No matter how cocky or humble you think you are, in the poker world, you always have an image, whether you develop it consciously or unintentionally. And you create your image differently offline than you do online. For one, your online table image is a lot harder to separate from your real betting actions, since very little else about you revealed on player’s computer screen. Second, the fluidity and sheer number of online poker players (at least until you reach to the higher stakes, where only a few people play) means you need to reconstruct your current table image from scratch in every single poker session.
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.
Tags: Developing Table Image in Online Poker Games, online poker, Online Poker Games, poker, Poker Games