What techniques to use for establishing table image

What are some tactics you guys use to really make an impression on players, one way or the other. This is harder online when you are behind a computer, but I have learned that image is still very very important.

So either live or online, what are your personal methods of creating a persona?

I like to call 3bets OOP and then ch/shove random crap on the flop. It's expensive but effective.

ha sounds more like -being- a maniac than just acting like one. I'm talking about subtle things that don't look like obvious donk maneuvers.

No. Sorry, no experience with any of that.

???
Sorry maybe you thought I was being an ass or something?
I am sure you are more knowledgeable and play higher stakes than me. that means you probably employ more subtle and advanced moves. I meant that I already make wild bets and such to make an image.
I was talking more about giving off tells and things like that.

Edit: why can't i edit the first post i made? Mod, (Dakota?) please delete it.

No you're post was fine I was just being funny (Ok, TRYING to be funny).

I really don't put any stock into online tells so I don't try to deliberately do anything to throw my opponents off.

Although the ch/shove stuff has some hint of truth to it.

So you push with air and risk your whole stack?

I don't know if I'm man enough to do that!!

No I push with air and lose my whole stack. It only works if they see that you have nothing.

Like I said, it gets expensive but does wonders for the maniac image.

Why pay for table image? Just play your usual game, and just adjust as they adjust. Trick is, usually your opponents don't adjust to you because they suck.

They all suck... I was up 3BI's at one table grr... runner runner flush, someone with PP 3's turned a set against my top 2 pair... damn the poker gods

I guess sometimes at the beginning of a stt I may play real tight almost nitty and passive. Then when they start to take advantage of me I turn the tables around. Usually this isnt on purpose its just because Im getting shit for cards and no opportunities to steal but sometimes I do it on purpose.

I consider myself a tight-aggressive player. I will do some check raising and raising when I have nothing..then show the hand. I like to let the table know from the beginning that I own the table and that I'm the table General!!!

Creating an image isn't worth it if it requires you to make sub-optimal plays because your opponents wont adjust enough to make it cost effective.

Be aware of your table image and use it to your advantage but don't manufacture it.

I'm actually gonna try this

Get a game going?

Come on now, you know you'd still fold when he shoved.

Depending on the table (Cash, SnG, Tourney) you can try a few different things.

(All of these suggestions are prefaced by saying you can't do all this with a 7/2 os - well maybe sometimes. Try to have a reasonably decent starting hand)

I find that the first thing is to start by seeing what the table is doing, are they tight? Loose?
Play the opposite.

If no one is calling a raise, raise it up.
If the table is really loose, sit back and let them knock each other off.
When you have a hand, pounce on them.
If they catch on to you, change gears and sit back for awhile
This works great in small one table SnG's.

Always take your time when it is your turn, don't drag it out but take a reasonable amount of time to fold, call or bet.
Make them see you think, make them wonder.
What's he got?
Too many players see a decent hand (mid pair) and without paying attention to their position, chip stakes or a UTG bet they just toss it in.
Take your time and analyze the situation!

Whenever I see a player fold immediately I know that they are playing their cards, not the position or the table. I will start taking advantage of them ASAP.

Betting is a real strong indication of who you are at a table.
Limpers are always perceived as weak, ABC players. And that can be used to your advantage especially if you are taking your time.

You have a strong pocket pair in late position. If no one has raised, take your time and make the call or min raise (more if the table seems really loose).
The slow bet will make a lot of players think you are stealing.
If the flop comes in your favor (a set, 2 pair etc) a small hesitation can induce a bet or raise, just what you want.

Don't use the automatic options, decide for yourself.

Important to me is to NOT show my cards.
I rarely bluff but if I do win with a small hand, I am NOT showing it.
You want to see it? Pay for it!!

As for bluffing, don't try to do it at the low stakes tables.
Cash tables anything under $1/2, SnG's anything under $10.

Most players at these stakes are going to play any pair, suited connectors or paint cards and they WILL suck out on you. If you are playing a semi-bluff, maybe.
And by semi bluff I mean 4 to a straight (up and down), 4 to a flush, mid or lower set etc. post flop.
Anything else will just cause you to be called and lose your Bankroll.

If you see someone else playing the same way and it's not me, then you're on your own!!! LOL

(As with anything your mileage may vary and we here at the Leo 50 school of poker are not responsible for any losses occurred while following these suggestions. Although donations from winning are gratefully accepted! LOL)

LMAO you are soooo right, he could prob show 92o first and I would still fold.
I need to change my nitty ways.

