Player's Stories

Table Image
By Steve Ruddock

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

If you were to walk through my regular poker room on a Friday or Saturday night and take a look at the Omaha Hi-Lo table you will almost certainly see me sitting there with a smile on my face. I'll be the one laughing, joking, and having a real good time seemingly not paying attention to anything going on at the table.

Since I started playing poker, I have worked very hard at appearing as a loose recreational player; no matter how bad the beat I always say "nice hand", and no matter what idiotic thing some other player may say to me I don't get upset. I've heard such gems as "Have you ever seen 4 cards you don't like?" and one of my all time favorites "You limp in so much you need a crutch." My usual response to these asinine remarks is "Hey it's Omaha you can see the flop with pretty much anything." Or "I knew today was going to by my day to finally win." But the real truth is, that looks can be very deceiving. The reality of the matter is that I'm usually the tightest person at the table. Another regular in the game, who has played with me enough to know my real style, once remarked to a woman that angrily stated I had raised the last 3 pots, "and all 3 times he showed you a lock hand." Unfortunately not everyone is fooled by my act.

So how do I pull it off? There are three cardinal rules I follow to try to appear as a loose player, and they all have one thing in common, drawing GOOD attention to your self. Bad attention will cause players to play very differently against you.

Rule #1
You absolutely must be talkative and friendly. When I first sit down at the table I try to say something funny, one line that I really like to use is, when you get your chips announce, "Did you know you can cash these chips in? Up until last week I thought you had to play til they were all gone." Attention from other players is a key factor in having a loose table image. Even if you have folded by continuing to talk and interact with others at the table you will give off the appearance that you are involved in the game even when you are not. The more attention they give you the more they will feel you are always involved. Another tactic I use occasionally is when the hand is over and I folded after the flop I will give them a little bit of false information, such as saying "with 2 jacks and 2 sevens I have to call 1 raise." When the reality is I probably held something like A246 and missed.

Rule #2
You have to be aggressive. Not only is this just good overall poker strategy but also once again always raising and re-raising will draw a lot of attention to you from the other players at the table. It will appear to them that you are mixed up in a lot of pots since you have raised more than most people playing double the hands that you do. Everyone remembers the aggressive guy, especially pre-flop, even if he's not mixed up in too many hands. Being aggressive undeniably draws attention to your play.

Rule #3
Reach down into your bag of tricks. If I find I'm not getting too many playable hands and have been folding 5, 6, or 7 hands in a row I'll get up from the table and take a short walk around the room or use the restroom. This way when I return I will have missed 1 or 2 hands and usually come back on my blinds, or if they have gone by I can post or buy the button, sometimes I'll even straddle if I come back under the gun. Now I can play my blinds and then if I still don't get any playable cards can fold for a while without anyone noticing that besides my blinds I have folded 12 or more hands in a row. Some other things I find that help me influence people into thinking that I am a loose player are; I like to turn my chair around, not only is it more comfortable for me but it also draws attention which as we have discussed is the most important aspect in appearing loose. Also if I make it to the showdown or am the last to fold with some garbage hand I've played from the blind I'll turn it over whether I have to or not, show them a lot of trash and that's what they'll think you're playing when you have A234.

There is more than one reason why a loose table image will increase your profit in poker. With a loose table image not only will you get more action, it will also be hard for other players to put you on a hand. When someone who only raises with 4 wheel cards raises and the flop comes down 9JQ its very easy to move them off the pot since you can be fairly sure they missed the flop completely and with your image as a loose player they really have no idea what you might be playing.

A lot is written about appearing the opposite of how you really play, I find the best way to figure out how to accomplish this is too watch someone in the game who is giving off the image you want to portray. The better your table image is, the more profit you will see coming your way. Not only from the bad players but from good players as well, until they catch on to your little act! In my experience bad players will never change their initial perception of your play, they will be too busy looking at their own cards to care what anyone else is doing. This is why your first impression at the table is so important, if you are immediately pegged as a loose recreational player most of your opponents will consider you this no matter what you do afterwards. Laugh, joke, and talk while you are at the tables, but you must be able to pay attention as well. You will have more fun and it will give you that little extra edge in the game that you've been looking for.