How to Create a Loose Poker Table Image

Your poker table image is something that is very important to always be aware of. The reason why is because how others view you at the poker tables will go a long way towards how they play against you.

I talk a lot about using HUD stats to your advantage on this blog but the bottom line is that poker is still a psychological game and that deeper meta-game (the history, the dynamic) between you and someone else is always there and sometimes more important.

You can almost look at your poker table image as your reputation. People are going to react to you very differently depending on how they view you as a person (as an opponent in this case).

So should you seek to have a good poker table image or a bad one? And also, how can you use this perception of others to your advantage? Well, these are the two questions that I am going to address in this article.

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

How to Build Your Poker Table Image

First things first, how do we build our table image? Well, as soon as you sit down to start playing the other players at the table are going to start taking mental notes (to varying degrees) about your play.

In other words, they will try and make judgments about your play. For instance, Oh, that's the tight passive guy. Or that guy is a loose aggressive maniac!

There is nothing wrong with making these judgments about your opponents. In fact this is something that you should be doing all the time. I have 6 different categories of regs based on HUD stats that I often talk about for instance.

Categorizing players like this simply allows me to predict their actions a little bit easier. While every player is unique, certain player types tend to make the same actions in various situations.

But if your opponents aren't using a HUD (or you are playing live) the way that you are going to build your table image is really based on what you do in the first couple orbits.

Much like first impressions in life the same thing applies in poker. For better or worse, most people are going to draw conclusions about your play based off of what they see out of you in the early going.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

Enroll in Play Fearless Poker

Get $100 OFF Use Code: 100OFF

Table Image Depends on What Cards You Get Dealt Though Doesn't It?

Yes and No.

Now of course the table image that you create is going to be based somewhat on what cards you are dealt. If you are getting stuff like T♥2♣ every single hand, it is going to be hard to do anything other than appear to be a total nit.

But the reality is that you will probably get dealt a few reasonable hands as well in your first couple dozen hands when people are trying to draw conclusions about you the most.

As I have discussed before, especially with regards to Zoom poker strategy, often you can use this unknown factor to your advantage. When people don't know anything about you is when you can get away with murder.

So I actually prefer to do a lot of light 3Betting/4Betting and postflop bluffs in the early going when nobody knows much about me.

Now I am not going to be making plays with T♥2♣ but if I get dealt something even halfway decent like J♦9♦, A♥3♥ or 4♣4♦ I might be playing it a little bit more aggressively than normal in the early going.

Really what I am getting at here is that I do not agree with the age old advice that you may have heard before to keep it tight and simply observe when you first sit down at a new poker table.

Na, screw that.

When I first sit down at a new poker table I know I am going to get the most respect regardless of whatever table image I eventually build.

Therefore, this is the time when I want to be taking advantage of that unknown factor. This is when my opponents will often just lay it down and "wait for a better spot."

It is Better to Have a Bad Table Image

Another reason why I like to be aggressive early on at a new table is because I want to build a bad table image.

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with building a tight, solid reputation at the tables. This will get you the maximum respect from the regulars.

This will also allow you to get away with some key bluffs from time to time if you know how to use your table image to your advantage. I will get to this in a bit.

However, overall it is always better to have a bad table image. The reason why goes back to the age old poker wisdom that you "get action when you give action."

I want to be known as the guy who is in there splashing the chips around and playing reckless. This is going to allow me to get paid off much easier than the tight nit who everybody knows is just sitting around waiting for aces.

Basically, a LAG (loose and aggressive) strategy is going to have a higher profit ceiling than a tight strategy. This is especially the case when you start moving up the stakes, where people tend to pay more attention, and nits get paid off even less.

For more on this, I recently wrote an entire article on transitioning from TAG to LAG.

Poker Table Image is an Illusion

However, there is one key point here that must be noted. This whole idea of being a reckless, chip spewing LAG is really just an illusion that I am creating.

The real key to making this strategy work at the micros in particular is appearing to be crazy with plenty of early street raising and aggression. However, when the big money goes in on the later streets, I always have it.

This works exceptionally well in lower stakes cash games (and MTTs and SNGs as well) because most of your opponents are not considering your actions and range well enough at all stages of the hand.

In fact, often all they are thinking about is "this guy has 3Bet me 3 times in a row, he must be totally crazy!!!"

Wrong.

My preflop and flop hyper aggression (small money streets) does not necessarily mean that I will play the same on the turn and river (big money streets).

I am making a few "moves" especially when I first sit down at a new poker table as I discussed above but I am not gonna stick all the money in the middle with 2nd pair or a draw.

My stack off range is still going to be very similar to almost any other regular. I am going to need something really strong, typically the nuts.

