Maybe a silly question--avatars/names and style of play
Posted by the3shells
Posted by
the3shells
posted in
Low Stakes
Maybe a silly question--avatars/names and style of play
I had kind of a random thought today, which was that there was probably some significant assumed correlation between types of avatars and names and style of play. Specifically, I was wondering whether players who select very aggressive, macho kinds of avatars and names are actually more aggressive (e.g., 3- and 4-betting more, bigger bet sizing, more prone to re-raising and tilting, etc.). A related question would be whether many players adjust (consciously or unconsciously) to this in their style of play against these "avatar reads."
I'm thinking there must be something to this. Players self-select their names and avatars, often as representative of themselves (there are some whose choices are humor-driven or irony-driven this may not be as directly representative of the player, but humor and irony may be telling traits as well).
Does anyone else incorporate this into their play at all? Assuming no prior knowledge of an opponent, do you play differently against a ninja avatar named "TakeUrCashPunk" than you would against a puppy avatar with the name "JoanniesMom"? Do you think this is a valid adjustment--meaning, do you think there is a meaningful probable difference in overall style of play to be discerned from avatars or names? And finally, did anyone factor "image" into their own selection of avatar or name--perhaps for deceptive purposes--or maybe actively use their avatar to their advantage at the tables?
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I've never really seen anything related to 'aggressive' avatars or w/e. However, poker-related names/avatars that require more than a passing exposure to the online world would lead me to expect a certain level of knowledge. I'm not talking something like "Mr Royal Flush" or "IWantQuads" as they could be anyone, but stuff like, "OMGKellyClarkson," "WoffleKrush," or an avatar of a crowned R on a field of red might ring the odd alarm bell. I can't really imagine altering my play on the basis of this though. Especially as I can just Google a name very easily.
Well you wouldn't think much on the surface if you saw the SN jakoon1985 at your table but ...
It's just a name. I wouldn't read into it much. Plenty of bad players troll poker forums. Anyone can come up with a nerdy poker screen name.
You shouldn't read too much into it, so don't make strong assumptions based on that. "OMGKellyClarkson" probably railed nosebleeds before signing up, but we all know that railbirds aren't always great players.
And also the name could be old, someone could be a weak passive fish when signing up, but five years later he could be a super tough aggro player.
That said, there aren't many weak passive Scandinavian players.
Looking into country of origin is sort of read much more then avatars :) gt reminded of that~ can really tell loads by country of origin
Neither nicks such as "UPayMyMercedesAMG", "TakeYourMoney", "D0nk3at3r", "IbetUfold", "Invincible86" (hehe) or "KittyCat", "SpringRedRose", "1Lmilk1USD" mean something to me...
When I see ninja avatar with some indicating nickname I laugh sometimes, but in general have no prejudices...
Well you can open whatever country you want when you open pokerstars account, but when you want to add credit cards and play for real money, it does display your true country of origin, and i have prejudgements on those in regards to poker play
That's not quite true....
Isildur1(PS) - country of origin (Se), displayed country at that time (UK) as he has been living in London
Skjervoy (PS) - country of origin (Nor), displayed country (UK) as he lives in UK
Ben86 (PS) - country of origin (USA), displayed country (Canada) as he lives* in Vancouver
durrrr (FTP) - country of origin (USA), displayed location (Macao) as he lives in China (Macao)
Alexonmoon (FTP) - country of origin (Fra), displayed country (UK) as he lives in UK
etc etc etc....
* lives = plays online in that country/location
These players are famous, but most likely there are plenty of such examples with some less famous players, not mentioning that on Full Tilt you can request Country change under account >> change personal details TAB.... Not sure whether it reflects on displayed country when u play, but what's the point of country change then...?
Furthermore, I was playing vs some guy from USA (that country was displayed as his country) month ago on FTP and he had some nickname of football player from my country. When I asked him how come he knows that player - he responded that he is in fact from Germany (he also lives in Germany) and that football player was playing for german football club he is supporter of.
Also, not sure whether it's always displayed your country location where u play no matter what u put for your country of origin when you created your online account...Depends maybe on poker room also... (?)
However, the point is that you can be player from UAE, country of origin is UAE (when online account was created), but if you in the meanwhile moved to let's say Denmark - your displayed country in some poker rooms could be Denmark and you are not from Denmark...
It's a well known fact though that there are more good mtt'ers than bad mtt'ers with 420 in their screen name.
lofigr, all or most of these players mentioned are pro's and they moves to another country for tax reasons or black friday shutting down online poker in the US. In a typical mid/lowstakes game you won't see many pro's that did this.
Also they move a select number of countries, so you know that players from those countries are partly pro's that moved.
Yes I know. These were just counter-examples, but that's not even point here. Just wanted to say that "country location datum" isn't ALWAYS correct one (telling us what is origin of the particular player) , for one or another reason.
Judge players' qualities upon datum that's not correct in 100% cases isn't something you can rely.
Although I partly agree with Aleksandra that players from particular countries are let's say less good than players from some other countries/regions/continents.
I hope it's more clear now...
Regards
mexico south usa poker state, canada north usa poker state :) macau bigpro poker usa state
anyways, exceptions are to all countries, but general play lines can be assumed
PS ~ When u get to play the names you named, i think you will know their country of origin without looking overplayers name ^_^
Anyone with "fish" in their screen name is obviously exactly that :)
Anyone with a shark avatar pic is totally fishy. :)
...and when you see someone with a centipede avatar you'll want to be very careful :)
lol..ok...we will be very careful when we see centipede :)
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