CHAPTER THIRTY

TABLE IMAGE AND METAGAME

“
If you’re not aware of how people perceive you,
you can’t exploit your table image.
“

MASTE RCL ASS

 CHAPTER THIRTY

table image and metagame

SUBCHAPTERS

• BE AWARE OF HOW OTHERS • BE A CHAMELEON • FOOL YOUR OPPONENTS WITH

PERCEIVE YOU SUBOPTIMAL PLAYS
• ENSURE THAT YOU CAN
• TABLE IMAGE IS MORE THAN JUST CAPITALIZE ON THE IMAGE YOU • CAPITALIZE ON THE SUSPICIONS
YOUR APPEARANCE CULTIVATE OF YOUR OPPONENTS

• PERCEPTION OF TABLE IMAGE IS • MAKE SUBTLE ADJUSTMENTS • REACTIVE ADJUSTMENTS POINT

MADE IMMEDIATELY TO WEAKER HANDS
• KNOW WHAT LEVEL YOUR
• UNDERSTAND THAT YOU’RE NOT OPPONENTS ARE THINKING ON
ALWAYS IN CONTROL OF YOUR
TABLE IMAGE

CHAPTER REVIEW

able image refers to your opponents’ perception
T of you. It’s a big factor in all forms of poker and it
influences how your opponents play against you. But you
have to be self-aware enough to know what image you’re
projecting and how that image will be perceived in order
to exploit it. A number of factors play into table image, and
it evolves as a game progresses. You can shape your table
image by being careful about what information you give
away. Hands you show down, or even the clothes you wear,
can reveal valuable information to your opponents. When
you first sit down at a table, you give away information
with your demeanor and the size of your buy-in.
When playing against unfamiliar players, you have an
advantage in that they don’t know how you play. The
downside is you don’t know anything about them either.
You might misread a player because of information
everybody else has that you don’t.
try to bluff you more and push you around. But you can
spin this to your advantage by using your perceived image
to bluff. Experienced players will also sometimes make a
suboptimal play in order to manipulate their table image
for a later exploit.
Creating a table image is a longer term endeavor in cash
games than in tournaments, where your table can break
at any time. You want to cultivate an unpredictable table
image, by playing in a way that makes it hard for your
opponents to pigeonhole you. To capitalize on table image
you need to subvert the expectations of your opponents. For
example, Daniel’s image was that of a player who called
too often, so he began making more folds. Remember to be
subtle when making these adjustments to avoid alerting
the other players. They will eventually catch on and make
adjustments themselves. So you need to be prepared to
make counter-adjustments.

First impressions can be crucial. Your opponents might
have misconceptions about the way you play because of
how you played the early hands. Understand that the flow
of hands is out of your control but still affects how people
perceive you. If, for example, you are running terribly bad,
then your opponents won’t be as afraid of you. They might
Multilevel thinking is critical in a high-stakes game.
Level one is thinking about your own hand. Level two is
thinking about what your opponent has. Level three is
thinking about what your opponent thinks you have. This
pattern goes on indefinitely. Try to deduce what level your
opponents are thinking on. (This is called “metagame.”)

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 CHAPTER THIRTY / TABLE IMAGE AND METAGAME / DANIEL NEGREANU

High-level play will not work against level one thinkers, as
they don’t understand what poker strategy is.
You must be aware when your opponents make metagame
adjustments. For example, if you are repeatedly reraising
a player preflop, they will start to adjust. When they have
made this adjustment, their range will be significantly
weaker than usual in that particular situation. You must
be aware when they are ready to adjust.

UP YOUR GAME

During your playing sessions, record any hands where
you feel your opponent may be adjusting against you
specifically. One of the most frequent adjustments players
will make is to three-bet you more often if they assess
you are folding too much. Another is to four-bet you
more often if they think you are three-betting too much.
Reverting to a balanced strategy is a good way to protect
yourself if you think you are being exploited.
Observe a player on Twitch.tv and concentrate on their
playing style. See how this affects the way other players
adjust against them. Do you think the average opponent
adjusts quickly, or is it more of a slow process? Also pay
careful attention to how big the adjustment is. Maybe you
usually adjust more than this, or is it less?

Building a table image of an opponent is difficult

for inexperienced players. To learn this skill, start by
concentrating on a single player at your table. The player
to your immediate right is an ideal choice as you will have
position on them in nearly all of the hands, which gives
you a permanent advantage over them and allows you to
play more pots with them. Start by assessing how many
hands they are open raising so you can accurately define
what their range is. Follow up by assessing how often they
fold to three-bets in each position. If they fold most of the
time, you can widen your three-bet bluff range. Stop bluff-
ing them if they never fold and widen your value range.

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