reliable tell or telegraph?
- Are they playing differently from usual? Why?
- What’s their range?
- First estimate
- Later estimates
- Why did you change your estimate?
- What cards did they actually have?
- Why did you read them well or poorly?
- Did you see any telegraphs?
- What did you expect them to do?
- What did they actually do?
- Why were you right or wrong?
- What did you learn about them?
- What did you learn about yourself?
What Did Each Player Just Do?
Make mental notes about both the bets and the body language. Without that basic information, hardly any learning can occur.
What Did They Do On Previous Streets?
Relating what each opponent just did to his actions on previous streets will clarify patterns.
Are They Playing Differently From Usual? Why?
Look for inconsistencies between each opponent’s recent actions and your previous image. You probably misjudged some opponents, while others have acted out of character. Then, of course, determine why they changed.
What’s Their Range?
Don’t “put them on” one hand. Think of all the hands they are likely to have and the probability of each.
Then answer the other questions about changing the estimate of their range. Proposing and testing hypotheses will develop the ability to read this player’s cards and general card-reading skill.
Did You See Any Telegraphs?
Even though you should have noted any telegraphs when making mental notes about what they did, it pays to ask this question again. It duplicates the propose/test hypotheses process that develops card-reading skill, but now it’s for body language.
What Did You Learn About Them?
This question can increase understanding of how this opponent thinks, feels, and plays. Asking it makes those lessons explicit.
What Did You Learn About Yourself?
This question can increase understanding of your own thoughts, motives, emotions, and actions. It is much more important to understand yourself than to understand any opponent. So take this question seriously and ask it again and again.
