Table Image, Dynamics, Switching Gears 🚀
Fact: the more attractive people need a smaller sample of hands to create a table image, so choose those hands wisely.
When you are a foreigner, especially a woman, new to a table full of Asian regs, they will want to look you up and see what you got there to begin with.
That’s why during the first hours of the session you should be in an “Always have it” and “Mercyless Valuebet” mode.
It won’t take you too longer to build a nice stack and a tight table image. And at some point you will notice that you are not getting paid off even by the weakest players at the table.
Because of your mostly entering the pot with a raise, which is untypical for the NL100 and NL 200, your opponents will start limping, limp-calling and flatting the premium starting hands, hoping to set a trap. They might even make some absurd folds later in the hand.
EXAMPLE
I raise the button with AK and face the good old min-reraise from the big blind.
Like I mentioned before, from what I’ve seen, this 3-bet sizing typically means AA or KK.
I can’t fold anything to a preflop min-reraise, so I make the call, and the flop comes Q 8 5 rainbow. Oddly enough, the opponent, looking confused, checks and I check back.
The turn comes another 8 and the big blind, still looking confused, checks.
I don’t know what’s going on, but after it’s been checked to me twice I just have to take a stab. I bet and my opponent with a terrified look folds... and shows AA.
In Manila books, when you hit the card, you bet straight away so he must have put me on an 8... Actually, it’s been two months and I still can’t explain the logic behind his line.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE
I raise with 5♠️5♣️ from the button and get called by a small blind.
Flop comes K 8 3, all hearts.
He checks, I C-bet, he folds in disgust and shows Q♦️Q♣️.
When this starts to happen, you should start tabling bluffs or be fine with bluffing and getting called. Screw around, lose some chips, and they will go after you... but guess what, you will be back in the “Always Have It” mode and get some stacks.
LATER AT THE SAME TABLE
I demo a few airs after people fold to me, them run an absolutely nonsense bluff with my underpair and set my opponent with a short stack all-in on the turn.
“I really hope you have a flush draw”, I say as he calls.
The whole table laughs, as he shows aces-up. No big deal.
Just two hands later, while everybody is still in disbelief of my latest move, I open with 22 and a good tight reg on a huge stack reraises me from the big blind. I know exactly what it means and happily call. If a deuce hits, he is screwed. Flop comes Q♦️3♥️2♦️and he bets the pot. To his shock, I snapjam.
He tanks for quite a long as it is a huge overbet, asks me if I have a flush draw, etc. I make all sorts of goofy blondefaces saying, “So do you actually have a hand?”, “Damn, I won’t show this one to anybody”. Will Kassouf’s got nothing on me.
Had this happened a few hours earlier in the session, when I still had an image of a nit, the reg would be probably able to get away from his pocket kings - and I would have played my hand differently as well, to at least get more value. Unfortunately for the guy, after witnessing all my bluff and opponents’ bad folds, he made a call. Fortunately for him, he spiked his two-outer on the turn 🤢
CONCLUSION
I will keep repeating that the solid TAG will make you enough money in these games. Few more things will boost your winrate, like, for example, a formula below:
Create an image ➡️ Exploit it ➡️ Reverse it ➡️ Exploit it ➡️ Repeat until it’s bedtime