Your Image at the Poker Table
Being cognizant of your image is imperative to your success at the poker table. If you intend to become a winning poker player over the long run, you must take into account more factors than just the cards you hold and the flop that comes down. Poker is a game of psychology as much as it is a game of math, probability, and luck. Being self-aware of how you are playing, what your opponent thinks of you. This effects how he plays his hands against yours, and the strength of hand he thinks he needs to showdown against yours in order to win the pot.
Playing many hands without raising will give you a weak passive image, which is a player that typically is preyed upon by stronger opponents. This type of player who calls and folds often will lose a lot of money in the long run and in the short run, and is rarely a winning player. It takes a whole table of weak passive players to render one of them a winner. Playing tight and passive will make you very easy to read, because when you raise, your opponents will know you have a strong hand, so they will either exploit you by getting maximum value when they flop a stronger hand than you, or fold with ease knowing that you have them beat.
More aggressive playing styles typically experience more variance, but can be winners over the long run by running over weaker players. The hyper aggressive player who raises every pot gives tighter opponents an easy time because they can just sit back and wait for premium hands knowing they will get maximum value from the maniac when he calls them with a worse hand. However, playing aggressive when you enter a pot and tight when the situation doesn’t warrant aggression is a style that has been a proven winner for a many players. Showing down a few winning hands bolsters your image as a player who is going to have a strong hand if he continues past the flop, and that fear conditioned in his opponents allows him to take down many uncontested pots.
