Preferred Table Image

[JAA]

Hello all...

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to what type of table image is most profitable, and to what degree it matters.

A little background info: I'm 20 years old, have been playing poker for a little over 2 years, and have beat online and B&M $5-$10 and under for enough to remain unemployed (while mommy and daddy pay for college I won't lie to you)

Sometimes, when I went to a new cardroom, I used the guise of someone who has never played before. You know the drill...Shake, fumble chips, ask questions like "Now do you have to use both cards?" But deep down I never feel right doing this. I like to befriend people at the table, and this is hard to do after they realize that you have been putting on a complete act for the past few hours, just to take a few more bets off them. I personally have an aversion to people who do this, so why should I do it? Anyway, I digress....

I have found that my age allows me to, without much effort, exploit older more experiences players. They see a kid like me sit down, and many think "Oh great...another kid who's watched Rounders one too many times, bought a book he read and didn't understand, and now he thinks he's Johnny Chan." (I make this statement based on fact because multiple older players, who I have since befriended after playing with them for quite a while, have admitted to me that that's what they first thought of me as.) And hell I don't blame them at all. When I see a kid my age sit down, I think the same thing.

But, to get to the heart of this unanticipatedly (is that a word?) long post....Do you want respect at the poker table? At first it was my goal to be known in my cardroom of choice as a solid player, but now I often wish they thought I had no clue. Obviously there are pros and cons to both sides, but I'm seeing more pros on the side of having no respect.

And now, this begs the question...Is it "right" to put on an act at the table? And I'm not talking right in terms of the rules of poker, obviously there is no restraint there...I'm referring to "right" in terms of basic human interaction. Can I essentially lie to the people around me in the form of an act and expect them to be civil/friendly to me?

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated!

-JAA

[Michael Davis]

JAA,

It is not wrong to put on an act at the table. You need to keep other players happy, in a gambling mood.

However, I would drop the I've-never-played-before act. It is the easiest act in the world to see through for any competent player. This may be very few players in your game, but the ones who can't figure it out don't need to be fooled: they don't care how you play your cards. Also, as you point out, the other players eventually figure out your act. If you come to the cardroom with any regularity, there's no way this works for long and it has to cause animosity at some point. It must look pretty foolish to be doing this if you've played against some of the other players four times already.

Good luck.


Mike

[oddjob]

this is very true. if it's a new casino to you, i think it's allright to try. regardless, i think most people will look at you no matter what and see a young punk who doesn't know much and has just watched rounders. this is a good image to have. you get no respect. it might be better to be really cocky. i know a lot of older players hate this, and they might have to "teach you a lesson".

i'm 28 and i used to have this image when i first came to my regular casino. now i've been around for too long and i'm now known as tight/aggressive, somewhat tricky. i think they give me too much respect and now i don't get paid off as much as i used to. which isn't bad, cause now i get to steal a lot of pots. my bankroll swings have gone down a lot.

now i feel like my most profitable play is being straight forward. i'm less tricky as i've found that i'll scare off too many players if i get too tricky.

i do like to bluff a few pots every now and then to advertise i might be lying.

but i've found that there are some people who will be afraid of you regardless, and some people that will call you regardless. that's the type of players they are.

a guy i played against the other night, called my every bet, cause he refused to let me steal a pot. this was great, cause he lost everytime. i even told him to get out and he just had to see my hand. heh. i think it ticked him off that i could be lying.