We have already looked at the art of chance and the emotional dynamics that lead to the most important psychological element - image. Image is the picture of a player's behaviour as seen by other players. It is the foundation against which players are judged at the poker table. This definition makes the concept broad and complex, so let's take a closer look.
The first important rule is a strong first impression. The strength of this impression is what makes a first acquaintance deeply memorable and universal. Often this first encounter is so deeply rooted that even later information does not change the experience.
For example, if you 3-bet twice in the first couple of hands at the table (perhaps the second time for value), your opponent will immediately decide that you are a super-aggressive 3-better. Even if, after twenty hands, your frequency becomes completely normal, it will take a long time for your opponent to get rid of the first-impression conclusions that characterise you. And even if he changes the pattern he has formed towards you, he will return to it as soon as he sees a series of 3-bets again.
You should take advantage of the following laws of human psychology. Always be alert to the first impression you make on another player and how it affects them. Instead of thinking about your actual playing style, learn to concentrate on what your opponent sees you doing in the first moments of your game.
The second basic rule of image is impression projection. This is the subconscious assumption that other people think the way we do, the other player perceives poker the way we do, and behaves the way we would behave in that situation. This is an important point to understand: most poker players expect others to think and behave as they do. This mindset suggests that everyone is the same, that a conservative player will expect others to play conservatively, and that a loose player will expect others to play loose as well.
Simply put, if you play against a nit, they will probably conclude that you are more nit than you really are, if you play against a maniac, they will expect you to play maniacally.This does not mean that they expect you to do things exactly as they do, but rather that they will perceive your behaviour as being in their own style. This knowledge will help you to reconstruct other players' perceptions and expectations of you.
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