Image is Everything
In poker you will be judged by others on reputation and on how you’ve appeared in the rest of the game, or in previous encounters. Many observant types gain a read on their opponents very early on which can be a good thing. But it’s important to realise that table images are constantly changing and your assessments should not be set in stone. Furthermore, don’t just focus on your opponents’ images, because you have one of your own and you need to know what it is at all times.
With my many online sit-n-go rivalries, image and reputation are key factors in my strategic decisions. When I play ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ I attempt to use my knowledge of him and his verdict on me to my future advantage. To explain the background to this rivalry I should explain that ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ and I have crossed paths on many SNG 6-seat tournaments.
The first time we played each other I noticed that when the play got 3 or 4-handed he raised pre-flop an inordinate amount of the time, but folded to almost every re-raise. This of course isn’t that unusual since it’s what happens when somebody tries to constantly steal the blinds without very much to back it up. It isn’t even that bad a strategy since so many players will let you steal with nothing, even though they are very suspicious. Calling or re-raising with nothing is difficult to do. I started to feel that ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ was pushing his luck by making this move too often and consequently stopping the likes of me from stealing. I couldn’t stand for that! So how was I to counteract this infuriatingly effective tactic against weak players? I had to start re-stealing.
To simply call more of his loose raises was not strong enough. I had to be prepared to re-raise him all-in and force the fold. This was a man who always responded to re-raises in precisely the same way. He would take his time, agonise over the decision, tell the table that he had a marginal hand to call with, like A-J…and then fold. There were two possibilities. Possibility A was that he was always telling the truth and that he did have a good hand every time he raised, but it just wasn’t quite enough to call a big re-raise with. This is very dubious when you raise 75% of the hands 3 or 4-handed. Possibility B was that he raised with an enormous range of cards and when he got caught with his hand in the till, he just folded. Much more likely. My suspicions were confirmed when I finally did get to see his cards a few times – nothing as good as AJ was to be seen.
‘Operation Re-steal’ had to happen. This was all a matter of timing, and would inevitably rely on some good fortune. There was always a possibility that he would have a genuinely big hand or that one of the weak tight players found something. But it was a risk that I would have to take occasionally. The move began to work several times over the course of a few games. I didn’t want to push my luck so it was a rare play. But, eventually, I did get caught out. ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ raised with A-Ko and I moved all-in with 10-9s. For one night only my rival was to become ‘Mr Raise-Call’. I fortuitously won the showdown and all hell broke loose.
I’ve been folding AJ to your re-raises and now you donk me with 10-9,’ he exclaimed. Well firstly I knew, and he knew, that he raised with a load of junk half the time, so the AJ comment was irrelevant. Secondly, I moved with a hand like 10-9s for a reason. I still had a 41% chance of showdown success against AK and a 49% hope had I been called by a pocket pair lower than 9-9. It was a calculated risk, with considerable fold equity and part of a carefully thought-out strategy. But he couldn’t see past the luck factor and the reckless nature of the play when looked at in isolation.
After that encounter we have never sat at the same table without ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ commenting on my infamous ‘donk play’. I couldn’t be happier. He establishes my table image as a fish, which a typically tight-aggressive player thrives upon. It makes it so much easier to get my big hands paid off. You really can’t buy that sort of publicity. As for our own personal battle, I think ‘Mr Raise-Fold’ is a bit more wary about raising my big blind with junk when he knows (he thinks) what I’ll push all-in with. And when I do wake up with AK and push his raise I’m now pretty confident that he’ll be calling me with a hand like AJ – if he ever actually has it.