Remember this commercial:
"Image is everything" - Andre Agassi
In every poker book I've read says your image at the poker table is very important -- you have to be aware of it at all times. Poker is a lot tougher now than it was a few years ago during the "poker boom" when every Dick and Jane watched Rounders or Chris Moneymaker glorify poker as the easiest outlet to make lots of the money. If you're a good player, your edge is very slight. If there is a way to gain an edge even the slightest can get you the extra chips you need to beat your poker game.
REMEMBER THIS: Local grinders are always look for the sucker (the mark) at the table. Why not take advantage of this by playing up to that image?
Today, I'm going to give my advice from the view of a poker dealer of ways you can get an edge simply by tweaking your image to suit your opponents, and I call it, "Being the Tourist". I know a lot of local grinders, local wannabe pros, local recreational player say, they like to play on the Las Vegas Strip, to take advantage the "Sucker tourists". Although I believe there is merit to the argument, as someone who wants to take advantage of their thinking, there are ways to exploit this.
There are FIVE things I see most common is "tourists play/mannerisms/actions that a poker player can use to take advantage of that headphone/iPod/iPad/backpacktoting/backwardhatwearing/hoodiewearing/
critiqueeveryhand guy/gal. It all centers around building an image at the poker table:
1. THE HOT GIRLFRIEND SITTING BEHIND TECHNIQUE
These guys, usually a young hotshot, stride into the poker room, and ask, "Can I play the All in game?" They usually buy in for the minimum, and are constant bluffers, not because it's the right play, but it's to impress their smokeshow girlfriend. They always wear large obnoxious sunglasses, and usuall wearing something from Ambercrombie & Fitch. They're loud, crude, and overbearing. Watch out though when they become suddenly quiet during the hand because they always have a monster.
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE??
First, you need to get a hot girlfriend, If you you're ugly, you may have to scrap this technique. But if you want to give this a shot, you can rent a smokeshow at any bar in Vegas and for a nominal (well, maybe not so nominal), they can act as your girlfriend. Then you have to be loud and obnoxious when you have a hand, and be quite when your bluffing.
2. STACK YOUR CHIPS IN INCREMENTS OF FIVE CHIPS HIGH. $25 PER PILE
Most first-time players seemed to always stack their chips in increments of $25. To the local grinder, they're used to see "regular" players stack their chips in 20 chips increments forming geometric shapes usually squares or triangles. SO when they do see "Joe Schmo" from middle of nowhere Nebraska stacking they're chips in increments of $25, they seemed to go after them, going out of their way to play pots with them.
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE?
A while back, I dealt to this guy who obviously was playing live poker for the first time, and although I thought he wasn't doing it on purpose, what he was doing was brilliant. He would always say how much he wanted to bet, then he would count out his chips, stating ever denominations as he placed each chip individually, it would go like this, "I bet $50." He'd grab his chips, then count each one, "There's 5, 10, 20, 30...is that right? No? there's 35, 45, 50..am I right now?" And for some reason, this obvious wannabe pro would call him or raise him and usually lose the pot.
3. THE "LIFT THE CARDS" TO YOUR FACE TECHNIQUE
Another mannerism reserved for those who've never played live poker. It's usually frown upon by the casino. AS a dealer, I tell these first-time players, that they can bend the cards, and after a while they figure it out. When they're first starting out, you see them life the cards to their face, as if they're playing in their college hot game.
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE?
I think this is a technique you have to use at a table full of aggressive players who see players who lift their cards to their face as a mark they can prey on. Unfortunately, this technique doesn't last very long as the poker dealer will always tell them they have to keep the cards on the table. Use this during the first few orbits when starting a session, and hopefully you'll catch a hand and stack an unsuspecting grinder thinking you don't have a clue of what you're doing.
4. WEAR A T-SHIRT THAT READS TEXAS HOLD EM WITH A PICTURE OF A ROYAL FLUSH ON IT.
At the apex of the "poker boom" I saw these kinds of apparel in every WalMart, Ross, Target, Sears, AND JC Pennys I've been in. To me, there were the corniest things I ever seen. Whenever I see someone walk into the poker room wearing one of these shirts, I always laugh....it just looks so ridiculous. I remember years back, I was playing at Red Rock, and I saw a poker dealer I used to work with wearing one these shirts. He was kind of a dork anyways, but I literally laughed outloud when I saw it.
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE?
Again, it's about looking like a mark for a the local grinder/wannabe pros who want to take advantage of the "tourists" It also helps to get a shirt that fits snug on your body. For some reason, slightly overweight people who wear this type of shirt just look like suckers.
5. WHEN SOMEONE ASK YOU WHERE YOUR FROM, ALWAYS TELL THEM YOUR FROM A STATE THAT FROWNS DOWN ON GAMBLING.
Utah, Idaho, Vermont, Wyoming, and South Dakota are just some of the states you can use. When you think of where the best poker players come from your rarely hear the state of Kentucky as a breeding ground. The grinder will think, "This sucker is from South Carolina, probably his/her first time in Las Vegas, they never get to gamble..I'm going to take every penny." and they'll do everything in their power to snag every chip from you..
HOW CAN I USE THIS TO MY ADVANTAGE?
Easily, as soon as you tell them you're from North Dakota, tell them this is your first time in Las Vegas and I only played in home games.You instantly have a bullseye stamped on your face, but you'll know better.
BONUS: ALWAYS SAY YOU'VE ONLY PLAYED IN "HOME GAME" For some reason, the words "HOME GAME" seems to be a beacon for the sharks to come after you. They think that just because you only play in home game, you have no clue what you're doing. Vegas is the big leagues, these wanna be pros are thinking, they don't have a shot against me.
I'm not saying this is full-proof and you'll wins piles of money using some or all of these techniques, but if you use them at the right moments against the right type of opponents, you can get a slight edge on your opponents.
.....and so ends the Public Service Announcements from The Poker Dealers Association of The World!
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