The Right Persona

PokerKai

When I first started playing, I wanted to be a badass. I wanted to sit down at a table and have people fear me. I wanted to be an intimidating figure that people didnt want to mess with. I did the usual cliche things. Wore the dark shades so people couldnt read my eyes. Wore the poker site hat so that people knew I had played before. Learned chip tricks to show my experience playing with cards and chips. But I didnt want to be just like any of those one trick ponies that you can see at any 3/6 table around the world. I learned a ton of them...the spin, the roll, the spread, the boomerang...and variations on each...and not just one hand...BOTH. Pretty slick with a deck of cards too...I can cut and shuffle with one hand. I thought these things were the true mark of a good player.

But the more I played...the more I realized, that stuff doesnt intimidate anybody but the worst of players. When I see a guy wearing shades...I think to myself...fear. Hes afraid of giving something away...meaning he knows he gives something away. When I see the guy wearing the WSOP hoodie at the table, if were not in the Amazon room, I think hes compensating...he wants everybody to know or at least believe hes been to the WSOP. When I see the guy roll the chip over his knuckles for everybody to see as he contemplates a call, I think he just wants some attention. The reason I feel this way, is because that was my motivation for doing these things. And Im certain that the people that do these same things are trying to cover up the same inadequacies I had. Theres nothing wrong with wearing shades outside on a sunny day, theres nothing wrong with wearing the WSOP hoodie you bought as a memento of your trip and theres nothing wrong with learning to do a chip trick to pass the time. But realize if your doing these things to get attention at a poker table...your just presenting your insecurities to the world.

You wanna know what kind of peripheral things ARE the true mark of a good player? If you couldnt see the hands play out...these are the things I would look for if I was just looking at the player...

The guy who picks up a stack of chips and cuts it perfectly and quickly without ceremony with rock steady hands to make his bet.

The guy who doesnt incessantly shuffle his chips...because mindless gestures can easily turn into tells.

The guy who always leaves his bets stacked in a split game.

The guy who never has to be reminded when its his bring in.

The guy who can tell you how much is in the main, first side, and second side pot before the dealer has it.

The guy who never has to ask for what pot is in a pot game...he just simply bets it.

The guy who buys in deep, loses a pot or two, and before he busts, wordlessly rebuys to cover everybody at the table.

Now those are the makings of a cold blooded assassin.

ReefAquarium

Awesome post.

I think I've been doing table image all wrong.

I want to not have a scary table presence.

It's much more profitable to have a goofy, carefree, happy, fun image.

I laugh and celebrate when a donkey sucks out on me... or at least i try very hard to pretend to.
I fumble my chips when putting them in sometimes.
I ask, "How much is in the pot?" When I know full well to a dollar how much is in.
I get caught bluffing with 4 high ...

compuease

Another absolutely outstanding post Kai..... You echoed my thoughts almost exactly although I could never express them so eloquently... I love to sit at a tournament table with a couple of these type, keep quite quiet and then when they get into a macho war, come up the middle with the winning hand.... lol... Boy does that feel good...

Cerberus

It's funny. I totally wore shades for that exact reason. I was ok with that though as I was doing something to try and take care of a tell that I had. The last couple of weeks I've been playing at some new games, some of which with some very good competition and the shades have stayed in my pocket the whole time. Feels way better.

Milo

Played a charity tourney a couple months back, and this early 20's kid gets moved to our table. Sits down with the entire magilla . . . P* hat, iPod, wraparound shades. I started laughing out loud before his ass hits the chair. He mounts the shades on his hat and asks what the joke is . . . I reply that he'll figure it out in an orbit or two. He puts the shades back down and we are off to the races. I proceed to pound this kid for an entire level. He raises, I re-raise, twice without even looking at my hand. He keeps lifting and dropping the shades, depending on whether he is going to play or not. Half way through the following level I ask him if he has light sensitivity issues. He looks at me sideways as this nice lady, without a poker playing bone in her body, starts to bust a gut. Out comes the ear-bud, off come the shades, and he goes, "What?" The entire table is now laughing at this kid. He goes all red, loses the shades, and the iPod, and shortly thereafter the rest of his stack.

For the record, I am nowhere near good enough to bother with the accessories, but I would like to think that, if I ever got that good, my reputation would be intimidation enough . . .

