Observing people, not just their plays

[DP388]

I starting picking up new things about people in live play and wanted to see if we could get a thread going about different observations you guys have seen that might indicate how they play.

Here's my example (a little long, but explains my thought process):

I played in a live tournament last night and when everyone took their seats last night, I noticed that the gentleman to my right was wearing a visor. Underneath the visor it was apparent that he had went through some sort of hair plug or hair growth treatment. He was probably in his early-to-mid 40s. I started thinking about what that might say about him as a person and how it could affect his play.

Loosing hair at a relatively early age is probably hard for most men to deal with. But the fact that he has done something about it means that he is concerned with his image and how others see him. He probably wears the visor because the treatment isn't finished yet and doesn't want to look awkward.

What could this mean about the way he plays?

Since he is concerned with his image, he will likely not want to get into situations where the table sees him make a bad play. He'd be embarrassed. So in the back of my mind, I felt if a situation arose, I could put him to the test and make him laydown. At the same time, I knew this would only work a few times because he would not want to look like he was getting pushed around. Obviously I was going to pay attention to his play and table talk to see if my observation was valid. It was.

This worked out beautifully for me. Right after the first break it folded to him in the small blind. He raised 2.5x and I re-raised with a marginal hand, putting him in a push or fold situation. He mucked (again, not wanting to look bad). I took down a few more pots he was involved with and I could tell he was starting to play with ego and felt like I was getting out of line. After a few rotations, an early player limped and he raised 3x. I picked up AA. I thought about shoving, but instead put in a raise which would cause him to push over the top of me. As planned, he pushed with AJ. GG sir.

---Has anyone else used observations like this?

[bernie]

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Has anyone else used observations like this?



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Yes.

It seems to work better when you watch how they interact with people during a conversation. That can lead to how they'll act/react to certain bets.

Casual players wear their emotions openly. Poker is an emotional game so it can come through in their games. That's why part of being good is becoming indifferent to the game, thus deadening emotional reaction as much as possible.

Just don't get so wrapped up in it that you forget about the other 7+ players at the table.

b

[HoldemPokerPlyr]

Chip stacks is a perfect example of this. If somebody stacks their chips very nicely in an organized fashion, you can come to the conclusion that he is a tight player. If another player doesn't stack his cheaps neat and leaves them in a mess, you can conclude that this player is loose.

Also, observe the way they act as well. I know a person in my home game who acts all cocky and doesn't like to be pushed around. When I know I have a alot better hand than he does I like to screw around with him. He'll look at me put the chips down and wait for me to do something. So I'll come up with some line such as, "I think your bluffing. I raise," and I then proceed to raise. In return he'll reraise me and it will go back and forth until I can get the max amount of money out of him. Then the push gets pushed to me and I just laugh in my head.