I write down all the hands I played when I get home. I don't play a lot of hands to begin with, and I have a very good memory. I'm substantially negative EV for my live poker career.

I'm not complaining: I know it happens that way sometimes. But it forces me to tighten up in live games, because I'm not walking around with fifty buy-ins in my pocket. Now in online games, where I play as much as 8k hands per day, my expected value balances out a lot faster. I don't mind the bad calls as much online, plus I don't have to tip when I win.

I used to play live games four times a week. Now I play live maybe once every three months.

+1...usually lol.

Yeah I agree, thanks for the advice. All I did was just smile and laugh a little. The table was cool and I wasn't necessarily bothered by it but I think that by saying the right words like you explained I can mitigate the effect and look less like a nit.

Some people actually go out of their way to play with you if they think you're too much of a nit. I think they are closet masochists. One time a guy said to me, "I'm going to chase you down because you're a nit" and called my 10bb preflop raise.

P.S. He failed.

It's amazing how often people perceive your playing style based on how talkative you are. This, of course, doesn't work with more observant players, but then again the point is to fool the careless players.

Tell them to STFU and anybody can play however they want.

Should we use the acronym or the full version?

I say with a bit of a laugh, "good, now that I have a tight image, I can start bluffing the **** out of you guys." Next time you're betting for value, they might think twice before mucking. If they keep mucking, start bluffing more.

Yeah, today a guy called me pre because he "knew his cards were live." I won that one.

Don't tap it.

Just don't say anything...play your game and collect the chips... stacks always tell the story, and if you are not stacking the chips, then maybe you should change your style..if you are, stay quiet and continue the collect

So much this. If you talk a lot, people will think you're a loose/"action" player.

Also, first impressions last a LONG time. If you sit down and quickly start doing things like opening with any two from EP for 3x the BB, 3-betting in position, some sort of decent sized bets, whatever you're comfortable with, that reputation will carry you for the entire session even if you're playing uber-nitty (as long as others who were there when you sat down stay there). Best example (I wish it was always this easy) - start of session, my first time on the button I 3-bet with 75s from the button, initial raiser called, I flopped trips and won a big pot from him and his AK (flop was K55). He remarked "wow, you must love to gamble if you raise with that crap pre"...and when I then switched to my standard fairly TAG, when I actually got into a hand with him I was crushing him, and he'd spew chips to me all the way down and at showdown say something like "oh wow, I'm so unlucky, this one time you actually had [pocket aces] [a set] [flopped the nuts], huh?", forgetting that the only time I was being an agressive gamble maniac was through the first rotation. Bad players form an initial impression of you and never change it.

Cliff notes - you play reckless for a few hands early (don't do anything really stupid, but something like a 3bet from the button one time) and that first impression will carry you for the entire night even if you're uber-nit. First impressions last a LONG time.

This all day.

Also, just talking a lot in general (but stop short of being rude) works too.

One other thing that's huge for me: Play props, if you can find someone at the table to do it with. Say, whenever a red seven comes up I'll give you $5, whenever a black one comes, you give me $5. Or, if the flop is more red than black, I give you $5, if it's more black than red, you give me $5.

It gives you the impression of being a gambler (and one more reason to talk) when in reality, you'll end up even over the long run on the props. Works for me big time, and, ironically, attracts other loose/bad players to my table since I'm gambling with them.

You're playing above your roll.

A lot of what I'm going to write is phony, but it works for me. People don't pay that much attention at the table. You can easily distract them.
===

Be polite and jovial.

Talk more. If you are like me and don't know how to make small-talk, try to compliment/empathize with people at the end of every big hand saying things like "That 7 on the turn was unlucky!", "What a great call!", etc. If you ever get a chance make sure to pass comments like "Here we go again. Its just you and me to the flop!"

