Poker News

Jim McKenna

Last year, in an article on Player Images, I wrote in this newspaper that “Behind every action there must be an image.” (Poker Player, May 31, 2004) Normally, when we look at actions and the images behind them we expect to find some congruence. In other words, if a person thinks of himself as serious, he will act studiously and look serious.If people think of themselves as being friendly or humorous they will smile and joke around. These are the images that are consistent with their actions. That’s in real life. However, the poker table is far from real life.

Players are not there to be who they are; rather, most of us are there to pretend to be someone that we are not. That’s part of playing poker. Some will be aggressive, pretending to be strong. Others will be passive, pretending to be weak. Still others will come in and clown around, pretending to not be paying much attention to the game. How do you tell when a person is being one’s self or is projecting an image to fool you as an opponent? Just know that you are in a poker game and most of what is happening is designed to either get you to call or to fold.

Players spend a lot of time building a reputation as being solid or loose players. It’s safe to say that all players want their reputations to make money for them. How? They do this by getting people to fold or call their actions. That’s how! In the final analysis, a person’s reputation is only as good in a poker game as the amount of folds and/or calls it gathers. The bottom line about your poker reputation is how often you walk away with more than you brought. If players are not “showing respect” for you, it generally means that you have a reputation as a thief. If, on the other hand, players are paying a lot of respect, it means that you have convinced them that what you do is truthful. “I never bluff!” is probably the most blatant bluff (lie) that I’ve heard at a poker table. Even the tightest and most predictable players will use their reputation the buy a pot now and then. In the end, if you are not winning more than you are losing, then your reputation sucks and needs to be re-visited. If you are a serious player who wears sunglasses and hats to hide your eyes, you may think that you are being intimidating. If you are walking away as a loser, you succeeded in only fooling yourself. Most good players are not threatened by hats and sunglasses. Many think that a lot of players who are afraid of being found out will do such hiding. If it works, fine-as in the case of the 2004 World Series of Poker winner, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. Otherwise, find another image that will work or maybe, some acting lessons would be better.

I mentioned before that players who use their images as ways to bluff are found out by being inconsistent. For example, a clown who’s joking and carrying on a side conversation will look like (s)he’s not paying attention. Or, a guy who’s dressed like a bum will pretend to be a melon off the last truck. When such players end up making solid plays, it will make you stopand think, “Some melon!” Such players may actually be the most structured player with the strongest hands.

When you make such switches, it’s time to build a different reputation. By your inconsistent actions, you just blew the old reputation. You acted impulsive and turned out to be paying attention. In my book, Beyond Tells, I discuss six playing styles. Try to build six types of reputations–you never know when you might need to change and you can keep your opponents guessing.

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