A rose by any other name...

[ReddTrain]

I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam.

I've had this handle long enough that I wouldn't know what to do without it, so if anyone can garner an advantage by knowing who I am, more power to them.

I did play on Paradise back in the day under a different handle (to try to generate more action) - but when in their infinite wisdom Paradise determined NuckingFuts was obscene, I had to try something a little more tame.

Big John

[crazy canuck]

Shatf wrote:

You bring up an interesting point about names I didn't reference though.

This is interesting. Several people reported that making their opponents believe that they are a female helps them. So something like BluffingJane or TiltingMary might be ideal. I'll definitely try this next time i sign up for a site.

[Cyndie]

I played as a male personna to satisfy a bet a long time ago and did well at 1020. I have also noticed there were advantages to being female online. Not sure whether it is clear cut one way or another, but if there is a difference, I would think that male for higher limits would be slightly advantageous.

[JohnShaft]

Ah, yes. The old female name angle. I forgot about this one too.
This one is pretty interesting. Maybe moreso than Action names. I think the effect of this one though is open to debate, and very dependent upon the opponents perception (of women).

Male would be slightly advantageous for higher limits online? How so Cyndie?
Don't you think high-limit players are the ones who are least likely to be affected by carefully chosen names?

[Fraubump]

Seems like there might be some possible positive ev in using the name of either a known good player or a known fish at a new site. (not really talking about all the doyle brunsons, etc. out there) I'd be pretty surprised if I tried to sign up for a site and found fraubump taken. I was a little bummed when I first tried to get a user name at a poker site and Twinkle was taken.

[bernie]

how i look at it, let's take live games.

do mason, dave, lee, lou, jim (brier), bob c, Al S, or any of the other authors change their appearance so as to 'gain an edge' by playing live? im sure they easily still find good games to play in.

a good player will recognize a good player even if he never visited the 2 + 2 forum. sure, it may take a little longer, but for an observant player, not much longer. not to mention, many posters on 2+2 arent great yet. but just being here, we all have the potential.

there are live players that i'm sure recognize the names listed above when in there game but still dont know how to play against them. in fact, some benefits may be derived from them 'knowing' you in the game. slight intimidation. i think it goes both ways to some degree.

i think the paranoia of one's name being known is blown well out of proportion. the one's to really ask, IMO, are the names listed above.

i also use the same name on all the sites i play(ed).
though i have thought of changing the moniker gender-wise as an experiment. but never got around to it.

side note: i've recently changed my personal appearance a little to where many people in my own room didnt recognize me without a double take. people i'd seen on a daily basis for quite some time. one player, looking familiar to him, asked if my brother used to play. during that re-entry period, they never really played much different against me that i noticed.

i donated the same way i usually do. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

cheers

b

[Cyndie]

Well, since it is not possible to play act in live games...there is some value to comparing high limit live versus low limit. The only live mid to higher limit games I have played have been the 15/30 and a couple 20/40 games in Vegas and Phx. I think there that if a woman has the same abilities as a man, she has an advantage. I have discussed this at length with Dr. Al, and it may show up in an article soon. There are physical chemicals called pheromones that are incredibly powerful and unnoticed.

I believe they are active even when age, physical attracion or any other noticeable factors are observed. While I am way past "fox" there is still the male female difference that does make slight differences.

I think men are less likely to allow their emotions to get the best of them at higher limits and actually probably assume that making a move on a woman has a higher chance of success than on a man.

I also think men are willing to give up low limit bets in exchange for a higher likelihood of "getting lucky"

These "real" physical differences do not manifest online. For one thing, the pheromones are not VIRTUALLY transmitted over the internet. Depending on which of the "females" are really female, perhaps this can be debated online.

Granny Mae, while male in "real" life, and openly mentioned in recent posts...had the true granny with an attitude down pat! "her" double entendres and sarcasm fit the personna of a matron who has been around the block, and still enjoys it! However, I am sure many here still think of her as "her." At the table, Bobby, was all guy...did granny play as granny except for zoo events? I never had the privilege of playing at the same table, but his reputation was awesome!

I have only met a few of the people I know online, but those who were on the PPM cruise, most especially Men the Master, will remember me. Ed Hill and Ciro and a few other Vegas friends can attest that I qualify as a female who is not posing...any others out here?

