Poker Table Image

The most powerful weapon you can utilize at the poker table is an intimidating table image. Everytime you bet or raise you would your opponents to believe you have the best hand. If you have been playing tight aggressive poker your opponents will think you have a hand. Obviously it’s unrealistic to think you will always have the best hand, but this doesn’t mean you still can’t win the hand if you know how to use your table image to your advantage and pick the right spots to make a move.

Your poker table image is more of an issue playing live where your opponents will be more observant of your play. If you have been raising every hand it’s difficult for even the less observant players not to pick up on this and make adjustments.

When playing online poker knowing how to use your table image is less of an issue because online players like to playing multiple tables to get more action, so even if you have been raising most hands in the last few orbits they probably wouldn’t even have noticed because they were busy playing in other hands or just not paying attention because they were doing something else.

Even though you may have developed a certain table image to some players at the table, don’t assume every player is being observant and has picked up on how you are playing. Treat every opponent individually when playing in a hand and try to establish what table image they think you have.

If you have been picking up a good run of cards and betting them strongly, some players may interpret this as you having a loose aggressive playing style, when really you are playing solid poker and raising only premium hands.

On the flipside, you could be card dead and folding lots of junk hands the last couple of orbits. Some players may assume you are a tight passive player.

Let’s say you are dealt 88 in middle position. Everyone in front of you folds, you raise to $4. A player in late position calls, and the BB also calls. 3 players to the flop and its a $12 pot. The flop comes 7d 9c Jh. BB checks and you bet $8. The other 2 players fold. Why did they fold? If you have been playing tight – they folded because you have shown powerful cards every single time you have been involved in a hand. Your table image has increased the strength of your pocket 8′s.

If you have been involved in 5 pots in a row one of them would have called you, but since you often fold, and won almost every pot you played in, they are fearful of your bets, and for good reason, you have always showed a good hand. You're playing sound, tight, aggressive poker.

In order to make lots of money playing poker, you need to be able to recognize what poker table image your opponents perceive you to have based on your play. In addition, you need to be capable of making adjustments to your play by playing deceptively. If you have been on a good run of cards and have an aggressive table image, players will be more likely to call you down more lightly, sp it makes little sense to try and get calling stations to fold their hands when you have nothing. Instead, you should look to tighten up your play and only bet for value instead of trying to bluff. You will still get paid off when you make a hand because you have seent to be playing aggressively.

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