Stereotyping of card players are among the strangest known factors when playing poker.

We all have done it at the poker table. Made a decision on how to play a hand based on another player’s looks, mannerisms or apparent personality type. That’s when the stereotype factor comes into play and we try and gather more information about people and their poker abilities based on pure superficial speculation. It’s human behavior at it’s strangest.

Whether a person is a male or female, a smoker or nonsmoker, White, Black, Asian, Spanish, a New Yorker, a Southerner, well-dressed or dressed down, a die hard sports bettor, wearing headphones or wearing sunglasses, overweight or anorexic, friend of a poker pro or friend of a donkey, wearing lots of jewelry, not wearing a wedding ring, drinking booze or drinking Red Bull, eating French fries or having a salad, wearing casino branded clothes or a wearing a name-tag from a convention in town, completely silent or talking like a hyper active person, buying chips with cash using small bills that are all wrinkled or only with crisp one hundred dollar bills, friendly or obnoxious, calm or loud, smells like they are high on drugs, shuffling chips with their fingers, counting bets methodically, old or young, whatever it is…you use superficial appearance as a tell.

If you have nothing else to go on, stereotypes of past opponents you have played against before factors into how you play against current players seated at the poker table. Some of the most interesting social experiments occur late at night in a card room filled with mostly seemingly normal people who turn into very unusual and strange table mates. The best and worst of people come alive when put to the test.

Welcome to the Crazy World of Poker. Where you can lose your money along with your mind and have a near meltdown.