An interesting occurence

I'm playing in my usual 10-20 game last night, and a player I've never seen before sits down. His play was nothing special until one hand. He raises the turn heads-up and his opponent folds. He then throws over 2-3 offsuit and says "I bluffed ya mother f---er". He was definitely trying hard to antogonize the table, but then his play suddenly became fairly solid. He got all kinds of action for awhile, and then got up and left with a few hundred in red.

Most of the table was pretty ticked by this guy, but I found the situation interesting. Has anyone ever witnessed this type of play by a decent player?

I won't bother with descriptions or details. But I have crossed paths with a couple of journeymen players who did stuff like that. Lying in bed at night thinking about what I had seen, I think I learned a lot.


eLROY

Bizzare, huh? It shows, to an extreme, what aggression can do other players minds. It's different than a "maniacs" aggression, but in a way, it kind of makes some weird type of sense.

I've been thinking about this, and it seems the key might be people putting you on a disposition, regardless of what it is.


Meaning, what is most important, is that they think I am raising or calling based on what is in my heart, not their cards.


It is of course very important to know what your image is, because it explains other people's play, but not the reverse.


Like, it almost takes them down a level, to "what is he thinking," rather than "what is he thinking I'm thinking?"


eLROY

I've been around along time,and I have to say I never have.I wonder if the two players had some kind of earlier confrontation??

yes...


it got the desired reaction...more action on his better hands...caro talks about this play quite a bit, and it has its merits.


says alot about you that you noticed he went to solid play while everyone else played along. good job.


i never judge a guy by 1 hand....but i watch him a little closer for confirmation.


i actually prefer the other way. robbing em blind then when they catch you, they tend to try and think just how many pots you bought. that can grate on em a little longer, especially since its a little sneakier. /images/wink.gif


b

It is an interesting and potentially profitable approach.


However, I think the better approach to image is to go by what the cards dictate. Say you pull off the bluff described with the banter described. Then you proceed to get crap hands for 3 hours. Your advertisement did you great harm as people will keep calling you down and you have nothing to show.


Since you have no idea what sort of string of cards you are in for, why not let the play that has occured dictate your image and then use it to your advantage?


If you've gotten crap, crap and more crap, sure bluff, but don't advertise it. In these situations you want people to think you've got the nuts. You can then bet your legitimate hands, plus a range of others that you rob people with. If you've been getting hit over the head with the deck, you can afford to play very tightly for awhile and people will still give you action thinking you are still gambling.


Instead of trying to set up an image and situation, let the sitaution give you the chance to set up an image that you can then exploit?


Of course in no-limit, setting up a particular image might be the most important thing you can do.


Regards,


Paul Talbot

As you know, poker is a game of decisions. The better the quality of your decisions, the better your long-term EV will become.


But what drives the quality of your decisions? The answer: Mental State.


All poker decisions exist within a mental state. If you can put your opponents into an angry mental state, then you'll be getting them to make angry decisions. If you can elicit a mental state of intimidation in your opponents, then you'll be having them make intimidated decisions. If you can elicit a mental state of cockiness in your opponents, then you'll have them making cocky decisions. And so forth.


When someone at the table tries to get you angry, or intimidated, or overconfident, etc. get curious instead. Or interested, or intrigued, or delightfully fascinated.


Instead of saying "I'm really starting to get pissed at this asshole" say "Curiously, I'm really starting to get pissed with this asshole. Interestingly, this asshole's talent of putting people on tilt is very fascinating to me. What can I learn from this asshole? What can I learn from the way that the other players are responding to this asshole, and how can I use it to my advantage? What can I learn from the differences in my feelings when I said 'I am really starting to get pissed at this asshole' compared to when I said 'Curiously, I am really starting to get pissed at this asshole'?"

Paul,


I like your take. The guy obviously recieved his share of good hands, but what if he caught nothing for an hour and a half. He made this image play early before the cards dictated what type of image he should project. Could have backfired. Easily.

The reason that a tight-aggressive strategy is generally so powerful is that when you play so many fewer hands than your opponent, they have to worry a little when you are in the pot. Even those that don't pay much attention. When you then start getting aggresive, you've now put them in the position of making the tough decisions, as opposed to being the decision maker. If you can do this to them more than they can to you, I believe you will be a winning player, provided you have a sound playing strategy. I also believe this is a key concept in post flop play.

Elroys comment on their thought process going down a level rather than up, is a fantastic anology.