True Lies

What is your gambler's image?

When you go to a casino to try to overcome the odds, what image do you show others? Depending on what game you are playing, this could become a factor in whether you win or lose.

Since poker is my favorite skill game -- it is the only game, by the way, where I can honestly say i have won more money than I have lost -- I will use it as an example of what I am talking about.

Like the movie 'True Lies' starring Arnold Swarzenegger, poker is a game where the image you project at the table can determine how the other players react to you. Some of the game's most skilled players understand this and have taken advantage of their image.

Phil Ivey is a good example. He is the super-cool player that most poker players would rather avoid. They know when Ivey makes a move at the table, he is executing a plan that can have serious consequences on the game and on your bankroll.

Chris Ferguson is another player who exudes a bigger-than-life image. With his black hat, beard and cowboy image, Ferguson is the gunfighter who just rode into town and who is planning a legalized heist at the poker table.

There are others who carry off this image business very well. Annie Duke...Doyle Brunson...the late Amarillo Slim Preston...Johnny Chan with his lucky orange...the jitterbugging Stu Ungar...and I could go on and on to give you a clearer picture.

My own image at the table pretty well sums up what I am talking about. Friends refer to me as the Celestial Cowboy, a nickname country singer Willie Nelson gave me during an interview in Phoenix, AZ. some years ago.

Willie and I were discussing titles during a backstage interview at the Phoenix Coliseum where he was performing with his sidekick Waylon Jennings. I had just seen Willie's movie, 'Honeysuckle Rose,' which I liked very much and told this to Nelson. I also told him I liked the title of the movie.

'I came up with the title,' he said. 'I'm good at making up titles. Have you ever thought about writing a book about your life?' I admitted I had. 'Well, what do you plan to call it?,' he persisted. I confessed I had no idea.

'Well, you dress like a cowboy. I understand you have ridden a few saddle broncos in rodeos. You believe in the Lord, don't you?' I told him I sure did. He smiled. 'Why not call your book 'Celestial Cowboy for the Lord?'

The word got round about Willie's suggestion and people began nicknaming me the Celestial Cowboy. I decided to take advantage of the image. When I play poker, I think of myself as the Celestial Cowboy and make my plays accordingly. You'd be surprised at the kind of power it generates in my moves at the poker table.

The next time you visit your favorite casino, don't think of yourself as just Joe Smith, insurance salesman, or Mary Jones, housewife or grandmother. Give yourself an image. Conjure a nickname, a true lie that will project you over the heads of your fellow players, and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).