You've been card-dead for an hour and shown down only premium hands - the table sees you as a rock. A loose, active button raises to steal, and you look down at A♣9♦ in the big blind.
A rock image, and a loose button raises to 600 (3 BB) to steal. You hold A♣9♦ in the BB. Best?
WhyAn hour of showing down only premiums has painted you as a rock, and that image is worth more than your cards right now - a 3-bet from 'the guy who only plays aces' folds out most of a loose button's stealing range. A-9 offsuit gives you a little to fall back on, but make no mistake: the fold equity your image manufactures is why this is a bet, not the hand itself.
What happensYou 3-bet to 1,900 (9.5 BB) - and the button, not buying the monster this time, calls. Pot: 4,100 (20.5 BB). The play was right; a good resteal still gets looked up sometimes.
Flop
Flop: Q♦ 7♣ 2♠ - you missed, out of position against the button who called your re-steal.
You missed; he called your image-backed three-bet. Best on this dry flop?
WhyYour story hasn't broken yet - the 3-bet plus a bet on a dry Q-7-2 still represents the big hand your image is selling, and one barrel folds out the floats and air he called with. Keep applying the pressure the image bought you; you'll know soon enough whether it's still working.
What happensYou bet 2,400 and he calls again. Pot: 8,900 (44.5 BB). Two calls in - that's a message, not a coincidence.
Turn
Turn: 5♥ - a blank. The button has now called your three-bet and your flop bet, and isn't folding. You still have only ace-high.
He's called twice. Fire a third barrel to keep the story going, or…?
WhyRead what two calls mean: an opponent who flatted your 3-bet and your flop barrel has a real hand and has decided he isn't folding. Ace-high isn't getting there, and a third barrel just feeds chips to a man who now reads you for a bluff. The skill isn't running the image - it's noticing the exact moment it stopped buying folds and shutting it down.
What happensYou check and surrender; he shows K-Q and takes it. You lost chips on a line that was correct when you started it - the win was refusing to lose more once the reads said your image was spent.
Your rock image bought fold equity for the resteal and a barrel, but the discipline was reading that this opponent had committed to calling - and quitting. Image is a tool with limits, and the read is what shows you where they are.
Your table image is a weapon - a tight image makes your bluffs credible - but it only works until an opponent decides to call you down; read that moment and stop.