Smile a lot and laugh at even mediocre jokes - people like people who laugh at their jokes. I don't know why, but people consider you 'more likeable' and 'more trustworthy' when you smile a lot. They sure don't give you grief over being a nit if they like you. Of course, they will think you are a kook if you overdo it

Do something that people will remember like being the first to straddle for 3BB. Make sure you urge 2-3 other people to straddle on their turn too. Don't worry about being committed to straddle a second time, great chance that someone at your table does not like straddling. You can always opt out of straddling the second time by saying things like "If he's not straddling, I'm not straddling!".

If the table is already straddling, look around to see who the most talkative person at the table. When the most talkative player is in the BB, raise to 5BB without looking at your cards and let the table know you did that. There will be conversation around this and people will remember you as a 'maniac'. For me, this has been worth the 5BB I usually lose. Later in the game, if someone ever gives you grief over being a nit, tell them you bet blind earlier in the game and would do it again if more players also played that way.

Say nothing and ignore their remarks. If you're well behaved, and well mannered, after a while they'll catch on and leave you alone. It's just like an Internet troll. If you respond to them, they have an orgasm. If you ignore them, they go away.

If what other people think bothers you, then you have no business playing...but then again, sometimes you can only take so much.

I use to play poker with a "rich kid" named Mark who thought his **** didn't stink, and he was always throwing abuse in my direction for the way I played. It didn't matter if I played loose or tight or whatever. I could re-raise in the dark and he would hurl invectives. He just didn't like me.

One day, after enduring days on end of his bull**** where I never said a word, we had the following terse conversation.

I raised:

"Oh yea, here we go. Crane only plays the nuts. Only an idiot would call his raise."

"I'll tell you what, Mark," I said. "If you don't like playing with me, you should stay home and **** your wife in the ass. I did, and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

That ended his ****ing bull****.

if you can talk up a good game, often you can fly under the radar and camouflage your nittinies. often it's the quiet mole who gets picked on.

This is exactly what NOT to do. Do not try to encourage better play in your opponents. If somebody makes a comment, just say something like "I like to get in there and mix it up, it's just that my cards have been exceptionally bad today." Not only are you affecting yourself in a negative EV way by saying something like this, but you've probably annoyed any regulars at the table.

show them a successfull bluff and ask why did you fold?

Sarcastic answer - put on your ipod and pstars hoodie.

Seriously, they tell you what their view is on you and you get upset? The player who says you're tight will respect your raises. Get on his left and raise when he limps. You will collect a lot over a few hours. Loosen your game up in position. 6 7 suited looks a lot like AA when the table nit raises. Be friendly. Talk about your local sports team.

Whatever you do, don't keep nitting it up. A good player will prey on you all night long. You raise and I call with any 2 cards. I know you have AQ+ to QQ+. It doesn't really matter what flops, any turn will be scary to you unless you hit a set.

Yuck it up and you could be the tightest player in the room and they won't notice and you'll enjoy it more.

^^This is really good advice, regardless of what style you play.

Whatever image you have, you can either
a) exploit it by playing somewhat differently (without revealing what you're doing), or
b) change it by looking for occasional (low-cost) opportunities to display the opposite behavior.

In the old days, basic poker advice was, "Bluff until they call you, then don't bluff until they stop calling you". This is obviously pretty oversimplified, but it's still correct, in the sense of varying your play.

I sort of agree, but I think you're missing the point a bit. I believe "tight style" here refers to his default way of playing. We all have default tendencies be they tight/loose pre-flop, aggressive testing players/passively picking them off, "he has it, I fold"/"he's full of ****, I call".

Better players can play more styles than B&M muppets when the table conditions warrant. But we can't ignore that we all have a style that we fall back on.

>quiet n politeness worx.

>ignore, ignore, ignore worx too.

>They used 2 be more blatant and direct [but good natured] in LHE back in Cali.
The Vietnamese guyz [they just happened 2 be the most boisterous] would say,
"Spike, u play too tight!"
my response?
"U play too loose!"

Hilarity ensued, play continued. I was more concerned about the guyz w/ lone 3/4-inch long fingernails on 1 pinky or ring finger...

Honestly, I just laugh about being called tight and try to be chatty. And then since I know that whoever said it has made everyone think I'm tight, I use it to steal a few pots after that.

the beatles on my ipod