Image Problem By Phil Gordon Originally published on March 15, 2006 by ESPN.com Imagine Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian famous for making fun of ‘rednecks’, playing at the poker table… You might have an image problem if… every time you raise in the cutoff seat, the button calls or re-raises. You might be overplaying this position and playing more hands than you should. Tighten up a little, your opponent is on to you. You might be too tentative or too aggressive after the flop. If your opponent knows that you’ll make a continuation bet after the flop no matter what, they are essentially getting much greater odds on their preflop action. If your opponent knows that you are very wary about playing out of position, they’ll play with you because they know that you’ll only hit the flop about 1 out of 3 times when you’re unpaired – the rest of the time they should be able to pick up the pot quite cheaply. Mix up your play. You might just have to take a stand with a less than premium hand. Chris Ferguson is the king of this logic: “I had a much better hand than I had to have for this action, so I just pushed it back and re-reraised.” You might have an image problem if… a player in late position always raises your big blind. You may not be defending your blind enough. They think you’re a tight, conservative player and they are picking on you. Play back at them with a substantial reraise! Remember, the key here is that they think that you are a tight, conservative player. When you put in that reraise, it will get respect. Don’t let your opponents run you over. A very simple run of thumb: if your opponent is raising you every time from late position with a raise of about 3 times the big blind, you should be playing back at them with a reraise about one out of four times. You might be looking at your cards before it is your turn to act. This is a common mistake that players make at all levels of play. If you are in the big blind and look at your cards as soon as they are dealt, you very often will give away some information about your hand – concentration is difficult (to say the least) with 7-2 offsuit or K-5. Your opponents in late position are watching you look at your cards and will know if you have a hand that you want to defend with or a hand that you’re ready to muck. Stop looking at your hand until it is your turn to act. You might have an image problem if… you get booed very loudly by 200,000 fans at Las Vegas International Speedway when they announce that you are the honorary crew chief for a well-known NASCAR superhero. You might be crying about bad beats too much on national television. You might be putting down your opponents too much and giving them too little credit for their skills. You might be constantly berating your opponents at the table. You should probably avoid being shown shirtless during the ESPN broadcast of the World Series of Poker. Fix your image and realize that at the poker table, image is everything. You want to have the image of a thoughtful, fearless, aggressive, tight player that is observant, willing to take big chances, and has the best of it more often than not. Have the image of a good guy that respects opponents, gives back to the community, and is good for the game. Attain that image, and your opponents will run from your pots kicking and screaming. And, you might just get a loud cheer the next time you are in front of 200,000 fans at the racetrack. << Go Back To Articles