SuitedPair

I tried all that stuff....then realized they couldn't see me at my computer...

Awesome post Kai.

jdAA88

Once again, another great post from Pokerkai, keep em coming please!

GTA Poker

Then one day you realize that playing 5/5 or lower in a casino your table image is irrelevant as 95% of the players aren't paying attention anyhow.

compuease

GTA Poker wrote: »

Then one day you realize that playing 5/5 or lower in a casino your table image is irrelevant as 95% of the players aren't paying attention anyhow.

I definitely do NOT agree with this blanket statement.... It may have been that way a few years ago but even at 1/2 now I would say that more than 50% are noting how many hands you are playing and adjusting their game accordingly. However my experience is from casino's here in Ontario as well as AC and Vegas... I have no opinion what it's like in Alberta... I would say however that Niagara and Seneca have a bigger % of "smart" players at this level than in either AC or Vegas. By smart I mean they pay attention to what others are playing and how tight/loose you may be.

GTA Poker

compuease wrote: »

I definitely do NOT agree with this blanket statement.... It may have been that way a few years ago but even at 1/2 now I would say that more than 50% are noting how many hands you are playing and adjusting their game accordingly. However my experience is from casino's here in Ontario as well as AC and Vegas... I have no opinion what it's like in Alberta... I would say however that Niagara and Seneca have a bigger % of "smart" players at this level than in either AC or Vegas. By smart I mean they pay attention to what others are playing and how tight/loose you may be.

Certainly you aren't referring to the 5/5 at Fallsview...yumyum

JimmyHo

I love the young eminem types with the twisted ball cap. There always seem to be a few at Rama whenever I go. God love them.

blackmagicz

Great more information getting spread to the masses.....

You know it takes a lot of years to learn all this stuff from playing and Pokerkai is giving it out for free....use it wisely everyone

I fear OP....he knows too much :P

Mchempstein

blackmagicz wrote: »

You know it takes a lot of years to learn all this stuff from playing and Pokerkai is giving it out for free....use it wisely everyone

Haha no kidding eh. Most intermediate players these days are reading from the same book, or in this case, the awesome threads by Pokerkai. This is why I enjoy representing the image of a space-case, one-dimensional poker player whenever possible -- somebody always makes a move to bust me, thinking I'm the table idiot.

payperview

Great post. I find being very friendly to the people 2 or 3 seats to each side of me help alot. They dont attempt to steal my blind and if they do they show me a legit hand, and it allows me to steal the blinds to my left without showing. Once I get a read it allows me to pick up more pots when I bet reraise or bluff b/c the think would this nice guys steal from me. The answer is yes. I usually get the benefit of the doubt or their chips

Quinner

Table image isn't everything, I once sat down with this guy who must have been 65....I being the arrogant ass that I am immediately tag him as one of those "ye olde conservative types". About half an hour into a session I finally get into a big pot with this guy, and I'm holding tptk and I haven't seen this guy bluff once yet and he seemed to play every hand straightforwardly. Anyway he calls my flop bet, and then comes over the top of me on a brick turn, I think for a bit, and then muck my AK face up. The guy looks over at me and says something like "let this be a lesson for ya sonny" and proceeds to show me his 23o.

I got pwned. So much for "conservative".

Bumbaclat

Milo wrote: »

Played a charity tourney a couple months back, and this early 20's kid gets moved to our table. Sits down with the entire magilla . . . P* hat, iPod, wraparound shades. I started laughing out loud before his ass hits the chair. He mounts the shades on his hat and asks what the joke is . . . I reply that he'll figure it out in an orbit or two. He puts the shades back down and we are off to the races. I proceed to pound this kid for an entire level. He raises, I re-raise, twice without even looking at my hand. He keeps lifting and dropping the shades, depending on whether he is going to play or not. Half way through the following level I ask him if he has light sensitivity issues. He looks at me sideways as this nice lady, without a poker playing bone in her body, starts to bust a gut. Out comes the ear-bud, off come the shades, and he goes, "What?" The entire table is now laughing at this kid. He goes all red, loses the shades, and the iPod, and shortly thereafter the rest of his stack.

You sound like a bit of a dick. Does it really bug you that much that this kid is wearing some sunglasses?