Head Games: Know Your Table Image to Make Strategic Plays and Appropriate Adjustments

The Pros: Mukul Pahuja, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, and Scott Dorin

Craig Tapscott: How important is monitoring your own image at the table and using it to your advantage?

Mukul Pahuja: Understanding how your table mates view you at the poker table is incredibly important. It is common knowledge that a successful strategy at the tables is one in which you pay attention to your opponents’ tendencies and then act accordingly, making the necessary adjustments as you go along. This is why setting up a table image and then properly executing plays based on that image is an integral part to tournament success.  

Some players like to set up a tight image in the early going and get away with a few aggressive plays here and there. Other, more aggressive players, like to set up a very active image from the get-go with the hopes of getting paid big when they actually do make a hand. They are counting on their constant stealing of the blinds and antes along with showing down a few mediocre hands to pay off big when they make the best hand against a non-believer or a second-best hand.

For the most part, I am in favor of the more LAG (loose-aggressive) approach so you can win a big pot when an opponent has had enough of your aggression. However, I think all serious tournament players need to be able to execute either approach depending on their current table. As is often the case in tournament poker, your table and seat draw will determine the optimal strategy to implement.  

For example, if you are at an active table with some “sticky” players that don’t like to fold very much, your overall strategy might be to play tight. Understanding your table image in this kind of scenario can pay dividends after a long session because you will be able to identify spots in which you can use your tight image to get away with an aggressive play like a light three-bet or bluff-raise on the river. I believe incorporating plays that stray from your overall table image are necessary to accumulate chips and put you in a position to win.

Marc-Andre Ladouceur: In live tourneys, keeping track of how players perceive you can make or break you. When it comes down to a tough decision, metagame can dictate whether you should call, raise, or fold. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of the image you portray and how it may impact other players’ actions versus you.

If I have a crazy image and I don’t feel like I have much fold equity versus a specific opponent, I might stop myself from barreling the river with missed draws if I think he will call me with the bottom of his made range. However, against the same guy, I will also value bet much thinner and go for three streets with hands that I usually wouldn’t and adjust my bet sizings to exploit him. On the other hand, in cases where I think players will give me too much credit, I’m likely to check back a street with value hands to mix them up and turn hands into bluffs as soon as I can represent something believable.

Scott Dorin: Being aware of the image that you are projecting is absolutely vital. All winning poker players do this and great players constantly adjust their play accordingly. Your image is continuously changing throughout a session based on if you have been winning and losing and why. Often times you don’t have that much control of your image due to lot of big hands or being completely card dead. However, sometimes you do.

If you have a tight/solid image and you’ve been winning some pots at showdown, then your image is probably right for running some bluffs. Many people assume that losing players will be more likely to bluff because they need to push the action to get even or they are steaming. If you’ve gotten caught bluffing recently, then you should likely wait for some value. A very good opponent will know these things, so it can become a leveling war. As always, you need to be a level ahead of your opponent.

I will often try to procure a certain image based on the leaks I view my opponent to have. Many players wrongly tag tight players as passive and loose players as aggressive. In cash games, if I think an aggressive/bluffing strategy will be effective, then I’ll try to tighten my preflop range. I’d also likely play a bit looser preflop when I want to employ a more passive strategy.

In tournaments, image considerations come into play largely within preflop steals and resteals. In general, if you have a loose opening image then you are going to have to defend that by calling all-in resteals a lot wider. So if I’d been stealing lots of pots and I open A-9 suited in the hijack and the small blind shoves for 18 big blinds, I’d likely have to make the call. If it was the first pot I’d raised in an hour and I had passed up on a lot of open-raise opportunities, than I may find a fold in the same spot.

Craig Tapscott: What is the most important aspect of making big calls in relation to your image at the table? In what subtle ways will this change how your opponents play against you, etcetera?

