It seems like lately I've had countless discussions about "table image" and its importance in the game with my friends in the poker world. Some think it's extremely important, and others think it is complete nonsense. My thoughts on the subject fall somewhere in between.

While it is important to a degree I think there is a huge separation between what table image really means in live poker in a brick and mortar casino vs online poker. Today I hope to describe the differences and give hints on how to use these differences to your advantage when at the table.

Let's tackle the subject of live poker first. I personally don't think "table image" is as important when playing live poker as most people think. I know for a fact that some of the regulars in my game perceive me as a loose, aggressive player who tends to defend his button relentlessly. Also I've been told by a few players that they have never seen anyone raise from late position as often as I do when the pot hasn't been opened. On the other hand I have heard that I am a very tight solid player who rarely puts money in without the goods. So, where does the truth lie? Honestly I feel like I'm somewhere in between these two "images."

Anyway, the point is that if I tried to play to my image all the time I'd often out level myself since I really don't know what each and every opponent thinks of me. I feel the more profitable way to play live poker is to take each hand and try to make the most plus EV decision when it's our turn to act. If a scare card hits, bet. If the flop generally misses our preflop raising range and hits our opponents calling range, check. Isolating limpers with reasonable hands is a solid strategy when playing live that will show immediate profit. Bottom line is that simple, solid poker normally will yield the greatest return when playing lower limit no limit games. Don't get me wrong, image does matter to an extent. If you're playing like a reckless drunk you can definitely expect to get called or raised more often and your bluffs are less likely to work. The flip side is that you are also likely to get max value from top pair top kicker hands since you'll be called down light, which brings us right back to simple poker- bet your hands that are likely best and get max value from them. Of course there are times when we likely have the best hand but shouldn't bet because we can't get called by worse, but I'm speaking in generalities for the most part.

Online poker is a totally different animal. In the past players like myself have often relied on tracking software in conjunction with a HUD (Heads Up Display) to successfully multi table. For those unfamiliar, these programs track stats on both you and your opponents and then the HUD splashes these stats directly on top of the table near the player who they are associated with. By using these numbers I was able to tell how often a player entered pots voluntarily, how often they raised preflop, how often they bet each street, how often they three or four bet preflop, and much much more. These programs essentially let a player not watch anyone else while playing yet gave them all the benefits as if they watched every action.

In a nutshell, each players "image" was splattered right there on the screen for you to see and help in decision making. Often times these numbers would date back thousands of hands which was a large enough sample to rely on in decision making. A lot of good players complained that this took a lot of the skill of analyzing players tendencies out of the game since the program was doing it for them. This allowed mediocre players who were proficient at analyzing stats a way of leveling the playing field thus lowering the good players win rate. While this is true I always saw this as an opportunity to exploit these mediocre players who relied too heavily on these stats. Personally, if I had an opponent who I thought was mediocre but playing very stat dependent (I knew this because I had thousands of hands on them) I would often mix things up and find a lot of opportunities to profit against them. This is where you can really use your image to your advantage. Changing it up and doing things totally out of the box against these players often confused them and led to them making big mistakes against me. Because these numbers in the HUD analyze all the hands and show an average I could drastically change my style of play for several sessions against them and it wouldn't change my HUD stats in their eyes at all.

Let's say that I very rarely three bet preflop. It's highly likely that they will almost always fold against my three bets based on their HUD numbers they have for me. If I knew this I would find every opportunity to three bet them for a few sessions and get a ton of folds. Conversely, if I am a frequent three bettor I could easily tighten up my three bet range to the top 5% of my hands, or even to only hands that I'm willing to get all in with if they four bet me. By doing this I will still be getting four bet very light based on their HUD stats on me and find a ton of spots to five bet jam over these four bets. The difference is that in live poker people would likely notice me tightening up and not three betting whereas online players act on their hand and move on to the next table. They won't notice that I've mixed up my game. All they will see is that I three bet them, and my three bet stat is at 10% and they know that they can profitably four bet most of their range because of my perceived light three bet range based on the HUD stats that they have on me.

I know some of this is basic for people who've grinded a ton online, and it's also a lot to take in for those who don't have a lot of online experience. Hopefully this will be very useful for those who have some experience in both arenas and you will be able to put it to use both at the casinos and when you sit down on the virtual felt. Good luck at the tables!