When I play live poker, people naturally assume that I am a big bluffer. I can be an animated white guy in his early 30's and if I am sitting next to, say, an old retired guy and a Russian woman, before the first card is dealt, people have decided that I am just a big bluffer. Even if my game play doesn't reflect that at all.

In cash games, this is great and I can use it. But it really works against me in tournaments, especially at that point in the tournament when the blinds get high and it becomes about stealing to stay alive.

Yesterday I was at that point in a big tourney and even though I was definitely playing less hands than any one else, whenever I raise, people frequently called light. They even say things like 'you know this guy bluffs a lot' when I hadn't been caught in a bluff for several hours and was likely bluffing less than anyone else. Consistently I find myself not playing any hands in a late tournament scenario and bleeding to death, only to finally make a steal attempt and to be called very light by the kind of people who haven't up till that point made light calls. I feel that a fair percentage of your average players aren't counting the amount of hands individual players play when they decide if someone is tight or loose per se.


Maybe there is nothing I can do about this. My wife is a short, tough looking woman and she crushes tournaments because she doesn't look like someone who would ever bluff. I envy it greatly.

I've noticed that those guys who don't say a single word the entire game seem a bit terrifying. I have a theory that not-talking at all increases fold equity in tournaments a bit. I have noticed that particularly blue-collar or thuggish guys can raise a lot and people don't mind getting out of their way. I find that poker, especially tournament poker, is more a game of testosterone than poker-books tend to acknowledge. Has anyone given this aspect of the game much thought or do they have any advise on how not to 'seem like a bluffer'?

thanks in advance.

I do agree that the more animated/talkative you seem from a personality perspective, the looser people will perceive you as. So if you want more folds, maybe just talk less and get a very stern expression on your face? Might work, seriously.

You can also dress more conservatively (worn out dress pants + dress shirt, do not overdo it with a tie) and order a black coffee!

All you have to do is show up with nuts when they don't believe you and that will set em straight


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Stop playing tournaments or dress like a nerd and get you some glasses

I like this train of thought. Serious, accountant-style glasses will help, too. Or a watch. Or this bracelet: https://www.christianbook.com/john-1...-8-5/pd/091787

Play and use your strengths. God gave us all a different hand we need to play it right. Do this and crush.

It's hard to break an image, especially a visual one. There could be other physical behaviors that the others are looking at as well ... and of course people tend to think bluff more than strong when an extrovert suddenly gets serious. This, of course, goes against a huge basic tell but it could be working against you for some reason.

I have the same issue ... very active in cash but almost nitty in tournament in the latter levels, but the loose cash image carries over to tournament no matter what.

It sucks when you just want to take pots down and people end up calling you wide. Typically this would be a good thing, but even average tournament players know that when they hit the Flop that they are probably good a lot of the time.

Not much help, but I do feel your pain ... GL

Have you tried increasing you bet/raise sizes when you have a hand and bluffing even less? I have a similar image in tournaments, same type of personality, I always get the "nice bluff" as they fold and I am betting the nuts....maybe they are just trying to get me to show my cards but I get it alot. I know standard open should be 2-2.5X pre but I have started going to 3X (min) up to 4.5x as my standard raise PF (based on the table, once I pick a size I stick with it) and I still get 1 - 2 callers, calling wide, almost every time, and and I find it tends to induce 3 bet's as well...I just charge them for their ignorance and it seems to work. Might be a bad idea really early but I usually play very tight for the first 1 - 2 hrs.

I'm not sure I like the idea of making bigger bets. On a mathematical level, it just puts me at a big disadvantage.

I've been working on it since this post first went up. I've gotten really into my social relationships with people. I think how much people like you or dislike you plays a big role in their borderline decisions and I suss it out person to person. I have come to the opinion that it has a lot to do with peoples testosterone. It's about not challenging alphas and challenging betas, if that makes any sense.

I also think it had something to do with the rather flamboyant sunglasses I was wearing and I think people just think a guy in goofy sunglasses is more likely to bluff. It's a patch that doesn't bother me as much as it did but is still something I think about a lot. I really believe that, unconsciously, people think they are making their borderline decisions based on reads and math but, in reality, most people are more driven by there emotions toward their opponent, how good or bad they have been running and how cranky they are at that particular second.

People, especially men and especially men who play poker, are highly emotional creatures.

Bet sizing should be relative to your table dynamic and position in the hand. Another big factor is your opinion of where you stand skill wise post-Flop. If you want to thin the herd as well as 'potentially' narrow your opponent's calling ranges, then larger PF bet sizes should provide that to you.

As you've stated though, it can possibly be exploited by opponents especially when you are OOP. Although a cardinal sin, I've found that I 'must' show some hands in order to remove some of the doubt about my play. They may see a high VPiP but if you can show that you are betting post-Flop (ie hitting) then they may not play back at you as much. GL

I never show my hands and don't agree that showing a winner here and there convinces anyone of anything. To me, when a guy shows a winner it just means that he bluffs a lot and is trying to show his first made hand to imply that he doesn't bluff a lot.

The thing that has really upped my fold equity is just talking less. I don't talk anymore and my roi has gone way up. Although I felt that talking was giving me an edge in terms of tells, I now feel like it was costing me in terms of losing my "scary" factor. People are looking for any excuse to play back, stoic state downs are not my style, but I've still been getting milage out of them.

It may be the sunglasses. To me wearing sunglasses in low stakes poker is like holding up a sign declaring "I'm a clueless donkey/Newby/etc." Double LOL to people that do it at 4/8 Limit.

I'm targeting the person in sunglasses until proven otherwise. This observation has been correct about 99.9% for me.

I struggle to understand why a person who is not active at the table can be considered a big bluffer just cos is young and male.
Truth is that when u play mtt live, specially low stake the field is terrible and 70n to 80% fo the players will call u very lightley cos they don t have any idea of the odds and starting range and most of all they r just there for the fun.
You should try to make your chips earlier rather then later, for istance late reg in such of torrneys is always a bad idea.
And if u find ur self short cos u were card dead or unlucky, well tough luck, better days will come!

Gotta be the sunglasses and talking. In cash games there's a lot of value in being seen as fun and splashy if you don't bluff much, but in tournaments I would just not talk to anyone, never show cards, don't wear sunglasses, etc.

I'm same age white guy. I feel like my image is usually that I don't bluff much. A guy tanked for like a minute before calling me with top boat my last session because he thought I was so nitty I must have quads lol. Actually had Ace high.

Whatever your image you can find ways to benefit from it. But since in tournaments you need to bluff more it might behoove you to look more serious and conservative.

I agree people usually go more by your appearance in deciding how you play than how you actually play unless they have a lot of hands with you. In tournaments people rarely have many hands with anyone so they just make educated guesses based on stereotypes.

Though lower 30s WG is not really a bluffy stereotype...

Hmm. Just wear a silicone old man mask. There you go