As a poker player, sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling when it comes to making decisions at the table. Where does this feeling come from? Is it psychic abilities? Am I a mind reader? Absolutely not.
My theory on gut feeling is; it comes from your experiences. I think it's your subconscious mind telling you what comes next. Since we often end up in a scenario that we have seen before, our subconscious mind recognizes the situation and predicts what will happen next.
For example, let's say you call a 2-be of 5x preflop from a tight player in late position and you are holding pocket JJ in early position. The flop is 2d, 6s and 10h. You fire a bet of 75% of the pot. The opponent pushes all-in for an additional 400% percent of the pot. What does your gut tell you about what your opponent might be holding? My gut feeling would be an over-pair. Since I've played many hand of poker and have ran into this particular situation before, I will go with my gut and fold.
I have learned to trust my gut feeling since it's usually right on the money. It can be wrong from time to time, but in my opinion, it is what separates good and great player. Trust your gut feeling and you will win on the long run.
Play Hard, Play Smart and Trust your Gut
Trusting the subconscious mind - I think this is the major lesson for all of us to learn. I think it's the key to self-mastery, in general.
I agree, thanks for your thoughts.
You bet. Thanks for the upvote :)