Prom Queen vs. The Nerd

      In high school I was a nerd.  You know pocket protecter, suspenders and you better believe I didn't go anywhere without my calculator.  I knew all the cool calculator tricks and made sure everyone else knew that I was the connoisseur of calculator humor.  You better believe I was pretty unpopular, but that didn't mean I didn't know how to put the moves on the ladies.  
     You see my next door neighbor, she was the prom  queen.  Occasionally I would go over and socialize with her, show her some of my calculator tricks and can you believe she loved them!  After a while we grew close to each other, so close that we actually kissed once.  That was a big mistake. 
     For all of you who have ever been to high school you know that the nerd never gets the prom queen....even if she likes you.  You see in high school there is a certain image that one must maintain.  And if she was ever caught socializing with me at school, well she would be finished.  She would lose all her friends not to mention her shot at winning prom queen.  Her image was important to her; her image was her and she could not escape it.  Well her friends found out about the kiss and she did lose everything.  This was an early lesson on the importance of image and how it translates to the poker table.
     You see at the poker table you to have an image.  Every time you sit down you might be the prom queen or you could be the nerd.  There are two basic images that one portrays whenever they sit down at the poker table.  They are either a tight player (plays very little pots and premium hands) or they are a loose aggressive player (plays almost every pot regardless of their hand).  We will refer to the tight player as the nerd, after all they are patient, wait for good cards and are calculated when they have them.  We will call the loose player the prom queen.
     When you sit down you need to decide whether you're going to be the prom queen or the nerd at this table.  Usually this will depend on the other players at the table.  If you notice everyone is calling raises and playing any two card (prom queens) then you better play the nerd.  Trap the prom queens and let them bet into you.  After all you are playing premium hands, so be patient and wait until you can stack them.  Now if you are playing with a bunch of nerds you can open your game up and be a little more aggressive.  When your in this game you can usually take down the pots with a good continuation bet.  If they didn't hit, you can usually take it down.
     You must always be aware of what other players view you as.  If you have been playing the part of the nerd, every once in a while you can revert to the prom queen and win a hand that you might not have otherwise.  Remember you have shown nothing but premium hands, there is no reason for them to think otherwise.  But you must remember to change your image occasionally, because if you don't you're going to end up like the prom queen that got caught kissing me.  You're going to lose everything.