How to Build a Winning Image

Let me ask you a question. How good of a poker player do you think Phil Ivey is?

Or Daniel Negreanu?

Or Doyle Brunson?

Or any of the other top 10 or 20 poker legends whose names and photos keep popping up in poker magazines?

Before you answer the question, let me suggest something to you, based on my four decades of playing poker. A player's winnings are based more on his image than his skill or what he knows about odds and the game.

In poker, an image is worth its weight in diamonds.

Ivey's image as a deadly, nearly unbeatable player was self-created. Yes, he has won millions of dollars in cash games and tournaments. He has beaten the best in heads-up matches. But he has also lost. And now he is battling to save his reputation after casino management accused him of borderline cheating and refused to pay him his winnings.

There are 52 cards in a deck. Over a period, you will get a certain number of good cards, medium cards, and poor cards. What you do with those cards and how you do it will determine whether you win or lose.

Notice, I added how you do it to what you do with the cards. It is the image at work.

Poker images can terrify players. Doyle Brunson's opponents knew Doyle was as capable of pulling a stone-cold bluff as he was in showing pocket aces when the betting was over.

He was like a fish swimming upstream. He could change gears, change directions, move from aggressive to passive when the mood struck him. You could never put him on a hand.

Mike Caro built up an image as a wild man at poker. Somebody -- maybe it was Caro -- gave him a nickname, the 'mad genius of poker.'

His tricks in a cash game were legendary, like raising a pot, betting on the turn, and then turning his cards face up to show -- nothing. Then he would cackle with glee.

You can bet the next time Caro made a raise, players would fall over themselves calling, and this time Mike would have the nuts. Capish, as we say in Italian?

Building an image is a simple process. You plan ahead, determine what kind of image you want to show the other players, and then do it.

I recommend not showing your cards ever unless poker law or policy requires you to do so. Keep your game hidden. The mystery is a compelling force that makes you powerful.

Then some lucky night in a casino far from home you could be facing a Phil Ivey, a Daniel Negraneau, a Doyle Brunson, a Johnny Chan, or a Phil Hellmuth and not be intimidated by their image because you have created one of your own.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).