Texas Holdem Poker

How are you viewed when you are sitting at the table? What are your opponents thinking about you? Answering these questions can help you understand how to win playing Texas Holdem. Whether you play online or in live games you need to create a table image or have a specific way you want to play. You can create an image that is crazy / loose or you can go the other way and create a solid / tight image. You need to realize what your competitors think of you and use it to your advantage. I am going to show you a few simple ways to create a table image and how to take advantage of it.

The main goal when you play poker is to win, and you win by exploiting your opponents weakness’. Forcing your opponents to make mistakes and exploiting them is a major perk to creating a table image. Figure out what your competitors think about you and wait for them to fall into your trap.

Aggressive / Crazy Image – Well if you are a bluffer, if you like to raise a lot of pots pre flop, its safe to say that your image is probably that of an aggressive or loose player. To get this image is easy, if you get caught bluffing often at a table of experienced players they will assume you are a crazy player. When you play this way there area few ups and downs, you will find your raises will start getting less respect and people will start calling you with weaker hands. Ironically by bluffing a lot it makes it extremely more difficult to bluff. On the other side of the coin, when you have a big hand people won’t respect it and you can get action that a tighter player will not get. Playing aggressive for an extended period of time makes it harder to pick up loose pots, but will make it easier to get into big pots and make a lot of money.

Example – You’ve been playing at an online poker room for three hours, you have been playing well over 40% of hands and raising most of them pre flop. You start to notice that people aren’t respecting your raises and playing back at you. It’s official you have the table right where you want them, a couple hands later you pick up pocket aces, what should you do? Raise just as you have been all day, and you get two people to call you. The flop come with a ace high rainbow (no suited cards), you have made top set. It will be hard for your opponents to think you spiked a set, you bet out and get raised. The big pot you have been waiting for has arrived and you have the goods, keep the pressure on as if you were bluffing and you will take this pot down.

Experienced poker players hate being run over by aggressive players and you can force them to play back at you. Try to get them on tilt and they will start to make mistakes for you to take advantage of.

Tight / Solid Image – The exact opposite of the aggressive image, if you don’t play a lot of hands your image will be that of a tight player. If you are sitting back and waiting for huge hands and not getting into a lot of pots, it will surely be noticed by good players. If this is the way you play it will start to become difficult to get action with those big hands, but can open up opportunities to steal pots with weaker hands. Your competitors will start to respect the fact that you have big hands every time you are in a pot. Beware if you are getting action as a solid player there is a strong chance your opponent has a big hand, or else they would have folded to you. An experienced poker player may also see you as weak and try to run over you with weaker hands, they may feel like they can bluff you out of most pots.

Example #1 – You have been at a table for a couple of hours and have been extremely card dead, you have only showed down monster hands. Your playing competitors should have noticed, and you pick up pocket queens and limp in. Everybody folds except the big blind and you hit your queen on the flop for three of a kind and the blind an aggressive player bets out at you. Now if you play back at him he will have no choice, but to assume you have a big hand, so feel free to just call and see if the blind player will continue to fire bets at you.

Example #2 – Your on the button with a mediocre hand and everyone folds to you. It’s time to exploit your tight image raise a good amount and the blinds fold quickly without thought. Since you raise they have to assume you have a big hand and you won money with little or no effort.

As a solid player you will find it hard to get action and play big pots. You will be forced to slow play hands to get into big pots and risk being sucked out on. A tight player has to have faith that they will pick up a big hand and be able to exploit there opponents to make money.

It’s important to understand table imaging not just to understand what your opponents think of you, but understand what image your competitors are creating themselves. Your image doesn’t have to be the same every time you play, feel free to play tight one day and be the aggressor the next. This will confuse your opponents and can be a lot of fun. Play the way that you are most successful at, and exploit the image you worked hard to create. Force your opponents to make mistakes and take advantage of them.

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