Online Image

Eric P · #1 12-31-2003, 05:58 AM

I just read someone's post that said in a tournament you will be better off if you ignore your "image" for the large part i agree. Especially early in a tournament, talbes are changing so rapidly that it will be hard to get an image, and even if you clearly play like a tight player 95% of people won't notice or won't have time to notice, it's not till you get to the final 3 tables that people are really really paying attention (even then some people aren't)

In limit games online it could be different certain tables (like the annie duke on UB, or the 10-20 or 15-30 games on PP) frequently will have the same or very similar line-ups. After playing for a wihle people will begin to recognize you and you them. Pokertracker is such an amazing way to figure people that you can pay so little attention to yourself since you have such detailed stats on them, especially since on UB you can use the "i'd like to see the hand rule" every time there is a showdown. UB is the best simply for their hand history, and pokertracker is the best for a million reasons. but in general i agree that image is a very overrated thing (online mostly, live games it's totally different.)

CrisBrown · #2 12-31-2003, 10:43 AM

Hi Eric,

I disagree, although that may have more to do with game selection than anything else. At the $55 and $109 SNGs, people do pay attention to what you do, and they have the skill to use that against you. So you do have to think about table image.

Someone made a funny comment the other day, actually. I was in a heads-up pot and I'd raised the flop. Another player said "call, she's bluffing. I have notes on her." So my opponent called, and I'd flopped the nut straight or some such. Then my opponent said "I have notes on her too, but she keeps ignoring them."

Cris

LetsRock · #3 12-31-2003, 11:05 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Someone made a funny comment the other day, actually. I was in a heads-up pot and I'd raised the flop. Another player said "call, she's bluffing. I have notes on her." So my opponent called, and I'd flopped the nut straight or some such. Then my opponent said "I have notes on her too, but she keeps ignoring them."

[/ QUOTE ]

How rude. I'm glad you punked 'em on the pot. I really hate it when people try to influence others' actions, especially when they're not in the hand.

How stupid of them to be announcing that their paying that close attention by telling everyone they're keeping notes. Huge tell. I sure hope you knocked 'em both out!

SnowBreeze · #4 12-31-2003, 11:12 AM

I believe most of the time, when people are saying call her/him, it is meant as a joke, like saying: "call so one of you busts and we get closer to the money"

Not everybody takes those s&g that seriously, nor has to win in order to eat next day.

Just my opinion.

CrisBrown · #5 12-31-2003, 12:27 PM

Hiya LetsRock,

Rude? Perhaps. At that point, I had a pretty commanding chip lead, and I attributed the comment to the other player wanting to see me come back to the field. I laughed it off and it didn't bother me. In fact, it kinda tickled me when my opponent said I was "ignoring" his notes on me, as I tend to see myself as rather predictable. (After all, I usually know what I'm going to do, and why. Usually.)

By and large, I don't take offense to the table chat. It's as much social as anything, and when it's not it usually has more to do with stress than flawed characters. There are exceptions, of course, but I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Cris

LetsRock · #6 12-31-2003, 12:34 PM

I generally agree, but to add the "I have notes on him" is more then "rooting". If someone is making a tough decision, it doesn't take much coaching to push them one way or another off the fence.

This type of coaching could be grounds for DQ in a live game, so it's no more appropriate on-line.

I hate the annonymity of on-line poker (or any on-line gaming for that matter) - people will do so many rude things they wouldn't normally do if they were face to face because there's rarely any consequence on-line.

Guy McSucker · #7 12-31-2003, 12:55 PM

This type of coaching could be grounds for DQ in a live game

I could not agree more. That player should definitely not have said what he/she said.

Re: table image. I think it's important. The first time I played the $200 NL tournament on PokerStars, I played my usual tight game, and was lucky enough to pick up a few strong hands, and get to show them. I established an image of a strong-hand player. When I raised preflop, I had a very good chance of taking the blinds. This is an absolute godsend in a tournament. I ended up in very good control of the table, and was chip leader with 30 players left.

Then I got moved. All the new players saw was the chip leader. No reputation, no image. When I see a big stack, I imagine he's going to raise quite a bit, try to buy lots of pots, and generally bully people. That's what these guys assumed too, which meant, of course, that I couldn't do it. I'd raise, and someone would push in behind me. Ugh. I could not take a pot down preflop at all.

I am convinced that it was my powerful image at the first table that got me where I was. It certainly wasn't the cards, which dried up pretty horribly, or any skill on my part.

Re: funny things people say about notes. Yesterday I open-raised on the button with some trash or other, and the BB thought, and thought, and finally said "my notes say to call", which made me laugh. I just had to pipe up and say "My notes say not to steal your blind because you like to call."

Guy.

Bozeman · #8 12-31-2003, 02:01 PM

You should always pay attention to your image, but shouldn't generally adjust your play in order to project a certain image.

Do you really think PokerTracker can give you statistically meaningful data on a player (particularly in tourneys where play depends a lot on specific conditions)? Probably at lower stakes, but at higher stakes only to tell who the huge fish are, which you can do in 10 hands anyway usually.

Craig