If you play in the same card room be it live or online, you are bound to end up playing against people you have played with before. The more often you play with the same group of people, the more they are going to know about you and the way you play. Building up a reputation in a card room can definitely work to your advantage.

There are many types of reputations to have: gambler, a rock, a bluffer, tight, loose, aggressive, maniac, passive and many more. For the sake of this article, I’ll focus solely on my current reputation.

In my circle of friends I have picked up a reputation to always be bluffing. While this makes it much more difficult for me to pull off a bluff since I will get called down with really weak hands, it provides me with an excellent weapon that I can use against my opponents. Since I’m never given credit for a hand, I simply value-bet my hands on the flop, turn and river. There is no value in slow playing big hands in this circumstance since my opponents will not likely bet their weak hands, but will feel compelled to call me down with 3rd or 4th pair.

When in this situation, it’s very important to pay attention to the texture of the board. Since I am likely going to have to show down my hand, I need to be sure I have the best hand. If any sort of draw is filled with the turn or river card, I’m more apt to check/call or simply fold and wait for a better spot than I am to try and win the hand against an opponent who has a hard time laying down a hand, especially to a guy that he thinks is bluffing anyway.

I will usually try to control the size of the pot by being the person doing the betting. Like I said, they aren’t going to give me credit for a hand anyway, so I may as well bet my strong hands the same way I would if I were trying to bluff them out of a pot. This opens up several possibilities. Re-raising right away or smooth calling to set up a check-raise on the turn are both strong plays but need to be used based on the strength of your hand mixed with the likelihood your hand can be drawn out on.

If you don’t already know what your reputation is, pay attention to the types of hands that are showing down against you. If you are being called down with relatively weak hands, you are probably perceived as loose or even a maniac. If you are getting no action on your raises, you are perceived to be tight and will only enter a pot with solid hands.

Once you have figured out your reputation, use it to punish your opponents. They already think you play one way. Switch it up on them and you are bound to be rewarded.

Strategy