Using your table "image"

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WiZZiM

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I've seen a ton of people around talking about how to use your image or using image in general in online poker.

Just want to get it out there that image is just one of those things that doesn't matter alot in online poker. Now, i get that i'm liekly gonna get flamed over this, but it's something that people use as an excuse for making a less than ideal play, or to play badly in general. Of course image is important, but only in context. In an online game it's way more important, online, not so much...

So here's my main arguments as to why image is really not all that important in online poker.

1. No one know's your image, and they do not know your game. You know what you do, but i can't pick how you play a certain hand from a certain spot, i just make an informed guess. The better the player, the better the guess is generally. But it's a game of incomplete information, so just be aware that people don't read you quickly, and they also possibly don't know your image, or they might read your image as something that you don't beleive it is.

2. Some people are not even paying attention to what you are doing. That's right, there are a ton of people out there ( me and everyone here included) that are simply not paying attention to what you are doing.

3. People who are paying attention use HUDS. So with that info, you can now get into your HUD stats and find out what they might think about you right? well, kind of, but a really handy stat to have on your HUD is the Table HUD, basically it pops up info on how you have played this session, So lets say you have played 100 hands on that particular table, and the person you are playing also has 100 hands, the stats he might have on you are on that table, so that's a good idea to start thinking about how your image might look to him.

But you only want to think about it when we're talking extremes, like, when we have played 30-40% of hands or if we've played 5% of hands, we want to be thinking about how to use that image against that player, who we deem to be a thinking player who likely has a HUD.

The above is ONLY for people who we know are good and who likely have huds, You can obtain that info with sharkscope, the way they play, bet sizings, or by searching them in game to see if they are playing multiple tables, if they are, they are likely a reg.



4.Not everyone reacts the same when given an image of a player. So they might not react the way you expect them too or should act. Like, some people vs a loose player will fight them, and bluff more often, Some will tend to wait for a good hand and let them take pots away. But the point is, when you are making a decision in a hand, unless you have specific reads, you can't just assume someone will react a certain way because you "have a loose image" it just doesn't work that way.

5. Peoples interpretation of loose/tight is biassed. This just comes down to personal playing experiances. but someone who is tight, will basically think that someone who is playing more hands than them is loose. Conversely someone who is playing loose will think someone who is folding more is tight. Just be aware our own thoughts about our game, and about how other people view our game will be skewed.

I actually tested this theory with a bunch of players who i know, and the tighter ones thought i was loose, and the looser players thought i was tight, when in reality i play as loose or looser than the "loose" players i asked.


That's my little ramble over with, just something is see all the time on this forum that i thought needed addressing, i'll have more to add later i've lost my train of thought, but hopefully we can get a small discussing going about this as i think it's a pretty widely misunderstood concept that gets thrown around alot without any real thought behind it.
 
therealslomo

therealslomo

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How do you figure #3? Just because someone pays attention they are using a HUD? The vast majority of people using HUDS use them because they are multi tabling and can't pay attention.

Everything else you said applies to your live image as well. Sorry you don't feel it's that important, but I pretty much, no I do, disagree with you.
 
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WiZZiM

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How do you figure #3? Just because someone pays attention they are using a HUD? The vast majority of people using HUDS use them because they are multi tabling and can't pay attention.

Everything else you said applies to your live image as well. Sorry you don't feel it's that important, but I pretty much, no I do, disagree with you.

i figure number 3 because usually if they are capable of paying attention they are usually better players, and better players usually have HUDs. If they have HUDs, they don't have to pay attention as it's doing the work for them. People who don't pay attention are usually the fish, who wont have HUDs or any type of actual data or information on you. People who are using HUDs are far more likely to be able to use that information effectively against you, thus there is more of a reason to make adjustments based on what they might think/adjust vs you.

Please let me know why you disagree, don't just say you disagree and don't go further with it. But i agree that this does refer to live play as well, perhaps it's more important in live play, however.

I probably took a bit too much of a harsh line on this or worded things too strongly, i think it's important, but not anywhere near as important as other factors in play on the tables, like ranges, ICM, stage of game etc, and i think people overadjust and use image ineffectively. THat's the whole point of this post.
 
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