Almost every live poker game in the world has at least a few players that are known regulars in that game. There are certainly some exceptions, such as the lower stakes games at high traffic poker rooms like the Borgata in Atlantic City. For the most part, though, you can find a number of players who are on a first name basis with the dealers and many of the other players.
I used to play in the 1-2 and 2-5 NL games in Tunica, Mississippi from time to time, and there was always a group of regulars. They were mostly older men in their 60s who came down from Memphis every day, and they were relatively mediocre players for the most part. They were quite a bit more aggressive than most of the other players and seemed to be accustomed to bullying the tourists who played in the game. In fact, I would say they were definitely picking on the tourists a lot more than they were on each other. I’m not saying they were colluding at all—they just all respected each other’s games, I guess. I’ve found similar situations all over the world…
Most of the non-regulars who show up at a low-to-mid stakes live game for the first time are weak players. People who are getting their first taste of live poker. People who typically play in home games or online games at much lower stakes and are stuck playing with more money than they’re comfortable losing, or people who aren’t used to playing much poker at all and are likely playing a passive but erratic style.
The regulars are after both of these types, and they’re trying to quickly classify each unknown player at the table. As Phil Hellmuth states in his book, there are basically four ways to classify the vast majority of players. Phil referred to them as animals, but for simplicity we’ll just say that they’re either too aggressive, too tight, loose-passive (i.e. a “calling station”) or “good.”
Now for some reason, there are all these people out there who want to be classified as “good.” For whatever reason, people feel like they gain something by having their opponents view them as a strong player. Believe me, it’s not worth it. You don’t get anything out of that at all—maybe if you’re playing $10k events with the big boys and are looking for a sponsorship, but certainly not at a low-to-mid stakes game in some random casino. It doesn’t matter one bit, and besides, it’s almost impossible to make your opponents think you play well anyway: everyone thinks they’re great and everyone else is terrible. Since that’s the way of the world and you have nothing to benefit from changing it, it makes far and away the most sense to focus on playing well, instead of wasting your time and energy trying to make your opponents think you play well.
So what classification do you want to be? After all, you know these regulars are looking to classify you and exploit your weaknesses. How can you best exploit them in turn? The answer is that it depends on a number of factors.
What I like to do is observe my opponents for a couple rounds and determine the general feel of the table. Is it a very aggressive game? Is there a lot of raising and re-raising preflop? Are people getting caught bluffing a lot? Are regulars taking down most of the pots? You’ll likely notice that a lot of the regular players in the game are playing a similar style. This is a natural adaptation that occurs over time, and it is these players’ play that shapes the game.
Once you know what’s going on at the table, you can start putting together a plan. The plan I like is to build my own table image in such a way that these players believe I am playing into their strengths. The most common way to do this, from my experience, is to appear weak and tight and become classified by opponents as “too tight.” The reason this is the most common way is that it’s highly common for the regulars in a game to be playing a very aggressive style against new players, trying to bully those players out of as many pots as possible with big bets. If you appear to be playing “too tight,” they will quickly classify you as another one of these players that is easy to push around.
Two questions remain at this point: How do you make yourself appear to be “too tight,” and then how do you use this image to make money at the table?
The first part is easy. Just fold a lot of hands. Fold a lot preflop and play passively in general during your first 30 minutes to an hour at the table. Call a raise here and there and then fold after the flop if you don’t hit anything. Only get involved in a big pot if you’ve got a big hand, and be sure not to show any mediocre cards or show any signs of strength. Just fold a lot and act like you can’t afford to lose the money you brought to the table.
When you first come to the table, the regulars at that table will be focused on you to some extent, evaluating and classifying your play. After a little while you’ll notice this is no longer the case, and that they’ve drifted back to their routine. At this point, you have a variety of options at your disposal—bluffing, in particular.
You should be able to pull off some big bluffs without your opponents catching on. Don’t be too obvious about it and don’t do it too often, but try out the idea of not getting involved in a pot unless you plan to make an effort to win that pot regardless of what comes on the flop. Make a decision going into a hand that you’re going to win the pot simply by out-betting your opponent. You’ll be surprised at how often it works. These guys will back down from you without a second thought because of their pre-conceived notions about your play. They might act tough about it and stare you down for a few seconds, but they aren’t going to get in a big pot against you unless they’ve really got a hand.
Once one of these players starts thinking you’re trying to take advantage of him, he’ll quickly try to reestablish himself as a dominant force at the table. It’s this type of player’s nature, and usually he can’t help himself. After all, he still thinks you’re some clueless new player and that maybe you’re starting to get a little bit cocky and think you can push these old timers around. This is the point when you can start winning some big pots.
If you get a good hand, it’s easy: just make a bet and appear to pull back when your opponent plays back at you. If you don’t, there is still some good money to be made off your opponents’ bluffing. You’re in prime position to make a big move after getting raised by your opponent. You have to get comfortable with the idea that you’ll occasionally get caught, but it can definitely be worth it if you pick your spots well.
Eventually the regulars in your game will catch on to the fact that you know what you’re doing, and you’ll have to earn your money in a more traditional way: playing aggressively in position, mixing it up, etc. But you have a good opportunity early on to take advantage of the trends of the “regular,” and you should use it while you can.