Just play a tight game at the beginning and play solid poker!
If the other players are able to realise that than you will create your image just by playing...
But be careful donks do not realise that!

I primarily play in the freerolls & micro tourneys, more often than not I'm not @ the same table for very long, until later in the tourney, to establish an image. If I do find myself @ a table for a bit I will show only the premium cards on an all-in shove with no callers...it sets it up for me to get away with semi-bluffs later if others think I only play good cards. Also check raises work wonders as long as it's not overdone (gets kind of annoying & I want to keep the 'customers' in the hands to extract more chips ).

I personally don't believe in manufacturing a table image - but I am always working on working out how my table image is being perceived. That way I can use whatever it is to my advantage.

I'm picking my nose and farting the whole time to establish an image of a total jerk+idiot but since I'm playing online no-one ever realizes.

Seriously: Leo pretty much summed it up correctly.

I don't try to create a table image. Instead, I try to remain conscious of what my image probably is to the other players, and use that.

For example, when getting a run of really good cards that nobody sees (is he bluffing??), followed by pocket Aces, I may just shove pre-flop. After having seen you take down a bunch of pots in a row without showing, those AQ or JJ hands just might call. This is definitely a micro stakes move though. I wouldn't try it against the big boys.

For those of you who don't think it is worth your while to manufacture a table image, look around. Do you have an image of the other players at the table? And do you ever act on that image? What makes you so special that you think you are invisible to everyone else?

So, why not try to manipulate the image others have of you to your benefit?

I do it, but you won't get me to tell you how!

i dont think you can get a image. best to sit tight and watch the play of others on the table. you ll soon find the loose players. after a few showdowns and the fishermen. win a few games at forums like CC . other players then no your not such an easy touch. the image comes before the game in this case and not at the table itself.............joker131

First of all--I like to think about what I want to achieve with my image. Get away with bluffs or get my big pairs paid off. Then I go about playing in the style that will help me achieve that.

If I want big pairs payed off I get involved in alot of hands (maybe 15% to 25%) often raising and reraising if I can afford it.

or, just play solid values and get away with a well timed bluff or continuation bet holding suited connecters or small pairs.

But other than that I think leo has laid it down, especially about playing the situation and not the cards. So take some time to consider the sitaution at the table.

I like to sit in short stack with a min buy-in and shove all in win a couple measly blinds and GTFO. JK!

There is a big difference between not thinking table image is important and thinking it's not worth establishing.

You will develop a table image without trying, people will adapt to your play and you adapt to exploit their changes.

Don't sit down and piss away chips to establish a particular table image.

the best way is felt a few fish with a bag of nuts ..so when next u raise people might think twice....never bluff ..soon as the table sees one bluff your image goes straight down the tubes ......

I think the OP is missing the point of table image. Table image is based on how you apear to be playing. 95% of the time how you apear to be playing is indeed exactly how you are playing.

So playing well establishes a good table image. If you are playing tight, then you can slip in a few more bluffs and get away with it, if you are playing laggy you can get a few more value bets in than you would ordinarily, but 95% of your image is how you are actually playing.

No matter what your table image, you wont push people off big hands and you will have no effect on players who don't notice anything but the two cards in front of them.

This is what I hate about micros; nobody watches the game around them. The only time you can use a bluff is on the 2 or 3 actually good players at the table who can lay a hand down. But why play against the good players at the table when there is 5 or 6 morons calling with ATC?

First off use the easiest thing the sites give you, name and avatar.

Say I played at fullStars site and I had a name like PoofyPuppy with a picture of a troll doll, would you take me seriously?

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haha or how about something like the avatar you use on CC. do you guys get distracted when somebody has some hot chick for you to look at while its your turn?

Not sure if you guys have heard of this one, but recent studies have shown that flipping the entire table while screaming, "I'M SEAN F***ING PILGRIM!" will yield a loose-aggressive table image. (Also, this method costs no chips, which is a bonus )

In all seriousness though, if you're playing live:

Play one of your very first hands retarded. Not aggressive, not firing lots of chips, just play it like you don't have a freaking clue. You get to showdown with J7o no pairs, say you spend $25-$35 on that hand. You flip up your cards and say, "What do I have?".

The entire table just found out you suck. Now you play solid good poker for the rest of the night, and maybe one guy will finally figure out that you aren't braindead. The rest of them will bemoan their luck that they can't beat the idiot.

If you think your image is wearing off, you can always play a hand terribly every so often, just to remind them you don't know how to play.

A first image is truly a lasting one.