In all forms of poker, most players are capable of having opinions of you as a player and making adjustments to their game if they see you make an obvious mistake. This creates a dynamic where you can often get your opponents to make changes in their strategies if you know which metaphorical buttons to push. To use this dynamic to your advantage, you can make small mistakes that your opponents will see and notice. Without realizing that you're goading them into making changes to their game, your opponents will often make large changes in how they play, which you exploit.

Here's an example of a play that relies on this concept from no-limit hold'em. Suppose it folds to you in early position before the flop and you have a hand like T8o. Under most circumstances you would fold this hand without a second thought, but if you're interested in cultivating a loose image, you can come in for a standard raise and show your hand at some point in the action. This is only a small mistake before the flop that won't cost you very much money, but your opponents will assume you are a terrible, loose player and will think that your pre-flop ranges are much wider than they really are for the rest of the session.

Using this trick of trading your small mistake for larger mistakes on the behalf of an opponent is one of the cornerstones of advanced poker psychology. If you pay close attention to who is watching you, then you can find easy targets in your next poker game using this strategy.