Im wondering if you guys can direct me to any valuable resources that have to do with the psychology that involves acting and particularly with two things:

1) Ones behavior right as they sit, while they start up, and how to take advantage of the fact that those strangers don't know anything about you. Most people just begin to play, but what about investing more into that dynamic and taking some advantage from it to at least win one big hand or two before people start to get an idea of your true "abilities."

2) Behavior that has to do with purposefully playing seemingly aggressive hand to hand just to trap people into thinking you're stupid and making them pay much more than you "lost" by throwing money at you when you actually aren't being "stupid."

My whole life, people's first impressions of me have been really annoying. Usually small-minded people for some reason (insecurity) think Im an idiot or a douchebag just by the way I look. I am in the Screen Actors Guild and have been involved in many productions with acting and directing and so forth.

In other-words, im a pretty looking guy.

Different people react in different ways to this phenomenon and I want to make people pay for misjudging me and I feel like poker is a possible vehicle for this. I am usually very internal and soft spoken and sometimes people mistake my genius for ******ation or autism or something I don't know. Some people also are under the impression that all attractive people are stupid.

I often times get weird reactions to me. Like people overly folding or overly calling me, --and its always so dramatic. I have cleared out a whole table of players at some local bar because the regulars there went all in because they were willing to put money on the idea that Im an idiot. I also like to pretend like I don't know the rules a lot. I am the type of person to where if someone assumes the wrong things about me, I will just get annoyed and do it even more, act even more dumb. Its especially annoying because my presentation, sales, and public speaking skills are my main talents in life, so I think certain people are overly idiotic for thinking just because I am quiet and continuously have the relaxed look on my face at certain times, that I am a certain type of way.

I realize most profits are made in the long run but there are two ways I came up with that might be beneficial gimmicks I can do for awhile right off the bat:

1) In the first few hands, folding a few, then going in on a good hand, but having a look on my face like the hand is "better than I think it is" and them not respecting my bets, taking a chance I'm a noob and me exploiting that.

2) Making a few "mistakes" like betting a chunck of change on ATC and having people call me and seeing that. Seeming desperate and impatient, and doing this 2, 3, 4, 5, hands in a row to where people are certain I just raise to raise. Then I win a hand. Then after winning that hand, hopefully I get another good hand back to back. And they think I am just confidence betting. So I bet big after I win and have a good hand a 2nd time, and people bet big now thinking Im just faux-confident.

I am willing to engage in the most bold acting maneuvers possible if it gives me a heavy advantage.

Where are some places that talk about this level of controlled chaos? It seems like an unlimited potential for advantages and reproducable mind games. Maybe playing in shorter bursts and standing up a lot, moving to new tables more often for tactical reasons such as this. Maybe finding that the win rate is much more consistent if I only play big in times where I have established myself as a certain character that greatly stems the tide of information towards my interests. And once i am "figured out" and am back to playing regular odds poker like everyone else to just stand up and reset and re-start the dramatic arch all over again?

Narcissism ITT.

Definitely not mistaken.

Happens to be a correct analysis; but keep in mind the details of what I wrote were all relevant to the specific question at hand.

In other-words, how can I use the fact that people strongly pre-judge me (like you probably have done in your mind), as an advantage in poker?

I never said I wasn't a monster, I was just asking how that dynamic can be exploited with good poker playing.

Anyway, Lion/sheep, Shark/fish whats the diff. You guys aren't innocent either

I'd answer that question, but this is 100% gimmick account. Pretty well done, though.

Srs account. Just started posting but will be around more because I recently got super addicted/fascinated by poker theory. Been lurking awhile already. Uploading that avi also helps explain my question better so you guys know where Im coming from when I say the general masses have strong/unique reactions to me. It honestly does seem to affect how people play against me almost every time I sit at a table. I can turn the vibe to "humble fellow who happens to be attractive" from "douche" anytime. But am hypothesising that it may be beneficial to let people think that about me and try to play up their hatred/judgment. Not sure how to try to control or benefit from that specific chaos yet. Just noticing that its a significant element that could be taken advantage of somehow sometimes.

I have to return some videotapes...

Unless your playing against players who are paying attention to more than how pretty their cards look then what does it matter?

So you're saying players don't read other players and only pay attention to their cards? Im confused. I thought good players get information from profiling players as well as focus on probabilities.

Like I said, it wasn't a brag, it was on-topic information.

If I wasn't talking about how looks affect poker games, I wouldn't have brought it up.

But that is the specific scenario presented here this time; it doesn't matter whether or not I am actually that attractive IRL, the question is assuming a person is very attractive, and invites a lot of misconceptions, and in-life in-general in-our society garners heavy reactions good and bad, how would one proceed to take advantage of that if at all possible.

