Head Games - Table Image Matters, So Pay Attention

The Pros: Casey Jarzabek, Jordan Young, and John Racener

Craig Tapscott: How important is your table image during a tournament, and how can you use it to your advantage?

Casey Jarzabek: My game relies heavily on my table image. I’m known as an extremely aggressive player, so I have to adjust my calling ranges when people shove on me. If I were known as a tight player, people wouldn’t come over the top of me so lightly, so adjusting to my image is really important. I also often get paid off on my big hands, because most people just don’t believe me. When I three-bet and four-bet, most people think I’m such a maniac that they will come over the top of me a lot more often than they would a tight player. 

Jordan Young: I think having a good table image is critical, because of how important it is to pick up pots without getting all of your chips into the middle; your tournament life is most important. I think my table image can be a hard thing to manage, because of how often I get played back at. It forces me to open up my range a lot in certain spots, and I have to be willing to call people lighter and shove lighter over three-bets and four-bets.  One of the things that I love about my image is how much action I get with big hands. With a really “crazy” table image, you have to be aware of when other people are just fed up with you and aren’t going to fold, because there’s no point in trying to bluff them.  

John Racener: Table image means everything when playing in a deep-stack tournament. Fortunately for me, in the past few months I have had an even better table image because of my success in the 2010 World Series of Poker main event. I have used that to my advantage in several different ways. Because of my tight play at the WSOP final table, a lot of my opponents have been giving me extra respect and allowing me to pick up more pots than usual. Another example is a bit different, and unique. Many times during the breaks at tournaments, people who are at my table come up to me and comment on how well I’m playing, and say things like, “I’m trying to stay out of your way.” When anyone tells me that, he might as well just say, “I’m going to let you run all over me and own me on the felt.” So, overall, your image at any table plays a huge role in your success, and it’s extremely important to pick up on all of these small details from your opponents, both at and away from the table.

Craig Tapscott: Share an example of how you’ve used previous history with an opponent during a big hand.

Casey Jarzabek: I just played a big hand against Jonathan “IveGotToejam” Wein in which metagame played a massive role. Wein is a good player, and he knows my game very well. He had raised from early position, and I had flat-called from the button with the Q♠ J♠. We both had about 80 big blinds at 200-400 with a 25 ante, so flat-calling here in position against a relatively tight player was definitely going to yield a positive result for me more times than not. Also, there were definitely weaker spots at the table, so he would shut down against me unless he flopped something big. The flop came down K♠ 9♠ 3♥. Wein fired 800 into the pot, and I decided to flat-call instead of raise, because he knows that I like to float, and could easily be doing it with air. The turn was a blank, and he fired 1,800. At this point, I know that he has to have a legitimate hand, because I just don’t see him firing two bullets against me. I would almost always raise the flop or turn against a player I didn’t have this much history with, but we know each other so well that I’d hate to raise the flop and get priced out on the turn, or raise the turn and get shoved on, and have to fold my strong draw with only one card to come. The river was a red 10, completing my very disguised straight. Wein fired 3,600, and there is just no way that he would ever fire three bullets light against me. I decided that he had to be extremely strong here, so I just shoved rather than raise. He could easily put me on a missed flush draw and think I was making a move, or think I was trying to get him to fold two pair. He called, and showed 9-9 for middle set. Had it been anyone else, I probably would have gotten it in on the flop and been behind, but based on metagame, I played the hand very differently.

Jordan Young: I think one of the most memorable hands I’ve ever played involved my friend Chris Moorman. It was deep in a no-limit hold’em $150 rebuy event online, and I was the chip leader and he was in second place. I had been three-betting a lot, and did so again from the cutoff after someone opened from under the gun. Chris was in the big blind, and he four-bet me. The original raiser folded, and I five-bet with A-Q, which led him to six-bet all in with A-6. Chris and I have a lot of history with preflop three-, four-, and five-betting, and usually, whoever is shoving is the one who wins the pot, because the other person doesn’t have anything and has to fold. So, when I pick up a hand as strong as A-Q against Chris, I really don’t have any other option but to get it in, because I know that he’s capable of six-bet shoving light, just as he knows that I am capable of five-bet folding in that spot.

John Racener: Recently, I made the final table of the $150 rebuy event on Full Tilt Poker with the chip lead. I was cruising until this hand came up. With nine people still left, I opened from middle position with A-Q suited, and Shaun Deeb moved all in for about 75 percent of my stack from the button. Although this was the first hand he had played, I knew that his range could be as wide as if he were playing the hand blind. The reason I know this is because we have played a lot of online tournaments together, and I have always noticed that he constantly three-bets me. I also know from mutual buddies that he has joked many times that I fold to three-bets way too often. So, with all of this in mind, I knew that his range was huge (I could have him dominated), and if I won this hand, I’d have a huge chip lead and would have knocked out a great player. Also, I would almost be guaranteed of capturing one of the top three spots, and would have a huge advantage in winning the tournament for $150,000. My decision didn’t take long at all, and I made the call, only to see that he had A-K. This put a huge dent in my stack, and I finished the event in eighth place. Ironically, I saw Shaun the next day at a cash game in Jacksonville, and he immediately said to me that I always have to call him in that spot. He then went on to mention what I already knew, that he thinks I fold to three-bets a lot. So, overall, my calculations were correct concerning the metagame between Shaun and me, but he just happened to have a hand this time. ♠