Using Your Poker Table Image to Your Advantage

So the real key to creating a table image in poker is understanding the illusion that you are creating. If you want to create a bad table image (which I suggest), then you need to realize that you are going to get more action especially on the later streets.

So it is important to tone it down at a certain point if you don't have anything. Your river bluffs are going to get looked up wider, your double barrels are going to get called lighter etc.

So knowing this, once your bad table image is established, you need to slow down with the complete air bluffs on the later streets. However, on the flip side, this is a spot where you could get away with some amazingly thin value.


For Example:

You have 9♣9♠ and the board on the river is:

A♠6♦8♥K♣3♦

If I have a bad table image I am probably going to be firing on this river for value most of the time. This is because I know they are going to try and hero call me here a lot with 8x or even 6x hands.

Conversely though, I would never bet with total air here because I know I am going to get looked up super light. The real key here is understanding what your table image is and using it to your advantage.

From the other point of view, if you want to be the good guy and create a good table image (there is nothing inherently wrong with this by the way), then you can also take advantage of your table image in a spot like this.

If you have a good table image, this is exactly the kind of river that you want to be betting with total air. In fact this is a great board to simply triple barrel bluff on especially if the table sees you as a tight, solid player.

The reason why is that your opponents are going to put you on a strong ace or a king a lot and therefore they will be likely to fold their weaker pairs. Conversely though, I would very rarely go for thin value here with a tight table image.

Why?

Because if we know that we are very rarely getting value from worse hands and only getting called by better hands, then what really is the point of betting? We may as well just check it down and win the pot with the best hand.

Final Thoughts

Creating a poker table image is something that you do when you first sit down and start playing whether you realize it or not. People are going to start trying to categorize you and draw conclusions about what type of poker player you are.

This is why it is good to always be cognizant of exactly what type of table image you are creating and then use it to your advantage later on.

I think that having a bad table image is ultimately going to be more profitable most of the time compared to having a good one. The biggest reason why is because when you appear to be a reckless maniac to everyone else, you are more likely to get paid off.

And frankly, getting action with your big hands is really the whole point of the game. This is how you are going to build a big winrate and profit big at the lower stakes in particular.

But there is nothing wrong with creating a good table image as well. The real key is knowing how to use it to your advantage. You can get away with more well timed bluffs than somebody with a bad table image can for instance.

Let me know in the comments below what kind of table image you prefer, good or bad?

If you found this article helpful, then please do me a favor and "Like" it or "Tweet" it below. Thanks!

Transitioning from TAG to LAG: How to Win More by Playing Loose and Aggressive

You have probably heard the terms TAG and LAG several times before if you have been around poker for awhile. Respectively they stand for tight and aggressive and loose and aggressive.

Being aggressive is always going to be part of a winning poker strategy. However, once you move up the stakes and start encountering tighter opponents a looser strategy actually starts to become more optimal against them.

In this article I am going to explain why that is the case and exactly how you can move from a TAG strategy to a LAG strategy at the poker tables.

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

New Players Should Always Start With TAG

Before I get into this I want to stress that newer players should definitely start with a TAG strategy in my opinion. The reasons for this are threefold.

• It is easier to implement
• It keeps you out of trouble spots
• It keeps your variance lower

Playing tight means that you are playing less hands which means that you will not be put in as many difficult marginal situations. This will in turn keep your variance down (the natural up and down swings of the game).

These are all very good things for poker players who are just starting out and getting their feet wet in this game. 

If you are new to poker, keeping things as simple as possible at the tables by playing tight and aggressive is definitely the way to go.

This is exactly what I teach you by the way in my free poker cheat sheet.

LAG is More Optimal as You Move Up

As you start to have success and move up the stakes though to NL5, NL10 and so on, I do think that you should start to at least experiment with a LAG strategy. Don't get me wrong, TAG still works just fine but LAG is sometimes more optimal.

This is especially the case if you ever want to make the big money in poker, as I discuss in a new video.

The reason for this is that many lower stakes games these days are filled with tight nitty regulars who can easily be pushed around, like in the hand I discuss in the video above.

This in a nutshell is why the LAG strategy is so effective at the lower limits.


I learned to start separating myself from all these nits many years ago by adopting a LAG strategy:

A post shared by Nathan Williams (@nathan79williams) on Apr 26, 2018 at 9:23pm PDT

Because you see if you are playing more hands, then you will put yourself in more situations to take down all the pots that they don't want to fight for.

This simply allows me to get ahead and post higher winrates than they possibly can.

So while you can still have a good winrate using a tight and aggressive strategy at the micros, if you want to win at the highest clip possible, then a loose and aggressive strategy is the way to go.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

Enroll in Play Fearless Poker

Get $100 OFF Use Code: 100OFF

My Free Poker Cheat Sheet Teaches You How to Make $1000 a Month From Poker

Are you struggling to beat the low stakes poker games? Do you want a simple step by step guide to show you exactly how to start winning consistently right now?