People are quick to get competitive with me. People are subconsciously prone to do quirky things in my presence. This is especially true if I don't bother to mask my narcissistic behavior. I also try to create little mini-dramas from play to play over sets of 3-10 hands where I try to make people think I am getting emotional, or over-confident, or wildly aggressive. It is most effective in short bursts before people seem to be wary of my play. But during that confusion-time I can routinely coerce people into trying to challenge my heavy raising right as I get a good hand.

This all pays off in the form of people not folding against me when they should because my cocky demeanor makes them illogically competitive (or at least throws their spider sensors off).

Even players who would otherwise play cool seem to get hooked into my traps. I just have a certain mystique about me that rustles people in just the right way somehow. I also grew up in a very multi-cultural way and had a really tough upbringing --like the ghettoest of the ghettos, and at the same time I look like a conservative choir boy. My personality is unreadable quite frankly because there is nobody else like me on earth to compare to. Its impossible to figure me out upon first impression unlike most common folk.

People don't really meet people like me everyday.

How can I take advantage of that caveat? I need to be the author of a specific type of unpredictable confusion that benefits only me.

Are there any books that talk more about this? Ive already been confusing my opponents psychologically like this with great success. I already know Im onto something. Im looking to read more about such topics to get even more in depth and in detail. There is great potential for power here. Is anybody out there on this mindset?

You take advantage of it the same way anyone takes advantage of image - by determining what common reactions are to you and making exploitative adjustments to take other people's money.

You have the advantage that because you stand out, more people are likely to have significant reactions, meaning that you can use that to your advantage more often (the people who react to you will be out of their comfort zone, while you'll be in yours because you'll experience a lot of people reacting to you that way).

The key is to analyze and understand what these reactions are - as you've already stated, they can be polar opposites - some people will play back at you, otherwise will give you too much credit. You have to learn what the reactions are.

Note that what you experience may have some overlap with what an attractive woman might see at the table - you might want to see if you can find anything written along those lines.

Finally, I'm wondering if you might not just be over-valuing this aspect. The fact is that most poker players are just not that good, and whether they play badly because you look good or the play badly just because they have no skills almost doesn't matter. Your adjustment is the same in either case: determine what mistakes they're making and exploit them mercilessly.

What stakes are you playing? Since your posting in beginners questions its a safe assumption that the players your playing aren't that good and they wont be paying attention.

Oh I see what you're saying.

I would say most of the people I run into are average players. My primary new spot is Talking Stick in Scottdale on 3/5. My experience comes from a combination of playing with a few different groups of friends at home games, playing at bars, playing online for money a bit, and large majority of years and 20k hands+ on no-money poker games.

This thought in my mind was borne when I changed my avi on Facebook to a pic of my abs. And Zynga pulls your pic from Facebook. And as I was playing I noticed people were playing different against me ever since I had my abs up. Noticed people getting rustled in a way that seemed to benefit me.

Your average 3/5 player probably isn't paying attention
Bar players are not paying attention.
Most online players are awful depending on the stakes
Zynga is lol awful. No one is paying attention on that.



I suggest you focus on learning solid ABC poker and work out how to exploit the weak players rather than what people think your about your image.

I was hoping it was some bb.com trolltard, but nope, seems serious


/life

Why? Is playing ABC style more effective against weak players?

I mean realistically the type of people I play against can vary. How will I know if a random guy at the table is able to exploit ABC style or not? Before its too late.

I don't see the harm in studying about this dynamic. All it does when the vibe is right is give me more information than the opponent. And I can still use sound principles amidst the chaos. Im just simply trying harder than most people to mask my true play. Im just going further with the lies and bluffing and being more bold about it than most people would invest into such a thing. But to me, its natural to be acting all the time and putting on fake characters so it doesn't take much effort to confidently go in that direction with my game.

Me playing stupid doesn't change my ability to read other player's hands, it just makes it harder for them to guess whats going on with me and I bluff players in ways that they don't encounter very often. They don't seem to recognize it as bluffs (because they chalk it up the stupidity I have subconsciously demonstrated.)

I mask my physiology really well due to acting, (I actually believe myself in those moments, beyond just acting) and it really convinces people, even in a place where its expected for people to bluff, I go beyond just having a poker face, I have a whole poker character. And with most people who are generally the average Joe and normal, they would suspect bluffing to be bluffing, but there is just something about the general masses' pre-disposition towards me and my general genuine exotic weirdness and unreadability about me that makes them believe Im just weird, and not trying to bluff. The bluffs are so psychologically loaded and complex that they don't want to believe Im bluffing they just choose to believe that I am just genuinely ******ed which explains the behavior.

I can sell people on it in a profoundly raw human way. (it comes from years of being a salesman.) To bring up again a topic someone brought up, magine how hard it would be to read Patrick Batemans poker face. Behind that ghostly facade, how can you read someone's humanity if they don't have any to read? --And is just a blank robotic canvas of manufactured lies? So whatever program I am running in my mind, thats all there is to read. Whatever I choose to be to them, I become. There is great leverage in that, to the unsuspecting average joe who can't even comprehend the profundity of my psychology, let alone "read me."

