How to Begin a Session — Part VI

In Part V of this series, I continued my discussion of things that you should do when you start a session. We looked at the following list:

1. Don’t play right away.
2. Look for negative inferences.
3. Assess each player’s current state of mind.
4. Determine your table position.
5. Take fewer chances.
6. At no-limit, buy in for the minimum.
7. If possible, establish a positive image.
8. Decide which players to exploit and which to avoid.

My last column covered points No. 5 and No. 6; it discussed ways to start conservatively until you get a good feel for the styles and abilities of the players. There is another reason to play conservatively at the start of a session, and it’s covered by point No. 7: “If possible, establish a positive image.” This column will explore that task.

I confess to having strong feelings about “table image,” meaning how you are perceived by your opponents. My book, Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, devotes several pages to this topic.

It discusses two types of image: manufactured and evolved. A manufactured image is one based on your appearance or non-playing actions: For example, a pro could wear a suit and tie with a “National Hardware Convention” ID tag or pretend to be drunk to get extra action.

Your evolved image is one that occurs naturally during the course of a session based on the results of your first few pots, the number of hands that you play, and the quality of the cards that you show down. Interestingly, most opponents who watch at all have fairly short memories, so if you win a few hands or show down two or three premium hands in a short time, your current image will reflect that. This column will focus exclusively on your evolved image as you begin a session.

The first question is: What sort of image would you like to create? For most games, in which getting action is no problem, you would like a tight, winning image. That image enables you to steal an occasional pot, and the money in those “undeserved” pots far outweighs the occasional extra bet that you might get with a looser image. In addition, when you have a losing image, people make note of it, and will call down your attempted bluffs, decaying your image even further, and take shots at you because they believe that you are either “unlucky” today or saddened by losing, and will fold more readily to stem your losses when you appear to be beat.

Of course, for tight, tough games, in which it is hard to get any action at all, you want to exhibit a looser, somewhat off-balance image. But those games are far less common, so we will focus on attempting to evolve a tight, winning image to begin your session.

As mentioned, several components go into evolving such an image:

• The results of your first few pots
• The number of hands played
• The quality of the cards shown down

The results of your first few pots: What follows will seem like one of the stupidest statements ever to appear in a poker magazine: You want to win almost all of the first few hands that you play. You want to win all of the hands that you play, so why is this news? Because it helps to be conservative more as you begin a session than later.

I already discussed in this series that you should do this because your understanding of the players is still coming into focus. But here is another reason: If you can establish a winning image from the outset, it will make an impression on the other players that will last a bit longer than most. You just sat down; they are curious as to how you play, and are paying more attention to you than normal. If they see you winning, they will give you more respect, which is generally what you want.

This conservatism includes passing up marginal opportunities to become involved in hands that you would play later in the session, and giving up more blinds. Are you giving up profitable opportunities? Perhaps, but for marginal situations, it is nearly impossible to tell. If you elect to fold rather than open-raise with Q-10 suited from the hijack position, is that giving up a profitable opportunity? Maybe, but it could take years of making this play to find out. When starting a session, err on the side of caution.

Of course, you will play all of your obvious hands. You are not going to fold A-K or J-J preflop for one bet because you just sat down. Ideally, you will win with these hands, but if not, you still had to see the flop.

The number of hands played: Some of your opponents will note how many hands you have played. You probably look at that yourself when assessing other players. One of the reasons we call it an “evolved image” is that you cannot really control it. If you get a bunch of playable hands, you play them. If you get a long series of hands like J-2, 8-3, and Q-6, you fold again and again.

Nevertheless, especially if you play several hands early and do not turn many of them over, your opponents will assume that you are playing loosely. You would prefer that they didn’t think this, but you need to be aware that they do. If your evolved image is loose, you cannot steal and your bets will not be respected. You must adjust to this reality.

The quality of hands shown down: If you are playing conservatively, you will probably be showing down quality hands, but exceptions do happen. If you are on the button and almost everyone in front of you limps in, you will play a hand like 7-6 suited. If you happen to show it down, you will look loose. Most opponents look at the hand, but do not review (or even recall) the situation that caused you to play it.

If you do show down a couple of these hands, be aware that your image has suffered.
Additional thoughts on image: Always be aware of your current table image. If you bluffed early and it failed, opponents will disbelieve you for the next few orbits. Do not bluff again, but value-betting may be even more effective.

If you have evolved a terrible image — say, by playing a number of good hands and losing all of them — there is little you can do. Change tables, if possible, so that you can get a fresh start. If you can’t change tables, tighten up to rehabilitate your image. Showing down and winning a couple of premium hands will go a long way toward fixing a broken image. Just remember that players like to take shots at others with poor images, and your play must take that fact into account.

Although you would like a tight, winning image to start a session, if possible, as your session progresses, you should assess both your current image and the most desirable image for your game.

Next issue, we will conclude this series on how to begin a session. ♠

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].