Poker Forum > Strategy

Memory - Can it be fixed?

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TopPair2Pair:
I have a pretty general question to ask on this subject and looking for some insightful responses, I"ve posted this on a few forums!

Basically; how important do you feel memory is in the game of Texas Hold'em Poker??? More important then poker math? reading? positional play?

How many hands can the average player recall from their lifetime?

How much info can you realistically keep in your head about one specific player that you"ve played against and use to your advantage for future decisions?

I"ve read most of the books, tried to learn from my playing experiences but I still feel I am always going to lack that "think tank" fruitful edge that successful players always seem to be able to tap into (and utilise it to make the correct decisions).

After considering this for some time during a sleepless night, I think I"ve determined that my memory is useless and driving a lot of the pokering leakage in game (As well as thinking I can play TT in the small blind ;) ). I often cant recall betting patterns very well, its not too bad online as the hand history is nearby but during live play this seems to be a distinct disadvantage for me.

Memory is the sort of thing people develop differently throughout their lives which gives it a very uncomparable onus in Poker. I.e. it would only be comparable if you could play with someone elses memory. Anyway, be interested to hear how good ppl think their memories are and the impact they have in their game!!?!?

TPTP

biffa85:
The best piece of advice I was given regarding memory at the tables is to not try and remember everything at once.  Pick one thing or person to look at/memorise.

That could be trying to remember one persons betting patterns, how often they raise preflop, how often they cb, etc

Then write it down during a break or when you get home.

When you"re playing live most people play they same venues, so you get to see they same people over and over again.  So you could look to do this for the "regulars" that you see.

Then before you go for a game just read over your notes, and this will give you a head start for that following game.

Allegedly by concentrating on one person you are likely to pick up info on more than one, just because you are putting in the effort to look/concentrate.

smileriraq:
When i sit down at a live game (rare but it does happen) I try to keep atrack on the people to my left and right  and just try and keep a rough idea of the rest ie (loose ,tight etc) obviously as the table dwindles the people will  change

A friend of mine is a very good player and noone wants to be to his right but ill do it because hes a known quantity and Ill have a better idea of his style of play as opposed to a complete newbie.

kinboshi:
Often people confuse poor memory with poor attention - and I"m not just talking about at the poker table.

Here"s an extreme example.  You"re out on the lash, and have a few too many.  The next day you can"t quite remember everything.  Is it a memory problem, usually not.  It"s probably due to the fact that you weren"t able to process what you were seeing or hearing at the time.  Garbage in, garbage out.

On the poker table it"s a similar situation.

If you don"t "try" to remember what"s going on, observe things closely, and actively commit things to memory, you won"t remember them.

There"s so many things happening at the poker table, and that"s before you start chatting about the footy scores or the weather.  Like many other things, you need to focus on individual elements at a time, you"re not going to remember everything unless you"re especially gifted.

Taking notes also helps, not necessarily for future reference, but it"s the same as when you"re studying - if you write something down it commits it to memory more effectively than just reading it passively.

That"s probably all garbage, but I forgot what I was going to say when I started my reply...

TopPair2Pair:
Lol.

Cudn"t sleep last night and I think I was making a moutain outta mole hill!

I am quite good at remembering the important specific details that you have to remember  - its just remembering the full specifics of particular hands in a step by step rational manner that isnt as strong as i"d like it to be.

I think i"ll get some memory trick book or something! Derren Brown reckons he can teach me how to memorise 52 cards in a row, that may assist!

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