I think about this quite a bit when I play online. Some of the decisions are so complex (at least to me... only been playing a couple years) that you can't ponder all the variables before you time out. So to some extent many crucial decisions rely on intuition, which I agree is gained by playing and learning from many hands. (As an educator, I sadly note every day that not everyone who experiences events in life learns from them.)

In contrast, you watch Poker After Dark primarily for the banter, but the really fascinating times come during the long, long silences. This is when a top, especially thoughtful pro really goes into the tank (guys like Mike Sexton and Phil Ivey come to mind) when a very tough big-stakes decision is needed. (You find out how good the microphones are: they pick up the sound of the air conditioning.) This is when it's so fun to try to think along with the pros, and you almost wish you had not seen the hole cards.

I'm still trying to determine whether what you refer to as intuition involves this kind of deep thought, and if so, to what extent. Or is it so much absorbed that skilled players make the correct decisions without the same thought process.

I do know that the best jazz musicians, those who can play really fast and improvise, get to the point where they no longer think in terms of the notes they are playing, but rather in terms of modes, where scales or parts of scales are used and interconnected with blazing speed in such a way to create something that is aesthetically fascinating. A lesser musician trying that would create just noise. The way the top ones get there is by practice, practice, practice, and by internalizing. They understand the theory, work with it and try different things, keep the good and discard the bad....

I'm not sure how any of this adds to the discussion, if at all, but I think it's related.