Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
If you want to be loud, take your time at the table
If you want to be loud, take your time at the table and have a pile of 25 chips, I suggest you play tighter than most players, as you will get played back at more than someone that blends in with the crowd. While I will not say for certain that any image is best, you must realize how you look to everyone else and play accordingly. One of my friends is an older player who is known for playing very tight. I suggested he raise significantly more hands than he normally does. Sure enough, within a month, he won a major tournament. This is because everyone “knows” he is tight. He had such a reputation for being tight that players failed to adjust, allowing him to run over the table.
I believe the optimal image is the opposite of your playing style.
I believe the optimal image is the opposite of your playing style. If you want to be loose, you need to appear tight, and if you want to play tight, you need to appear loose, so you get paid off with your hands. With practice, you can cultivate whichever image you think is the most +EV for each table you sit at in a tournament. Having the ability to appear tight at one table and loose at another can win you a lot of chips.