Poker

Your table image

For a good poker player, exploiting his/her table image is one of the essential aspects of the game. Everyone knows that chasing the positive mathematical expectation is the way to go about making money. Most people also know though, they shouldn’t do it passively. In poker, good things don’t really come to those who wait. A good player knows he needs to go out there, and he needs to at least attempt to manipulate his/her opponents. A confused opponent is always better than one who has an accurate read on you, but nothing beats someone who’s manipulated into believing the wrong thing.

One of the best ways to manipulate opponents is through your table image. The image that you display can be either an artificially created one, or you can just be your regular self and keep an eye out to when the other guys around the table get their reads on you.

One of the most important things you need to factor in when you intend to make use of your table image is to use it at a table that actually acknowledges it.

Most micro limit FL Holdem games are so loose people will call through to showdown regardless of what they hold. Since these games are in a FL format, you won’t be able to do anything to deter them, so working your table image angle at such a table is the definition of futility. The bigger the blinds are (in relation to the future bets, of course) the tighter the player will be. Most players don’t exactly understand why this phenomenon takes place, but they instinctively know to tighten up when it comes to bigger blinds. What it comes down to are the pot odds involved, they’re the ones that determine tighter player at higher stakes. If you take your game to one such table, you’ll be able to play the players much more than the cards themselves, and exploiting your table image under such circumstances definitely makes a lot of sense.

By understanding the fact that you will be read (one way or the other) when playing, you’ll also acknowledge the need to manipulate your table image. Your betting patterns will be visible regardless of how great a pokerface you can take on. By giving off the wrong tells through your betting patterns, you create an artificial table image. Some people prefer to be perceived as maniacs by the others, and then they like to proceed to punish everyone who attempts to keep them honest. That’s a great way to take huge pots down. Creating and especially maintaining an artificial table image on a believable level though, is extremely difficult. The key to creating the image of a maniac is to act loose before the flop and to tighten up on the flop. You’ll sometimes need to bet on rags preflop, and to take some pretty lousy hands to the showdown. What you have to pay a keen attention to though, is that you do not spend more on looking like a maniac than what you earn when you eventually exploit the image. If you tinker with artificial table images you’ll always have to face this delicate balancing act.

An easier way to pull it off, is to just be your normal self. If you’re a good enough player to be aware of the vibe you give out, you’ll know when the other players have you read. Then, you just switch gears and turn into a different version of your amiable self, while exploiting the effects of the image that still lingers on in your opponent’s minds.

When they have you figured again, you change gears again, and so forth and so on.

If you pull this stunt long enough, you’ll soon be cataloged as “crazy”, and people around the table will quit trying to read you. This way however, sooner or later you’ll lose the benefit of the wrong image your opponents have of you.

When choosing the image you want to display, take the general table image into consideration. If it’s a tight table, push the tight image, if it’s a loose one, promote the loose image. The general advice is to play a tight table loosely and a loose table tightly, but you have to show off an image here, which should be the opposite of what you’re actually about.

Don’t forget about rakeback either. It will give you a huge edge over your opponents, and at the end of the month, you’ll be getting paid just because you played