Establishing a table image?

mbrenneman0

mbrenneman0

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So im reading Mike Caro's Most Profitable Hold 'Em Advice, and came across the line where he said, "Also, the image you're trying to establish matters a great deal in the middle and late positions."

That kinda struck a nerve with me and I thought, "Hey wait a second..." Im a novice, but ever since I learned about player types, I under stood the concept of table image, and quickly realized that its better to let the situation dictate your image. Coming across Phil Ivey's video on table image helped affirm this for me.

The way I see it, it's expensive to try to cultivate a table image. Cultivating a loose image requires you to bet and call on hands that you normally shouldn't, and cultivating a tight image requires folding and calling hands that could otherwise make a lot of money.

Are all these pros wrong when they suggest that it's okay to aim for a certain table image?
 
starting_at_the_bottom

starting_at_the_bottom

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No they are not wrong, as long as you bear in mind context.

Sitting at high stakes deep stacked games for hours on end where players pay attention, table image is an important commodity

Playing loose in a microstakes game where players are not always paying attention, who will probably pay you off irrespective of what you did in the previous 50 hands, where players often only hang around for a short amount of time.........is it worth spending money to create an image? Probably not.
 
mbrenneman0

mbrenneman0

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No they are not wrong, as long as you bear in mind context.

Sitting at high stakes deep stacked games for hours on end where players pay attention, table image is an important commodity

Playing loose in a microstakes game where players are not always paying attention, who will probably pay you off irrespective of what you did in the previous 50 hands, where players often only hang around for a short amount of time.........is it worth spending money to create an image? Probably not.
I'm not sure if I explained my position right. I see what you mean. Table image only matters against people who are paying attention. What I mean is not whether or not to play table image, but whether or not to pay for one. If you get dealt 7 2 offsuit 20 times in a row and fold it or limp and fold then you have been dealt a tight image for free, rather than having to pay for a table image. Does that make sense?
 
starting_at_the_bottom

starting_at_the_bottom

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No, not really. It appears to me you have just asked the same question but using different words.

Please can you explain in more detail what you mean when you say "pay for a table image".

And going back to your first post. You should never waste the opportuntity to extract big value in order to create a tight table image, I mean what on earth is the point trying to get a tight image anyway?
 
mbrenneman0

mbrenneman0

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No, not really. It appears to me you have just asked the same question but using different words.

Please can you explain in more detail what you mean when you say "pay for a table image".

And going back to your first post. You should never waste the opportuntity to extract big value in order to create a tight table image, I mean what on earth is the point trying to get a tight image anyway?

With the last part, yeah a loose image is more profitable than a tight image. But what I mean by paying for your table image is that playing a certain way for the purpose of obtaining a table image costs money. In the YouTube video I linked to in my main post, Phil Ivey explains it better than I probably could, where you can play your hands in the most optimal way, but a streak of bad cards or a streak of good cards would mean you're folding a lot more than normal or betting aggressively more than normal, so you could take advantage of that if you don't have to show most of your hands and you would have a table image without having to adjust your play to get it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your response.
 
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IPlay

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He means to ask if playing hands that are not in a tag range is worth it just to establish a table image.

The answer for 95% of players is no! Let's the cards dictate your image in games where you are playing minimal hands against villains such as live games. No need to spew money to get an image that may get you called lighter in the future.
 
mbrenneman0

mbrenneman0

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He means to ask if playing hands that are not in a tag range is worth it just to establish a table image.

The answer for 95% of players is no! Let's the cards dictate your image in games where you are playing minimal hands against villains such as live games. No need to spew money to get an image that may get you called lighter in the future.

thanks. thats exactly what i mean. so when someone like Caro says something about trying to establish an image is that geared toward the 5% who are maybe advanced enough to do so profitably or? im only in the very beginning of his book, so maybe he'll expand on what he means by it later on.
 
RogueRivered

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I mean what on earth is the point trying to get a tight image anyway?

Because you might not always be playing tight? Works pretty well.

thanks. thats exactly what i mean. so when someone like Caro says something about trying to establish an image is that geared toward the 5% who are maybe advanced enough to do so profitably or? im only in the very beginning of his book, so maybe he'll expand on what he means by it later on.

Seems like if you are willing to play loose to get an image, you are a loose player.
 
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