Your opponents analyze your image to predict your future actions and evaluate your playing skill; therefore, you should cleverly manipulate it on your behalf. The table image you project frequently works great as a tall tale – it is loosely based on what you really are as a player but somehow sufficiently distorted to make it not too discernable.

If you can convincingly project a table image that does not reflect your actual style of play, other players ultimately conclude wrong assumptions about your playing style, and you can safely exploit their errors.

Just like a big person who tries to act like a midget, you may have trouble consistently trying to act the opposite of your real character. In the end you will bump your head. If you are a serious and conservative player, you may find it difficult to maintain a reckless table image. If you are an adventurous player, you will not be able to represent a ’super tight’ image too long. You’re better off picking a table image that you may easily sustain. Micro-limit poker games are a great place to “try on” several different table images. They provide an affordable way to explore some different characters and parade them confidently in front of a test poker players audience. Does a cautious image fit your playing style best, or are you happier (and more profitable) being the talky guy? You can use micro-limit poker games as a training ground to polish your image, even after you progress to higher stakes.

If you fold a few times by clicking the advance action buttons, your opponents will get used to the fold timing as betting goes over your playing position at the game. For all players at the table, your contribution in the game becomes rote: When your turn comes, the poker site gives the distinctive pause caused by the use of action button, you fold, and then the poker game moves along.

If, at some point in the game, you pause and then raise, all players at the table will think twice before calling you. This action is so different from what you have done in the several previous hands that other opponents immediately notice it both subconsciously and consciously. You’re likely to see that a lot of other opponents fold.

Strike up a light conversation about any latest sporting events and make a comment about a notable player if someone rises to your bait. Even if you know absolutely nothing about the sport or game, you can always do a search engine query for “Best Major League Baseball Player” and make a boneheaded comment, like “what do you think about that Rodriguez?” It does not matter that you totally uninformed about a topic; in fact, it may be great to blather on a bit about a few things you know absolutely nothing about. If your opponents think you’re a dumb guy, they may treat you accordingly and ignore you on the poker table.

You can also put a level of misdirection about your playing style here. If a player asks what you got in a hand, you may answer in any way that seems right – honest or otherwise. When you fold your hand, you may tell people what you laid down (since you don’t have a direct way to show a hand you fold in online games) – again, honest or otherwise.

Which way you choose to go is entirely your decision; but keep in mind the poker table image you want to show.

Tight or loose. Liar or honest. Whatever you find amusing and useful.

The only technique that I do not recommend is aggravating other players. Although you may undoubtedly set a player on fire if you want to, it does not serve you well in the end. Imagine yourself as the store clerk at a poker table where you are the best player. All players at the table are the customers. Only by dealing with them well will they return time and time again and get you more money. In any case, you don’t want to get into a position where you are seen by the site’s support staff as another troublemaker. Beside, if you manage to get the chat privileges revoked, you get one less valuable tool in your pocket.

Example:

You are playing Seven-Card Stud, and the hole cards are the 5s and 5d with 5c 6s 4c 9h showing. You have two players left: one with four clubs, and the other showing two pairs.

Your river card is completely disappointing Jh, and you decide to fold.

A player asks what you have. You may say that you missed the straight draw. The clubbed player likely has a flush right now, which makes it look as if you were drawing to the dead hand when actually you were drawing for a full house. This assertion can make other players think you are on a draw again, the moment you hit a great hand.

You can improve this image in the online poker world by using the advance action buttons.

Ultimately, you establish a tight table image with playing style that show you to be an absolutely conservative player, only playing aggressive with strong hands and willing to fold immediately when the odds are not particularly in your favor. The more conspicuous the actions, the better. (Certainly, you’re just displaying your table image; after you properly establish it, not all your subsequent poker games should precisely conform to this facade, or else you will become easily predictable.)

Tight playing style example

You are playing fixed limit Hold ’Em from a big blind. Your opponents allow you to see the flop without a raise. Half of the players are in the hand (including the small blind). You have 3c 6d.

Then the flop comes over 10s Jh 6s.

The small blind checks and you instinctively fold. Yes, you can certainly check for free here, but the winning probability of your hand is very low. You need to pair the hold cards (and let’s hope your opponents do not hold a larger pair) or maybe double-draw the straight, which perhaps will not happen.

Folding will buy you much more in the eyes of other players, because the sharp-eyed person take notice and become much more prepared the next time you bet or check from the same position. By folding immediately, you make your next hands in this position seem stronger in the future. And if the next time you get a weak hand and flop in the same position, you can raise or bet and possibly even take the pot right there.

So, how do you look like a madman at the online poker game? It boils down to calling and betting when you really shouldn’t and followed by letting other players know about your lunacy, which typically means exposing your cards. The really best scenario is to recklessly make the bet with absolutely weak cards and then luckily catch miracle cards to win the pot, but it also works if you miss. When other players see your hand, they will think you’re a weirdo (and perhaps take a step closer to insanity themselves).

An obvious side effect of showing people a loose poker image is that you may take bad beats frequently (especially in a potlimit or no-limit tournament setting, because one bad hand can cost you your entire chips). The crazier tablemates think you are, the more players you have to face with every hand.

Loose Playing Style Example

You are the small blind in the fixed-limit Hold ’Em poker game. You receive 5s 6h as the hole cards. Eight players stay in the hand, then you make the half-bet required to call pre-flop.

The flop is Kd 9s 8s. You have the inside straight draw and decide it is better for you to check.

All players behind you also check.

4c is the turn and each player checks.

Ad is the river. You check. An opponent makes a bet, and other players fold to you. Calling right at this moment is insanity. All your opponent needs is one card bigger than an 8 or a simple pair of any size and you’ll lose. However, for just one big bet, you may call and freely show your hand. You should not raise to make a play at the pot or performing some other strategic moves other players could easily understand. After the other players see your hand, they will instinctively think “fool” (and perhaps will have permanent belief on your behavior if they make a note on players). You can get that bet back easily many times over in other sessions. Other players continue saying something like, “Ah that moron is in. No problem.”

If you prefer to establish a tight table image, it is better that you show your cards when you get a very strong hand, particularly if you have only played a hand or two, previously. You let your opponents know that, yes, you do play quality hands and yes, you can bet them (or perhaps not). You may also show your present cards after a bluff to develop a loose image, of course. If other players think you are a loose player, they will call you frequently in the future, although they don’t have powerful hands. If you do show them your hand, you better expect to see a lot more callers on any pot that you are part of in the next sessions (especially if you have the lead in betting). It is not necessarily a bad thing to do, since if you tighten your playing style after you show a bluff, you may see the average pot size begin to increase when you are in a pot, giving you enough cash for a profitable winning.

After you show them a very strong hand, don’t repeat it. You need to give people a small bit of doubt over precisely what you are playing.

Examples:

You are dealt A-A in the earliest betting position at a no-limit Hold ’Em tournament. You raise of exactly three times the size of big blind, and all players fold. You show your hand to suggest you had the pocket rockets.

On the looser end of the poker playing style, you can bet a similar amount from the initial position with a hand, like the 2-6 off-suit. After everyone fold, flip over your stinky garbage for the whole table to see and smell. Now you can decide to play great hands while everyone still has your garbage hangover and take down bigger pots (assuming you want to avoid the bad beats).