Sports & Gaming

Table Image and Metagame

Daniel Negreanu

Lesson time 15:52 min

Daniel teaches you how to use your table image and play the metagame to get inside your opponent’s head and stay one step ahead.

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Topics include: Table Image Is More Than Just Your Appearance • Perception of Table Image Is Made Immediately • Be a Chameleon • Ensure That You Can Capitalize on the Image You Cultivate • Know What Level Your Opponents Are Thinking On • Fool Your Opponents With Suboptimal Plays • Capitalize on the Suspicions of Your Opponents • Reactive Adjustments Point to Weaker Hands

Preview

Whatever you're playing-- tournaments, cash, live, online-- a table image is going to play a big role in terms of how people perceive you. The way that I look at it-- this is a discussion about self-awareness. One of the more valuable assets that I think that I've been able to have success with throughout my career is being self-aware enough to know when I feel like my opponents think I'm playing well, when they think I'm playing aggressively, poorly, whether they think they're better than me or not, and always adapting and adjusting, like a chameleon would, to the ever-changing personas that people are putting on me in terms of how others perceive me. So in order to actually cultivate a table image that works for you, you have to be very self-aware. When you sit at a table, how do people perceive you? What do they think of you? Do they see you as a nerdy school kid who has been bullied? Are they going to try to bully you? Do they see you as someone who's more of a macho, aggressive player who likes to push people around? Do they see you as intelligent, foolish, aggressive? If you're not aware of how people perceive you, you can exploit your table image. That's the most important thing. So one of the things you can do as well to shape your table image is be very wary of the hands you're showing, the table talk, what you wear, what information you give away. Because when you sit down at a table, whatever you're wearing is information. If you show up at a table wearing sunglasses, a hat, and have headphones in, what message are you sending? You're sending a message that you're there to work. You're not there to be social and have fun. You're there to work. So is that the message you want to send? Maybe. And if so, how are you going to exploit that? So first and foremost, we need to understand that self-awareness is key, and then learn from whatever you choose as your table image. How do you exploit that? If your table image is one of a very, very tight player who never bluffs, how do you exploit that? If your table image is a wild and crazy player, how do you exploit that? I love that part. That's essentially the meta game at the highest level that is the most fascinating to me. When you sit down at a poker table and you've never played with anyone, you're giving away some information. The information you're giving away is your demeanor, what you're wearing, how much you buy in for, and the like. But as the game progresses, there's other information your opponents are going to collect. So the question is what do you do when, all of a sudden, you just start running really bad. How are people going to adjust against that? And then I think typically, when that happens, your table image is quite shot. So they're not going to be as afraid of you. Typically people are afraid of people who are winning a lot. And if you just lose every hand, people are going to maybe run more elaborate bluffs against you. They're going to try to push you aro...

About the Instructor

Put yourself across the felt from Daniel Negreanu, the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time. The six-time World Series of Poker champion teaches poker strategy, advanced theory, and practice through hand-reviews of his winning games. Learn how to sharpen your mental game through demos on reading opponents and spotting tells. Join Daniel at the table to increase your win rate, grow your ROI, and get your game “in the money.”

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Daniel Negreanu

Join Daniel at the poker table. Learn his strategies to advance your cash, tournament, and online play.

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