Now to online differences pro/con, male/female, or high/low limit:

I played as ScoopHL for a long time on Party. I did play some holdem, but not often. I was always a female character, and flirted a lot. I used to play mainly 3/6 and was quite successful. I remember many times players would avoid me in pots, so I guess that is the measure of respect online and off. There was some minor allowance that if nothing else, I was a fixture, and worthy of some respect. Don't know how much others remember. I wouldn't be totally surprised to hear people come out of the woodwork to say, oh yeah, I remember her...total fish.

However, if you look in MS Sunshine's list of players on Party, my name came up as someone worthy of some respect. I would actually say that my game when I played Party was much weaker than it is now. So for low limit, I think I saved a lot of bets and won many pots by being a flirtacious female.

I play at Empire almost exclusively now, and have a different name. Friends know who I am, but because of too much animosity, I prefer to remain anonymous. I did play quite a bit of 10/20 stud. With the exception of a few players who I acknowledge as technically better than I am, I am in the top group of players there. My style will be regarded as maniac by many, but there are logical reasons for my play that is just a very aggressive style. There are many hands that I can play for profit that are not usually played because the variance is very high.

The style suits me...and perhaps this gets back on topic...most men do not assume a woman is playing a very aggressive style. They may assume loose, but not aggressive.

[MicroBob]

i admittedly dont take very good notes on my opponents. unless you make a ridiculous fishy move (capped pre-flop with 53o UTG was my most recent favorite fishy) i wil just assume that you play like most typical party goof-balls.

but there is a player with a female name in my 2/4 late-night games on party who i have been seeing all the time....virtually everyday,sometiems we'll be on two or even three tables together at the same time which i find a bit odd.
either i'm joining her table without realizing it until i get there, or vice-versa...i think we scout out the same pre-flop pot-size coupled with lack of lengthy waiting list (or else she has me souted as a fish and is stalking me, but i'm seeing her under both my party and my empire personas).
anyway, she may be the tightest rock of a player there. if she's betting then shes got it....period. seems she is just playing straight-forward ABC poker on multi-tables and letting the money eventually come to her (although she has been a break-even player from my limited observations, i'm certain she probably is a winning player overall).

back to the original point, i don't believe i was tainted at all by the fact that she has a female name....it's jst a player that i see all the time who happens to play very tight poker.


however, the more i tbink about this topic the more i think it could very well be to one's advantage to take a name like FoXyReBbeCca (with that weird alternating lowercase/capital letters thing that is popular with teens and early 20's kids) and constantly typing things like "tee-hee, i got so lucky" and "(giggle giggle), this is fun" and even "lol Shaft-er-oooo...i like your name. i bet your cute."

if you're going to try to take advantage of a false persona...might as well take FULL advantage. and, in fact, i suspect it would take longer for your average expert player or 2+2'er to determine that this player actually knows what theyre doing.
okay, it's decided...., i think i have come up with my new strategy at whatever site i try next. the main drawback is that there are only certain friends of mine who would understand that i am doing it for +EV and general lets-have-fun-messing-with-the-fish type purposes. others would start to wonder if i am having some strange anonymous-cross-dresser type fantasies.

[wdbaker]

I started playing almost 12 months ago and initially on my first site used my 2+2 name, I then realized that with the breadth and scope of this forum and the many members and lurkers that this was an unwise decision so had it changed.

The last thing I want is for others to know that i belong to the best forum on poker bar none and that I probably am nearing semi professional status(depending on your definition). Why let anyone in on what I am doing and the strategies that I use???

I choose to remain anonymous to all, they can find out who I am as I'm counting their chips [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[scrub]

I've got a decent playing female friend. Her name is obviously female and mildly flirtatious. She gets softplayed at small SitNGos and low buy in NL/PL tables more than anyone I've ever seen. It might not make a big difference at higher limits, but her female persona is definitely +EV at smaller tables.

There's a player named "LittleHo" or something who plays the 50 buyin party NL tables. Does a very good job of tilting other players at the table by milking the obnoxious female angle. Pretty good player too. Based on table chat, I've wondered before if this was a male posing as a female...

scrub