Psychology of Tattoos And Poker

eOXevious · #1 09-15-2005, 01:24 PM

I think your table image is important both for yourself and your opponents.
Suppose you are playing Holdem with your regular friends, and one of your friends brings a friend that you have never met before. This guy is pretty friendly, talkitive. He rolls up his sleeves or better yet he is wearing a short sleeve shirt. On his forarms are tattoos. They are very large, and very good colorful artwork. What do you think about this guy at the table? Loose player, tight player? Good player? Do you know anyone with a lot of tattoos that play a certain way? I'm just curious to find out what the general assumption is about a poker player who has tattoos all up and around his forarms, and possibly upper arms too, but you see the forarms. Would you think different if you were at a casino?

blaze666 · #2 09-15-2005, 02:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think your table image is important both for yourself and your opponents.
Suppose you are playing Holdem with your regular friends, and one of your friends brings a friend that you have never met before. This guy is pretty friendly, talkitive. He rolls up his sleeves or better yet he is wearing a short sleeve shirt. On his forarms are tattoos. They are very large, and very good colorful artwork. What do you think about this guy at the table? Loose player, tight player? Good player? Do you know anyone with a lot of tattoos that play a certain way? I'm just curious to find out what the general assumption is about a poker player who has tattoos all up and around his forarms, and possibly upper arms too, but you see the forarms. Would you think different if you were at a casino?

[/ QUOTE ]

i wouldn't make any difference sub conciously, but if i thought about it conciously, i'd think this guy was a LAG, especially if they are poker tatoos. the reasoning is that anyone with a poker tatoo probably thinks the game is a glorious game, where only the coolest of the cool play. thus, he is more likely to be a glory hunter, going all-in hoping to make a draw.

wildzer0 · #3 09-15-2005, 03:12 PM

I have a full sleeve on one arm and a large tattoo on the other forearm so they're usually visible when I play. I also have a few facial piercings. I'm amazed at how much this throws off the better players at the table (better being relative, as I play 3/6 limit live so the quality isn't stellar). I'm a tight/aggressive player who's on the tighter end of the spectrum and quite often when I play a hand I get played against as if I was a Maniac by otherwise tight and/or passive players (rocks raising/calling down with bottom pair, ace high etc). It varies by table, but it's generally the case. Aside from a couple of bad beats, it's definitely helped me get more action on my bigger hands and raise my hourly rate at live play.

Of course I can't be sure if it's because of my tattoos or whatever, but it's the only thing that instantly seperates me from others at the table so I assume that's gotta be it.

Edit: this is in a casino, and no, they're not poker tattoos.

Bodhi · #4 09-15-2005, 04:30 PM

I don't think you can draw any solid psychological conclusions about an overly tattooed player. If I had to pigeon-hole them as a first guess, I would say loose and aggressive, but loose passive is also possible. Some people I've known who had lots of tatoos said they liked them because they got a rush from the pain, and liked the feeling of conquering the pain. The answer surprised me, but once I thought about it more, it seemed like a plausible reaction to early childhood traumas or abuse that have never been worked through or expressed overtly.

eOXevious · #5 09-15-2005, 04:30 PM

My tattoos are not poker tattoos

21times20 · #6 09-15-2005, 06:29 PM

the only time i ever made a judgement about someone at poker table based on their ink was when i saw a guy in his early 20's with a poker tattoo, all my instincts told me that this guy was a huge dork

tonypaladino · #7 09-15-2005, 11:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
the only time i ever made a judgement about someone at poker table based on their ink was when i saw a guy in his early 20's with a poker tattoo, all my instincts told me that this guy was a huge dork

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good read.
Especially if it was the Rounders tatoo

marsvolta619 · #8 09-16-2005, 12:21 AM

i have a sleeve on my left arm and my right forearm blacked out. Except for the regulars at the tables when I play, I'm always accused of being a maniac and getting lucky cards by the old ladies on the opposite end of the table. It really makes poker a fun game

franco · #9 09-16-2005, 02:01 PM

I have a guy in my group who has tattoos (he runs a tattoo shop). He's a normal guy, good player, has a job, a home, drinks beer like the rest of us, likes kids and is a fun guy to hang with. He has tattoos and I wear khakis and gap shirts. Refuse to be fooled by what clothes people wear, glasses/no glasses or whether they tip the dealer or
not. crazy question.

Warren Whitmore · #10 09-16-2005, 02:08 PM

Two correlations

(1) People who think long term. Are able to predict the future based on the past tend to have higher IQ's than those who do not.

(2) People who get tattos tend to think in terms of the present.

There are of course lots of exceptions.

I think I read somewhere that Doyle Brunson said "I like to see an opponant with tatto's and that smokes because that tells me he wasent thinking clearly at some point in the past and still isent" But I am not sure it was him.