During the past three years I’ve watched a lot of people playing no-limit Hold’em, partly as an enthusiastic spectator but a lot more as an analyst commenting on other people’s play on TV. And I can honestly say that once people know the basics of the game and strategy, the biggest single mistake they make is not value betting enough or correctly. Most players actually lose more money from not getting paid enough on their winning hands than they do from calling when behind.

Perhaps this is a good starting point then – to think about failing to value bet as lost money, in the same way as if you had money taken from your stack.