That is why I recently wrote this free little 50 page no BS guide to teach you exactly how to start crushing these games right now.

You will learn how to start consistently making $1000 a month (or more) from poker like I have as a 10+ year poker pro.

Enter your details below and I will send my free poker cheat sheet to your email right now.

Name

Email

What are The Statistical Differences Between TAG and LAG?

Last week I released an all new video series on how to crush NL2. As much as I tried to play TAG, my stats in that series were still something like 25 (VPIP) and 22 (PFR) which is more or less LAG.

VPIP stands for voluntarily put money in the pot and PFR stands for preflop raise %.

These are two fancy terms that we use with poker tracking programs which essentially mean what percentage of hands are you playing and what percentage of hands are you raising with.

So I was playing 25% of the hands that were dealt to me and raising with 22% of the hands that were dealt to me. As I said, these are definitely LAG type numbers.

• TAG numbers for full ring would be something like 15/12
• TAG numbers for 6max would be something like 20/17

But simple stats like this don't tell us the whole story. Let's talk about what playing LAG actually means in practice at the poker tables.

How Do You Actually Make the Transition from TAG to LAG?

Well in order to know where you are going, you need to know where you are coming from. So first things first, what does a TAG strategy actually look like in practice?

Well, typically for a TAG framework I would suggest playing something like the following:

Early Position: 22-AA, AK, AQ
Middle Position: 22-AA, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ
Late Position: 22-AA, any broadway, most aces, good kings, good suited connectors
The Blinds: 22-AA, most broadways, AT+, KJ+

Now there are some absolutely huge caveats that come with this list.

Firstly, this is totally just a general framework. If you play a hand that is not listed above from a certain position (or fold one that is), it is no big deal.

Secondly, you will definitely need to make adjustments depending on whether you are playing 6max or full ring. You want to be on the looser end of this list if you play 6max (maybe even add a few hands such as AJ and KQ from early position).

By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training. 

Learn EXACTLY how to start crushing small and mid stakes poker games, play semi-pro or even full time pro. Use my proven elite poker strategies to start winning fast.

Enroll in BlackRain79 Elite Poker University

Get $100 OFF Use Code: Elite100 

In contrast, you want to be on the tighter end of this list if you play full ring. It would be fine to simply fold 22-66 in early position for instance. This is fairly typical these days in full ring in fact.

Lastly, you will need to make huge adjustments to this list depending on the table conditions, the opponents, the stack sizes and so on.

But hopefully these general guidelines provide a decent idea of what a TAG strategy will look like from a preflop starting hands perspective.

If you mostly stick to playing the hands on this list your VPIP and PFR should be fairly tight. This will make sure that you are only entering the pot with a fairly strong hand. This in turn will help keep you out of difficult spots and keep your variance low.

By the way, if you are curious about all the poker software and tools that I use as a pro to keep track of my opponents (and my own stats), you can check out the complete list of every poker software tool I use right here.

What Hands Do We Add to Become a LAG?

So you want to play LAG though huh? Well, let's see what hands we might add to this list if we wanted to play LAG.

Same list as before. Added hands are in brackets and in red.

Early Position: 22-AA, AK, AQ (add AJ, KQ, KJ and a few good suited connectors or suited aces)
Middle Position: 22-AA, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ (add KJ, QJ and all good suited connectors and suited aces)
Late Position: 22-AA, any broadway, most aces, good kings, good suited connectors (play nearly all aces and kings instead. Also play most suited connectors and most suited one and two gappers)
The Blinds: 22-AA, most broadways, AT+, KJ+ (add all good suited connectors and all good suited aces)

So as you can see above, this is a lot more hands now.

Again, this is totally just a general framework. Absolutely massive adjustments need to be made for game type, table conditions, player types, stack sizes and so on.

But hopefully this gives you a decent idea of the types of hands that I would be adding preflop when transitioning from a TAG to a LAG strategy.

One thing that I hope stands out to you here is that I actually did not make a lot of changes to the blinds. The reason why is because playing out of position is going to be unprofitable no matter how you cut it.

Therefore, no matter how loose and aggressive I try to play, I still always want to keep things relatively tight from these positions.

What Advantage is There in Playing Looser Preflop?

So you might be thinking to yourself at this point though, great so we are playing more hands now. How does this actually help me win more?

Well as I alluded to before, there are simply armies of weak nits at the micros these days who are playing on 16 tables and basically waiting for the nuts.

Since they play so tight (and therefore never open themselves up to making big mistakes like the fish do) we will never make a huge profit off of them. This is in fact exactly why I constantly preach on about table selection and finding the bad players to no end on this blog.

