My style thrives on a phenomenon I like to call "table affinity."I wonder if other people have encountered this while playing NL.
Table Affinity -- more or less, is how much other players at the table like you.
I am dead serious this is if not a big chunk of my game a quantifiable piece of it. I am a funny guy. I like to think of myself as a likeable guy. I sing songs while I am at the table. I talk to people because I am interested in their stories, in who they are. And I geniunely want to be friends with them. For table affinity to work in your favor, you must geniunely want to be friends with everyone at the poker table,
exclusive of wanting to obtain their chips. That's right. I don't feel, be it karma or something else new-agey, that if you try to buddy-buddy with people
just to get on their good side and obtain "Table Affinity," that it will work.
It will not work. It will make you seem fake. In fact while you are at the table and you are acting like a goofy clown or acting friendly a lot of people are put off by these antics to begin with.If you think this is a load of bullcrap, I don't blame you. I just thought about this concept while I was in the shower just now. Otherwise, read on.
Who do you want Table Affinity from?-- You want table affinity from the people that are going to put you to the toughest decisions post flop and/or the people that are generally going to pay off your big hands the least. you do not want table affinity from the people that are going to pay you off. this is something you need to gauge from table to table. This does not mean you shouldn't be friends with someone because they are a fish
Just don't actively seek to cultivate their favor in this manner.[group I] tricky TAGs. these are the people you want table affinity from the most, it's more difficult to get at their whole stacks when they don't have the best of it.[group II] tricky LAGs. here is a judgement call on your part because on one hand their ruthless aggression with a wide range of hands is troublesome when you possess marginal holdings, but on the other hand they often meet aggression with aggression, which is helpful for when you are made.Groups you do not want table affinity from:[group III]weaker TAGs, TAPs, LAPs[group IV]drunk people/fish[group V] econ_tim[group VI]
(hit by the badugi bus) -- AkishoreEx: I am sitting on a stack of 500. Player V has me covered. He is a Group I player. I hold AA and raise under the gun, Player V calls. The flop comes JJ9. Player V says "Get out Chief!" in a very serious tone. There is no question in my mind whatsoever Player V has a Jack. In fact, if my table affinity is high enough, he just might show me the Jack after I fold. If it is very high, he will show me the Jack
before I fold my hand. 8) The benefits of having high Table Affinity:+ saves you money when you are beat+ bluffs are easier against people who assign you lots of table affinityThe downsides:- getting paid off is
much harder from these individuals :x Table Affinity doesn't work for everyone however. Some people I find want as little "respect" as possible at the poker table. And that works better for them. Acquiring table affinity is an arduous process. Losing it is much easier, eg:The next time a drunk fish sits next to you at your local B&M, remain cordial, but maybe chat up his girlfriend or something. :wink:
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