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Establishing Table Captain image
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Hopefully you get lucky and have a lot of huge starting hands and connected flops early and are raising and reraising early in your session!
OK, that's obviously not realistic. For me, when I have tried to establish this (not my natural game, so it takes some internal push), it largely boils down to a few main things:
1) Be active. You likely to have to play a fairly wide range of hands (within reason of course) to make your presence know and memorable. If players acting before you know you're a high likelihood to enter the hand behind them, they'll need to adapt their actions accordingly.
2) Always be raising! Akin to solid poker in general, very little limping and calling behind and mostly enter the hands as the aggressor. If there are limpers in front of you...raise if you choose to enter the action. A standard raise in front of you from a loose player...think about a 3-bet. Again likely means extending your 3-bet range to some hands that many players traditionally fold to an opening raise (such Ax off suit) or would possible call behind (mid suited connectors).
3) Be OK with risk and increased variability. You have to look unfazed by having to fold a blown light 3-bet attempt or being caught running a multiple street bluff. In fact, if you get caught bluffing this can be as much of an asset as well as a hurdle to overcome. Players know you are capable of playing more than ABC poker and now know the range of your activity could mean many things. You of course have to be a but more judicious about when you attempt additional bluffs, but players know you are capable of putting pressure on them with made hands, draws, and air which is never easy to combat.
For me, those are the 3 things I think are my main tactics. Number 3 is always the hardest, being able to take the hits and be OK and make adjustments that are not a complete recoil into very tight play that cedes the table captain to someone else because I got burned.
Why would you want the Table Captain image?
Fear equity.......
OK.
That's why I find it weird, that all the advisors recommend flat calling pocket pairs under 99. I want to be the aggressor at the table, and also I don't want to compete with seven limpers when the flop finally comes. So I disagree with all the advisors! ugh!
So at a full table (6-9 players) with more than one caller in late position (HJ) you would raise with pocket pairs 99-?
I find that I typically lose money with these hands as either missing the set on the flop or outdrawn/outraised to the river.
Two different topics here...
original one, I agree with apt. gaining that image just sets you up. Playing a little tighter against a maniac does not equal "fear equity", it might mean higher variance, but also greater implied odds.
99, there's a difference between limping first in (probably bad) and tagging along after a few other limpers. Although raising still has some merit. If you can get button and blinds to fold you will have position, and the pot could be huge if you hit your set.