However, when the regs play this tight and give up on pots so easily it does give us an opportunity to make some small profit by constantly pounding on them preflop. And postflop for that matter as well, which I will get to in a moment.

So firstly, playing more hands preflop is going to allow us to steal the blinds more often. Even though it is only a couple of big blinds, if you can steal the big blinds even just once more per 100 hands you could potentially double your winrate.

In fact, if I see two of these huge nits in the blinds and it is folded to me in late position, then I am going to open the pot even wider than I stated above.

If they are literally waiting for the nuts and I also notice that their Fold to Steal % is high (80%+) I might actually just try to steal the blinds with any two cards.

I will also be 3Betting light with a lot of the hands listed above as well. This is especially the case if I notice that my opponent gives up to 3Bets a lot.

The stat that you want to look for here is Fold to Preflop 3Bet. If it is at 80% or 90%, then I will be 3Betting them light very frequently.

By the way, if you don't know what I mean with these HUD stats I have written a massive post which outlines exactly how to setup your HUD and every stat that I use.

You can even download my custom HUD setup for free and start using it yourself right away at the tables.

To check out that article, click here.

A Good LAG Must Know When to Back Down

One of the biggest keys to playing loose and aggressive poker is knowing when to back down. While you will be able to run over many of the weak tight regulars at the micros, when they finally decide to fight back, you need to realize that it is often because they have you beat.

You will also get 3Bet and 4Bet lighter by the better regs because they will take notice of just how many hands you are playing. This is a bit trickier situation and has to be dealt with on a player by player basis.

But the bottom line is that most regs at the micros are of the weak/tight variety. You need to have respect for them when they start making aggressive plays back at you.

This is something that Phil Ivey discusses in much more detail in his new advanced poker training course.

As he says, one of the biggest downfalls of many potentially good LAGs is not knowing where the brake pedal is. You can't win every pot in this game and the answer is not always infinite aggression.

Here for instance is a perfect example of a LAG player who just doesn't know when to slow down and he ends up paying big-time for it.

Knowing when to give up (or at least slow down) as a LAG player is one of the biggest keys to mastering this play style.

How Do I Play LAG Postflop?

So far I have only talked about preflop play in this article. There are many important aspects to a LAG postflop game as well.

Firstly, you should be CBetting and barreling quite a bit especially versus the weaker regs that I have been discussing throughout this article.

For a complete breakdown of every type of regular you will encounter at the micros (and how to exploit them), click here.

Regarding stats, these weaker regs will often have a Fold to Flop CBet of 70% or higher. Their Fold to Turn CBet will be 50% or 60% as well.

Since we will only be CBetting between 1/2 and 2/3 of the pot, we can easily turn a profit by frequently betting against players who fold this much.

Once again, against the better regs who float and bluff raise more, things do become more tricky. You can't just auto CBet versus these types of players and expect to turn a profit these days. So you will need to mix in more checks, check/raises and check/calls.

If we are the preflop caller we will also want to be applying more pressure postflop as a LAG player. This means that we will be floating more and raising more.

We can look for the weaker regs once again who display the signs of "one and done" play (i.e., they CBet the flop and then give up a lot). These players are easy to spot because they will have a big gap between their Flop CBet% and their Turn CBet%.

If you see somebody CBetting the flop at 70% for instance but only following it up on the turn at 40%, then you should be floating the flop wide and betting the turn when they check to you.

There are many more aspects to LAG postflop play such as double floating, semi-bluff raising the turn and bluffing the river. All of these require precise reads but this is where effective HUD use comes into play.

Once again though, the ability to also know when to back down postflop is very important for a good LAG. When the weaker regs in particular start tossing big portions of their stack in the middle, this is usually a clear sign that you are beat.

Unless you have something really good yourself, you need to know when to back down.

Final Thoughts

Transitioning from TAG to LAG play in poker is a natural progression that many top players make. The logic is simple. The more hands that you get involved in, the more that you can potentially win.

However, as I mentioned off the top, there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping it tight especially if you are new to the game and playing at the micros. In fact it is preferable.

Playing tight and aggressive will keep the game simple and prevent you from getting involved in many of the difficult decisions that LAGs face. This is extremely important for newer inexperienced poker players.

Also, your downswings won't be nearly as bad as they are for a loose and aggressive player. On the flip side of course though, your upswings won't be as good either.

Learning how to play an effective LAG game is not something that happens over night and it is definitely an "advanced" approach to the game.

Take it slow and experiment at first by simply adding a few more hands here and there or by making one or two more moves postflop. This strategy is really something that takes time and experience to master.

Lastly, if you want to learn how to start consistently making $1000+ per month in low stakes games, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.


Lastly, let me know in the comments below what you think of a LAG strategy. Have you tried making the switch?