I honestly don't think ABC can be more effective than creating unreadable patterns while reading theirs if it is done right. The focus has to be on creating emotional archs so people think they are reading you (this is where my screenwriting experience comes in) and got you figured out to be a fool. You gotta have a whole motive, plot, and personality type ready to sell them with. And pay attention to the persona you've created over the patterns of a few hands.

I ask myself "what is their current readout of me and my play?" Then I ask myself "what can I do to exploit that in my favor by playing out a mini-drama over the course of some hands where I manufacture some faux-motivator that their 123/ABC mindset thinks they have me figured out because the extent of their cleverness is so shallow." Then when they are in the right mindset I make them pay in different little ways here and there. All of a sudden I have a multitude of triggers I can spin and take advantage of!

When I play like this I have a huge advantage! The cards and people barely matter anymore because the only people that can challenge my play style are those who are on my level. If I play ABC style I am just average and can slightly beat below average players. But with this type of chaos and I can win way bigger because all the confusion makes people want to take advantage of my supposed fish status more.

But I think when people say ABC is more efficient than advanced play, they are talking about a specific type of advanced. My hypothesis doesn't really seem to lower efficiency even against below average players because i am not really changing my choices or the basics.

I think you're onto something. Every time action is on me at the table I will randomly choose between fold, call / check or raise / bet and then randomly choose a bet amount regardless of the cards I have or action so far. This chaos I create will make me unreadable and because I'm unreadable I'm going to crush.

But instead of being just simply/merely random chaos...

Its an authored chaos.

Just saw your post. Great advice thank you.

You are totally right about me potentially over-valuing it. I am trying to figure out just how significant this element is and if a lot of it is just people who would play badly anyway. Writing about it like this helps.

The woman analogy is also more on-point than I would like to admit but its a valid parallel lol.

What's that song by Carly Simon?

Whats that tagline from the 1980s Pantene commercial?

You walked into the cardroom like you were walking onto a yacht
Your abs strategically flexed below your pecs
Your drink, it was whey
You had one eye on the security monitor as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the players dreamed they'd win your money
They'd win your money, and...

You're so vain, you probably think this post is about you
You're so vain, I'll bet you think this post is about you
Don't you? Don't you?

You won my stack several years ago when I was still quite naive
Well you said that we would play HU4ROLLS
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was my roll
I had some dreams there was whey in my coffee
Whey in my coffee, and...

You're so vain, you probably think this post is about you
You're so vain, I'll bet you think this post is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?

Troll confirmed. No one your age would know that line.

Anyway, the 3/5 game is a spread limit game to $500. It's not really an abc game, but it's not something where you have to consider all of the bs you're talking about here either.

lmao

Im a 30 yr old grown ass man dawg.

I see. So you're saying these techniques won't really give me an advantage?

Im less concerned with how it works in micro stakes and low stakes as opposed to just the overall theory though.

I think the benefits of playing so many years of Zynga poker allowed me to be more freestyle and experimental wit different flows and just experimenting with different hidden agendas that are more volatile. But I think I learned a lot of how to really push the limits. I played a lot of characters and told a lot of stories in a free and exploratory way. I feel like those lessons taught me there is no true ceiling to the game. I feel like I could theoretically beat someone of great skill better than I can do systematic pro style play and being an efficient fisherman. (for now) Though it doesn't really translate playing free, it taught me other things.

Like I said I am more interested in theory. Because I feel like I have been studying for poker longer than I have really been "studying poker."

I have been studying it my whole life because my whole life involved studying people, whether through business, or selling, or psychology, or relationships, I have always been processing the world from this 3rd party perspective from deep within my id which is a product of the abuse I sustained as a young child in elementary school from having moved from Romania and Germany, to the underworld and ghettos of Oakland and the bay area. I was always trying to be different people at every new stage of my life due to my constantly changing social conditions. And having been so involved in such a multitude of cultures (a combination of events that is rare for individuals to experience) that I gained much knowledge from seeing the differences in cultures.

The contrasts of different cultures yields some of the most profound information about the human condition known to man.

And I don't mean just visiting there. I mean actually being there, as a child who is still developing. When I would hang out with other kids, I would BECOME that kid for awhile. And it was like that my mind just developed this 3rd party perspective to coral all these different identities which modern day people call a Dark Triad. But I didn't do anything wrong. Its not my fault. Im not evil. I was just traumatized and thats why I have this "permanent poker-face" type of vibe that people always tend to misjudge me by. (Im honestly a really positive and friendly guy IRL)

So I just figured maybe I could benefit some advantages from these traits.

You should start a blog on livejournal

Head says troll. Heart says please don't be.