I have occasionally heard people on the forum advocate making intentionally bad moves early in a session to build a fishy image with the hopes that some sharp players will notice and then use that fishy image later to stack opponents. I'm curious what "mistakes" (if any) people here make to induce opponents to make even bigger mistakes later on and whether they are effective. Hopefully there are a few good stories out there.

I don't make intentional errors at a casino setting, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you had some rare table dynamic. I will play borderline psycho at home games with people whom I play multiple hours per week with for meta game, image and sometimes trying out different strategies in a lower stakes setting.

I guess the point is that there just aren't that many players who pay attention to this sort of stuff since most are watching TV or texting when they aren't in a hand, making your "image play" a waste of money.

if you can find a regular game with returning faces, these moves can pay off. i still get tons of action in my home game due to a period of time where i would just lose my mind on purpose and make super thin plays. what money I may have lost then has been recouped with interest now.

no


What we CAN do is play as optimal as we can, BUT then adjust and play differently based on what the villains have seen us recently do.

Every dollar spent will still be done with the highest EV in mind at the time.

I never make bad moves intentionally. I might iso a fish´s blind with a wide range or check raise bluff a habitual cbettor but thats more based on the table as a whole and game flow.

never a bad move on purpose. every image has its pros and cons. i used to think image building was legit early on but now i realize i could let the cards and table dictate my play then use my image to furthur exploit my opponents.

i think i realized image building was wrong when i tried to be loose crazy guy then realized if i go card dead then im gonna be stuck a lot since my image is gonna get a lot of people playing back at me. i wasnt good enough then and not now to be a good LAG at LLSNL so thats when i decided that was bad. now if i run hot early as long as I dont showdown people will assume whatever and you can build on tht.

Personally, I make enough bad moves already so that I don't need to add more to create an image.

lol i agree with this, read your OP it is so ridiculous, concentrate on improving your game, most people in a 1/1 1/2 game are purely level 1 thinkers and don't care what your holding or how your playing.

+1
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The best image move you can make at almost any poker game is to have fun/be outgoing at the table. Order a drink, don't talk strat, blah blah. Most live players (at least the ones you want to be playing with) are there to have fun. Try to fit in while you take their money and there's a good shot they won't even notice or care.

You shouldn't be consiously trying to create an image. You should always make the play you feel is the best at the time & be aware of the impact your play has on your image. Be sure to notice the players who are aware of your image & those who are not.

For example, I was playing at a new table on Sunday & was getting good cards early on, so I was raising quite a bit. I could hear players at the other end of the table grumbling about it (actually heard one say "I wish someone would call" as they folded). I realized that my image was pretty LAG & they were aware of it so I knew I shouldn't be isoing light any time soon.

I wouldn't do it. Most of your opponents at low stakes are too busy playing "I haz gud cards" to realize what you're doing. Anyone who does realize what you may be doing is good enough that they aren't going to pay you off when you hit your monster anyways.

Play solid poker and don't do things that might turn into a bad habit or come back to bite you in the butt.

My question was meant more to spark debate than something I plan to incorporate into my game. I have enough real leaks to plug without introducing others. I definitely agree that being friendly, outgoing and pleasant is +EV. I get so annoyed by the people who don't speak a word and wrap themselves up in their sunglasses and earphones.

On a side note - agree with that you should never talk strategy at a table - not only for your image, but people may take your advice. I was sitting for a long time at 1/2 after the biggest fish left, action had dried up and the pots were tiny. A regular said aloud, "Who are we trying to take money from, this table is so tight?" Soon after she said that, I realized she was right, switched to 2/5 and was up $300 in a few hours.

When you get caught bluffing, show your hand loud and proud.

+1

I remember a good example of this actually. It got folded around to SB when I was in the BB and he asked to chop and I said "I don't chop" and we saw a flop. I had 45. Board ran out like KKA29r checked down the whole way and I threw out a $5 bet OTR. He tank-called (I kid you not) and I flipped up my 5-high and he showed AQ and said "I thought you had a K or a full-house or something."

2 things are important about this seemingly irrelevant hand. First: this player wasn't even playing nitty. He must've assumed I was the biggest nit possible because I had been playing very tight (card dead). The 2nd thing: later on, I raised preflop with A10 flop came 10 2 4 and I bet flop, turn and river when it ran out Q 5 or something, and he called me with A-high and said to me "Man, are you bluffing me again like that last hand? Man, coming from you this has got to be nuts or nothing." I just took a standard line with my hand, but because of my initial nit-image, combined with that pervious hand where I made the small bluff, I effectively merged my range against him. Why this is so important is because that previous bluff was so irrelevant to my over-all playing style because of how minuscule the pot was, but it still managed to commit his perception of me to his mind that I either had the nuts or nothing, and made me win a big pot.