Table Image

[Poker Junkie]

Hello all,

I have been reading a lot of posts on this forum and others and hear a lot people making reference to table image. I have a few questions that I would like your thoughts on about table image in MTT's.

When should you be concerned about your table image? (early, middle, late)and why?

Do to the changing of tables so frequently does it really matter in a MTT what your table image is?

Should I just play what I think is good solid poker at all times and not worry about my table image or should I work to "cultivate" my table image during tournaments?

Thanks for any and all thoughts on these questions.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Walt

[Bernas]

I don't think you need to be terribly concerned about your table image. Especially early on in the tournament when you are changing tables so frequently.

[Cleveland Guy]

I completely disagree. You always need to be aware of your table image. If you have the image of a person who will chase a flush or a straight, your bluff bet is going to get called by 2nd pair. Now you can also use that to your advantage and make what looks like a bluff bet when you have top pair or a set.

If you have a tight table image, and an A flops, you have a better chance of getting people to fold to your bet.

I would agree that one of the most frustrating things in an MTT is when you get moved a lot. i have been moved as many as 3 times in 10 hands.

I also feel it hurts you in that you are the unknown at the table, and not sure who will call, raise or fold. I tend to sit back and try and watch a lot when I get moved, and only play top top hands early on at a table. This gives me 2 advantages

1. I get to observe and watch people play
2. I get the image of being tight which should help me after a few orbits.

[Potowame]

Table image will help you with good players. So the Players that you feel have a soild table image and you have seen them show down alot of big hands, will take notice of how you play. So when in hands with these players you should be aware of thier table image as well as what you feel the image you have.
As for the bad players, you could not play a hand for three orbits, and wake up to a 3.5xbb raise from utg, and they are still going to call you with A3s. This you must also keep in mind, that your table image has no bearing on thier thought process in playing a hand. So, A bluff with AK to a Rag Rag Rag board will not work on them if they have a RAG.

[nolanfan34]

I think table image is less important online than in B&M play. B&M you can at least tell who's paying attention, and adjust your image and play from there.

Online I mostly concentrate on playing solid poker, and will spend more time noting the play of others, than worry about what my image is. Frankly, in big online MTT's, most of the time people don't notice if you have a TAG image anyway. How many times have you folded for an hour, then finally gotten a hand in EP, raised, and still had 3 or 4 callers? Plenty of times for me.

[mmahlin]

I think you need to be aware of how players perceive your play whenever you sit down at a poker table, regardless of whether you're playing in a B&M, online, in a tourney, or in a ring game. It's a huge facet of the game. Sure, not everyone is going to have perfect recall on every hand that you play, or don't play, but when I first sit down at a new table I always assume that everyone at the table is a great player (i.e. a thinking, observant, and aware player) until they prove themselves otherwise. I mean, how can it hurt to always be aware of your own play and what other people may be thinking about it?

Yeah, if you're getting moved every five minutes you're not going to have much of a chance to make an impression and it can be incredibly frustrating to spend an hour crafting an image, start to change gears, and then get bumped to a table full of strangers. But what I've found is that if I'm aware of my image then I'm aware of my play. If I'm aware of my play then I'm more likely to continue playing solid poker, or make adjustments when I'm not. If I make adjustments, how does that affect how the table views my play? It's an infinite loop.

Sorry for the rambling, but I do believe that table image is always important. If you're thinking about how they think you play, then you're also constantly considering your own play. The hardest thing is when you start to loosen up at a table after building a tight image, the chips start flowing your way, you get moved, and out of frustration you keep speeding around. Before you know it, you're broke. Not aware. Not solid poker.

Cheers,

M.

[fnurt]

I don't think you should waste a single second cultivating a table image, as by, for example, playing 32o under the gun to make people think you are crazy.

I do think the cards will give you a table image whether you like it or not and you need to be aware of what it is. If you get a lot of good cards, you will be in a lot of hands, and people will think you are loose. If you get bad cards, you won't play many hands, and people will think you are tight. Either way you can exploit this to your advantage.

For online play especially, many people don't take notice of who is playing a lot of pots, but they do notice who is raising and betting large amounts. If you get a couple big hands in a row and end up winning the pot uncontested, people will probably think you have been bullying and will be more likely to call. Conversely, if you were forced to show down big hands when you got them, people will tend to think you have the goods, which opens them up to be bluffed.

I think you should just play the cards you are dealt; but people will have an image of you anyway, which doesn't necessarily correspond with how you are actually playing, but is important to take into account nonetheless. That's how I see it.

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think you should waste a single second cultivating a table image, as by, for example, playing 32o under the gun to make people think you are crazy.

I do think the cards will give you a table image whether you like it or not and you need to be aware of what it is. If you get a lot of good cards, you will be in a lot of hands, and people will think you are loose. If you get bad cards, you won't play many hands, and people will think you are tight. Either way you can exploit this to your advantage.


[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree here and I think this goes back to a point that I frequently try to make on here:
The best plan is to not have a plan.
Poker is all about adjusting to certain situations that are presented to you. I'd bet that if you put Gus Hansen and Dan Harrington online and had to determine who was whom based on playing style alone in a single tourney, you would be wrong a decent percentage of the time.
The good players make consistantly good decisions. The great players do that and are able to consistantly adjust to both the competition, and the image that they have cultivated for their competition about themselves.

[gergery]

[ QUOTE ]

I think you should just play the cards you are dealt;.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you meant, "Play the situations you are in".

i'm feeling nitpicky tonight...totally agree with your views on table image

[Poker Junkie]

Thanks everyone for giving me your thoughts on table image. I think I am going about it the right way based on your thoughts. I just try to play solid poker and be aware of what hands I've been playing. Thanks again for the info I've been having a frustrating run lately and wasn't sure if this might have something to do with it.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Walt