Dressing For Success

A few weeks ago I observed a hand in a $2-$5 game in Las Vegas. A conventioneer limped in under the gun, a Serious Poker Player (identified by the oversized hoodie, iPod, flip flops, $2,000 stack, five days of scraggle, and perpetual scowl) raised to $30 from two off the button. The limper called. The limper checked and called a $50 flop continuation bet. The turn and river got checked down, and the tourist won holding 6-2 offsuit for a flopped pair of sixes. The Serious Poker Player scowled a little bit more than usual for a moment.

A few hands later the conventioneer limped in and folded to a $30 raise from the same player.

A few hands after that, the conventioneer folded preflop without limping in.

What do you think the conventioneer’s preflop strategy is? Or rather, if he limps from under the gun with one of the very worst hold’em hands, 6-2 offsuit, and calls a raise with it, what hands is he later folding?

The answer is simple. He’s not adhering to any self-consistent preflop strategy. He’s winging it. He’s playing according to how he feels. Why did he limp in with 6-2 offsuit?

He felt like playing a hand. Maybe he was bored. Maybe he had just lost a hand and was itching to get his money back. Maybe he had just won a hand and was playing a rush. It’s not because he thinks 6-2 offsuit is a good hand. At that moment he simply wanted to play a hand, and for him any hand would do.

Later on, he didn’t feel that way anymore. Folding better matched his emotional state.
What’s the point of this story? The conventioneer is not alone in playing “from the gut.” In fact, the vast majority of live no-limit hold’em players make the vast majority of their plays because it suits them emotionally. If you could somehow tap into your opponents’ brains to see exactly what they are thinking before they make their plays, you would very rarely see someone employ a purely logical thought process. Nearly everyone’s decision-making is tainted, if not dictated completely, by their emotional state.

To be a big winner in live no-limit games, you must attempt to gain insight into your opponents’ emotional states.

If this is a new idea to you, take a moment to let it sink in. Because this is how you win the big bucks.

Think about how many times you have seen someone bet the river and get raised. The original bettor sighs. He knows what the raise means. He’s beat. Ok, maybe he’s not 100 percent certain he’s beat, but he knows it’s sure enough.

In just a few seconds he’s gone from anticipating winning a nice pot to having those hopes dashed. So what does he do? He calls. Even though he knows he’s beat. He knows he’s beat because he’s called hundreds of times before in similar scenarios and he nearly always loses. He knows it. But he calls anyway. It’s because he has a compulsion to call. He has to see it. He has an emotional itch and the only way he can think to scratch it is to throw away a couple hundred bucks on a hopeless call.

Needless to say, if you make poker decisions this way (and if you’re a human, you almost certainly do), you should do your utmost to stop. But that’s not what I want to talk about in this article.

I want to talk about fashion. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. In live poker, the first impression you make on your opponents can make or break your edge for the day.

Let’s talk about the Serious Poker Player. You’ve seen him before. He plays at all stakes from $0.25-$0.50 to $100-$200. He’s there to take your money, and he views everyone else at the table as a temporary annoyance he must put up with to achieve his goal. He always thinks he’s the best player at the table, and it’s not even close.
How do you feel about this guy? Do you like him? Do you want to play pots with him? If you play a pot with him, are you relaxed or tense?

Say you bet the flop and he raises. Do you think, “What the heck, it’s $60. Let’s see a turn!” Or do you think something more like, “I do not want to be this guys fool. I’m going to put this $60 in the pot only if I think it’s the very best play available to me.”

The fact is, most people don’t care for the Serious Poker Player. Most people do not want to lose to him, because he will make them feel foolish. No one likes that feeling of getting outplayed, and the Serious Poker Player, whether he actually means to or not, seems like he’s always trying to outplay you. So what happens? People try to play their very best against the Serious Poker Player. They make fewer dumb calls. They try more bluffs here and there.

Why does this happen? Eighty percent of it is purely in how the Serious Poker Player looks and presents himself. What if he ditched the hoodie, the flip-flops, and the iPod? What if instead he came wearing a well-tailored suit? What would you think of him? If you’re like virtually everyone, you’d instantly like him better. You’d also likely give him less credit for being good at poker. And you might be more inclined to pay off his river bets because guys who wear suits are rich, and rich guys like to bluff.

This is all mostly subconscious, of course. And none of it is logical. It’s all based on first impressions.

I’ve seen a few good players around town wear goofy hats and wigs when they play. Would you be more or less inclined to play a pot with a guy wearing a jester hat with bells on it? How about paying off a big river bet. Would you be more or less inclined to suspect a bluff?

Say you’re looking at two men in their 60s. Both are well-groomed. One is wearing a baseball cap with the logo of a local casino, a faded T-shirt, khaki pants, and sandals. The other is wearing an expensive suit with a Rolex watch. Which player are you going to assume plays nittier?

I’m not saying you should dress any particular way. But you should realize that what you wear to the cardroom absolutely affects how people perceive you, and it therefore affects how people play against you. If you want to get lots of action, don’t dress like the Serious Poker Player. Wear a suit. Or dress like you’re going to a club. Or dress like you’re headed for a beer pong tournament. Or wear a goofy hat. There are lots of options. Just don’t look overly serious or nitty.

Don’t punt this one. It’s important. Dress for success. ♠

Ed’s brand new book, Reading Hands At No-Limit Hold’em, is available immediately for purchase at notedpokerauthority.com. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/edmillerauthor and on Twitter @EdMillerPoker.