I was watching the WSOP 2011 coverage the other day and saw a player (cant remember his name, big guy pretty talkative) raise with weak hand and when his opponent folded he gave him a "good lay down". Afterwords another player (think it was kidpoker) asked about it and the big guy said it was positive re-enforcement and then went into a little spiel about Pavlov. This made sense to me. So i've started to do it online once or twice a game just to see if folks will tend to fold more when told that they made a good play, there by opening up your steal and bluff range. not enough hands played to see any effects yet but thought i would see if any one else has any input.

The other idea I've had recently is if you give a "good luck" before the game starts do you think some will be less likely to steal your blinds. I know that personally I may open my steal range up a bit for jerks (probably a tilt move for sure) and narrow it a bit for respectful players.

Now, these aren't any major tools or something that im even really focusing on as im still trying to improve my game in general but it seems like it may give you a slight edge and any edge is better then none IMO.

Anyone else use any psychology tactics such as this online or have any input on the best way (when and to who) to use such tactics.

and i guess to clarify a bit i play 9 man sng the most where blind stealing is kind of a big deal.

It's too level 1. Firstly online hardly any regular player will be affected. Secondly, even live, players will be skeptical and think that you must have been bluffing when you say that.

I would not waste time with something like this.

A lot of regs who multitable wont even notice.

Also since this is online, there isnt really that personal link between 2 players, so I doubt this will really work.

Live is a differnt kettle of fish - its much easier to manipulate people in to doing things you want them to do (EG: Act like Mike "the mouth" and tilt the hell out of people by chatting **** for an hour or two or become best friends with someone who will then save you from a cooler by flashing his AA vs your KK)

That said, tilting people online can be fun and +ev.

Don't say anything related to poker when you're at a poker table.

Bit of a side issue but this is more of a behaviour/reward than stimulus/response, which is what I thought Pavlov was into.

Oh, and OP:

If you say "good laydown" to an opponent and he belives you, what you have done is enhances your tight image. Meaning that V. is less likely to mess about with you.

If your interested in the psycological side of poker, give "metagame" a google. The "pros" are masters of this!

Image plays a key role in the higher limits, but at the micros, no one really gives a damn about what your doing

wouldn't this be level 3 thinking. "what i think my opponent thinks i have"? And since i don't bluff all that often wouldn't others thinking it was a bluff move bring more action to my good hands?

agreed, MT opponents won't notice, i guess i was thinking using it more like fish bait.

thanks for the input all

Yeah it's operant conditioning (associating behaviour with outcome) - B.F.Skinner. A side issue but very relevant for poker because it actually makes us learn the wrong things by default (eg, learning that sucking out is good).

Pavlov was more about classical conditioning (associating one stimulus with another).

It's worth learning a bit about psychology - not really because of tells or affecting others with mind games, but more to understand how you think and learn about things. Poker is unusual because you need to go against a lot of learning patterns that are successful in nearly every other life activity (we have evolved to be naturally bad at poker!).

Why?

Yeah i would agree. I sometimes talk on the tables, when i'm a bit bored, but i won't talk about poker.
The more you give away, means the more information they have.
You might say good fold. Then next time you don't. Then a few hundred hands later when you bluff again, you might say good fold. People take notes and then put your hands together, what did you bet on the flop, did you over-bet shove the river etc etc.
Every little bit of information counts.

I don't think this is the only way to go about it but I also avoid strategy talk of any sort; I've weighed pros and cons and decided it's not worth the time. In theory it can add an edge but for most, even very good players, it's a waste of effort. Better to focus on reads live.

Dont want to put words into anyones mouth but i have to think the theory is that 1. you dont want you opponent to know how much knowledge of the game you have and 2 why coach opponents? you would rather them make the same mistakes again and again.

Very good reasons. Also talking strategy can make players who otherwise play on feel to be more logical and play better. This is experience anyway.

It was Jean Robert Bellande who gave this nice laydown speech and then spoke on camera about the positive reinforcement psychology