Mukul Pahuja: Making big calls is difficult to do if you are not acutely aware of what your opponents think of you, or your overall table image. The most important aspect when making a big call is the history you have with the players at your table and what they think of the prospect of bluffing you in a big pot. Figuring this information out correctly can be the difference between a big call leading the way to victory or a hero call leaving you looking more like a damsel in distress than an actual hero.

When you are at a table filled with players paying attention to table image, you must constantly be aware of what your opponents think of you and how they may approach playing a pot with you. This will result in tough decisions and a lot of metagame. The mental warfare that comes along with tournament poker can be enthralling, but very strenuous and challenging at the same time. When facing a big decision on whether or not to call a bet from an opponent, understanding what he or she thinks of you will be one of the most important factors to consider.

For example, if your opponent views you as a “calling station” or someone who doesn’t like to fold very much, they will be unwilling to bluff you in most scenarios. On the other hand, if your opponent views you as very tight and unwilling to make a big call, you could often find yourself in tough spots facing big bets.

In the instances in which you make a big call, your table image can benefit you greatly. Your opponents may view you as unbluffable and play incredibly straightforward against you, making your decisions much easier. However, the big call is a double-edged sword. Always take your time and think long and hard before putting on that hero cape.

Marc-Andre Ladouceur: Bluff catching a weaker opponent can discourage him to try it again. It then makes my life a whole lot easier when I know I’m only facing a value range. Against that type of player, when the story he’s trying to tell doesn’t make sense, don’t hesitate to make a big call early on.

However, when I’m against better players, whether I made a big call earlier versus him or not should not affect his ability to bluff in most spots. The reason being is that his value and bluff ratios are based on each other’s perceived ranges, position, and the board. This means that good players will adjust their betting frequencies based on the possible holdings I may have. Therefore, making a big call comes down to reading the board and situation as precisely as possible

Scott Dorin: The best time to make a big call is when your image is perceived as playing scared money or you are a “folder.” Players may assume you are playing scared money if you are playing a game higher than you normally play or if you buy in shorter than you normally do or shorter than the table average. If you normally play $5-$10 no limit and buy in with $1,500 and people see you playing $10-$20 no limit buying in with $2,000, you might have the scared money tag. Having that type of image isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you are aware of it and adjust better than your opponents.

When you correctly make a big call your table image is likely to change. They will probably be a little less likely to bluff you and give you a little more credit in general. That being said, I actually like to test a player a second time by bluffing them right after they made a big call. They almost never give someone credit for trying to bluff them again.

Many years ago a seat opened up at a very good $100-$200 no-limit game — higher than I’d ever played before. I knew a lot of the guys at the table and they knew I was playing over my head. The first hand I bought in for $20,000 and I was in the big blind (BB). A LAG, well-known professional opened to $700 in the hijack. A recreational player called on the button and I made a loose call with 5 3 in the BB. The flop came 9 4 3. I checked, the LAG pro bet $1,500, the button folded and I called. I pick up a flush draw on the turn with the 8. I checked and the pro bet $3,500. I called. The river missed my hand with the K. I checked and he bet $9,000. I called and won. If I didn’t have the image of someone playing scared money, I probably couldn’t have made the correct call in this spot. ♠

Mukul Pahuja is a professional poker player living in South Florida. He is a tournament specialist with more than $3 million in earnings. Pahuja recently won the WPT Player of the Year award for Season Xll. He is recently married and enjoys spending his time in the Florida sun with his wife and dog when he’s not on the felt.

Marc-Andre Ladouceur studied finances at University of North Carolina at Greensboro on a tennis scholarship. He began playing poker in 2010 and achieved Supernova Elite status on PokerStars, where he also plays high stakes cash and SNGs. Currently, Ladouceur is the EPT San Remo 2012 high roller champion.

Scott Dorin is a consistent winner in cash games both online and live. He won the 2008 PokerStars $10,000 high roller event for $617,000. Dorn also finished third in the 2009 WSOP $10,000 8-game event for $200,000.