Poker Image/Playing Style On Online Play...

[ultimodragon]

Thought this might be a good thread so gonna leave it open and loose all...

Not as easy at online poker as in live play to gain an advantage,with harder to read tells obviously and zero body language..so does anyone use poker image or play style to their advantage?

could post alot on this but would like lots off imput,as Duke says its nice to get this kind of thread going so will leave wide open...but just a quick bit from me..

I decided to(believe it or not)mind you this was when i was playing a hell of a lot more on here,to become known as a very big bluffer..which im sure alot of people will say yeah you are you git(this is my greatest bluff yet by the way)
It took alot of chips and time,but i wanted to be labeled to a certain style which im not(im lying again here )had to choose when to show,when to fold...etc
But now it pays off really well,can switch my game so easily...

Have also noticed some of the best guys and gals on here are mostly ultra tight in play in my opinion,but that makes there bluff play sooo powerfull..so have they done the same to build that image?

Must be loads of thoughts on this,hope so....cheers all

[Kingcard]

I play poker.Why think?

[DreamALot]

Hmmmmmmmm. Sounds like your bluffing right now. You are good in that respect thay you will alway try to keep people off balance.

You are correct, playing live is much easier than playing online. 70% of the time, I have my thoughts about how to play even well before its my turn when online.

Keep it up Ulti coz it's hard to bluff a bluffer but your pretty darn close to it.

[TheTexan]

When I started here I had a very, very good player try to teach me. His first golden rule was never, ever show your cards willingly. Now at a face to face game I agree.

As we have come to know each others styles here, I have tried to vary it up a bit, but for the most part I still play the same way I did when Roo was knicking all my chips on KOTH.

As for on-line tournament play, I do not agree with this. Since players are coming and going from the table, and with hundreds or thousands of players changing out, I think it is important to show some weak winners and hide some strong winners to get the table thinking you can kill them at will. Sometimes I think we know each other too well on the private label tournaments, but those are about fun, not necessarily about chips gained or lost.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[DukeOfDeath]

I was actually just thinking about that this morning. I use image all the time. My image is different for every game I play, though. It obviously depends a lot on who I'm playing. If it's a loose table I'll be tight so I can get away with bluffs while I'm waiting for the nuts. If it's a more solid or tight table I'll put on more pressure and be tight aggressive with a sprinkling of bluffs. Another factor is the game itself. In 10 seater cash games or early stages of tournaments, I may seem like a nit. In 6 handed cash games or later in tourneys when blinds are too high for everyone to limp in with junk I steal and even 3-bet to put pressure and come off very loose aggressive. But as far as a LONG TERM image I try not to create a particular image. I mean if it's long enough it kind of becomes who you actually ARE instead of a deceptive image. As to showing cards, I only show quads or straight flushes if I'm not called. The exception is if I'm really getting a lot of hands and forcing a lot of folds and I feel I'm starting to get under people's skin. I'll show maybe one or two good hands to keep people from calling me with anything thinking I'm bluffing, in which case I never will know where I'm at in a hand in later streets.

As for the short term I think image is much more of an issue in a cash game than in a tournament. First you are at a single table, not moving around. Second people tend to stay around longer at a table. Thirdly you can afford to lose most or all of a buy in to either sell an image or figure a player out and rebuy like you are starting fresh with new "weapons". I feel you can go one of two ways. You can do what you seem to have done and create a loose image that will help you get called later. OR you can do what you've pointed out others do on the site and play tight so that you can get away with more bluffs (and likely be playing stronger hands when you aren't bluffing). More importantly than CHOOSING one of these options is adjusting to the table. Play tight at loose tables and loose at tight tables.

The most important thing (and the take away) is to be aware of your own image. If you are getting your bluffs called you may have a looser image than you realize, and if people are bet-folding to your raises you may come off as more of a nit than you think.

Sorry for probably way too much info that isn't useful at all, but a very good thread you started.

[roo27]

pesonaly i find table image to be a very inportent part of my game and iv posted about it befor so cant be assed to right it out aging so ill post a link lol

table image

[akatiger]

reads...styles.....image:confu sed:
i just try 2 get cards that match

[chipjones]

right or wrong i try to change my game to fit the table or players. and ulti you are a bluffin git. lol

[CaptainSandy]

I play in a weekly 'live' poker night and it'samazing how many players physically shake when they have a good hand.
Similarly I've noticed some players who always tut or shake their heads when they hit a monster.
At least from behind a computer screen no-one can see mee jumping up and down when I'm dealt AA.

[stjimmy]

Originally Posted by CaptainSandy

I play in a weekly 'live' poker night and it'samazing how many players physically shake when they have a good hand.
Similarly I've noticed some players who always tut or shake their heads when they hit a monster.
At least from behind a computer screen no-one can see mee jumping up and down when I'm dealt AA.

first time i played live in a casino with kev and baz, i was dealt KK very 1st hand in a cash game. i started shaking uncontrollably, and went £100 all-in lol. everyone folded.. I picked up £1.50..

[Pocket_Ducks]

I used to play live games and yeah I shake

I don't necessarily have to have a good hand to shake tho
I can limp in a pot with KJ and i'll feel em comin... people used to joke "eyup he's shaking, must have a monster" then at the end of the hand i'll show em Q8 hehe

(One of the largest pots in a tourney I played I managed to knock 2 people out and become chip leader... I made the decision to call an all-in when I held top pair [hand A9 flop 9,8,7] but the pair was good enough to win, and I could barely pick the chips up I was that shakey lol...
...But does my shaking give me weak image?)

Online I shake just as much lol, I get a genuine buzz from the game

As for image, well, I never seen a guy play and think 'nice strong image ya got there'....

On a cash table, it doesn't take long to figure out whether a guy knows what he's doing or not... once you figure someone out, act accordingly (short term).
If you can't figure em out, my advice is move on lol

kwak

p.s. I used to think the term "image" was aimed at one's name and avatar lol... what image does a duck have?? I mean if our quack's dont even echo then we don't stand a chance

[DukeOfDeath]

Originally Posted by roo27

pesonaly i find table image to be a very inportent part of my game and iv posted about it befor so cant be assed to right it out aging so ill post a link lol

table image

yeah that's a good thread. I take notes all the time. Sometimes I will label new playes as a "jimboleon" or a "BBOB" or an "Ausangel"

[DarthYoda]

image is only part of the game
you play a certain style you get labelled
thats why mixing it up is important
you need to have that unpredicability
with out unpredicability you will lose
and just on live vs online
a good player can play both
both myself and splash do play real games occasionally and yes we both do well . its good fun to turn up at established regular tournies and see all these ppl look at us have no idea who we are then see their shock as we knock out 40 or so regulars and end up together on the final table .
i guess what im saying is image is important but so is a strong grounding in the game , good intutition , courage and the ability to play several styles of poker .each is good individually but the best players dont rely on one of these attributes but a mixture of all

[THEBUDDHA66]

its not image its a day to day thing
sometimes your lucky sometimes your not
we are playing for free chips here not real money (except real money players lol)
play me 6 days out of seven and you will win but dont chance it on a friday night lol
stl my friends