You Are What You Pretend to Be

Sometimes when I'm playing poker someone will start teasing me because I'm playing tight. "What's the matter, your Ace deuce wasn't suited? What are you waiting for? You haven't played a hand in an hour! Are you a professional or something?"

Blah, blah, Ha, Ha, Ha!

To counteract this, usually before the teasing starts, I will take on a flamboyant nature. I'll start teasing other players for playing tight. I'll make a lot of noise when I enter a pot, even if I haven't played a hand in a while. "Here I come again, I raise!" I'll have a few drinks, knock over chips, pretend to make mistakes. Nothing as obvious as the drunken tourist bit, but I'll make a good show of it. I'll pretend to raise in the dark after I look at my cards or I'll call by "accident" or if I lose I'll say something like, "I totally misread my hand. I should pay more attention. I thought I had a flush."

I'll play exactly the same, but I seem to play looser and this helps get me action and loosens up the table.

There is nothing worse than sitting at the table next to some nit that wants to talk poker strategy all night. I play poker to have fun and relax and maybe get lucky and win a little bit. After all, nobody in their right mind would play poker for a living.