Becoming Typecast

Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 13 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

We all could be said to inhabit certain “roles” when we play, but some of us -- perhaps most of us -- often find it hard to think of ourselves playing anything other than a particular type.

Not long ago I was dialing up some television shows here on the web and found myself watching several episodes of the old "WKRP in Cincinnati" show, a situation comedy that originally ran in the States from 1978 to 1982. I think it's probably safe to make at least a couple of generalizations about those of us old enough to have seen the show when it first aired: (1) we remember it fondly; and (2) we are old enough to remember life without the internet, and thus are easily bowled over by being able to do things like dial up thirty-year-old television shows.

The show centered upon the travails of a fictional radio station -- you could say the setting is itself another relic of the past remembered only by us pre-digital types. In the first episode a new programming director, Andy Travis (played by Gary Sandy), gets hired and is charged with helping improve the station's low ratings. He soon finds himself surrounded by an ensemble cast of memorable characters, all with their own entertaining idiosyncracies.

There's the station's owner, Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), well-intentioned but entirely lacking in the grace or gravitas one generally likes to find in those with authority. Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) is the nebbish news director whose earnestness is only matched by his incompetence. Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) is the loutish, loud-jacket wearing sales exec. Disc jockeys Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) and Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) add much-needed cool to the group, as does the blonde bombshell receptionist Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson). And Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers) is a shy, young reporter who often serves as another "straight" figure like Andy to contrast with the others' outrageousness.

Those who know the show can probably remember certain episodes, e.g., the one in which Johnny thinks God has advised him to become a golf pro, the one in which Herb dresses as a carp to be the station's mascot and ends up fighting the pig from WPIG in a public restroom, or the one with the ill-fated Thanksgiving promotion ("As God is my witness," says Mr. Carlson, "I thought turkeys could fly").

Most memorable, however, are the eight characters, which I'm sure most who saw the show could've rattled off on their own without my cataloguing them above. I realized while watching that while some of the show's actors would go on to land roles in other prominent shows or films, all would be forever linked with their roles on "WKRP." The show's original run was relatively brief, but was such a huge hit in reruns for many years afterwards, it was inevitable that all eight would always be remembered for these particular roles.

For some actors, being typecast is undesirable as it tends to hurt one's chances to land any kind of future role that isn't similar to the character or type for which one is known. Such was the case to an extent for this group of actors, who even when they would appear in other productions "against type," would always necessarily evoke the idea of their "WKRP" characters.

Most of us with any experience at all at the poker tables are aware that becoming good at the game requires a honing number of different skills, with learning how to "act" being an important one. We are actors when we play, creating "images" for ourselves via the bets we make or don't make, our mannerisms or table talk, and so forth. And better players -- like good actors -- are especially in tune with how their performance is being viewed and understood, and thus are able when necessary to act "against type" when it is profitable to do so.

While watching the show, I found myself thinking about another kind of "typecasting" that often happens in poker, one having more to do with self-image than with how others perceive us. We all could be said to inhabit certain "roles" when we play, but some of us -- perhaps most of us -- often find it hard to think of ourselves playing anything other than a particular type.

All of us discover early on in our poker-playing careers what "type" of player we tend to be, that adopted role usually conforming to our personalities in some fashion. Those who are conservative and risk-averse in their dealings elsewhere often will play a tight, perhaps even passive game at the tables, while the more adventurous will be comfortable with looser and/or more aggressive play.

The challenge, though, is to keep from "typecasting" yourself into playing the same role every time you sit down. I think some players -- the better ones -- are able to slip in and out of several "roles," while the great majority of us find it hard enough to play as that one "character" we imagine ourselves to be.

As I mentioned, "WKRP in Cincinnati" became much better known -- and burned its way into many TV viewers' memories -- thanks largely to syndicated reruns. While the actors involved pursued other roles, their characters continued to play again and again for viewers, making it increasingly difficult for the actors to be regarded differently.

I think a lot of us endure a similar struggle at the tables, with new sessions sometimes feeling like "reruns" in which we're stuck playing the same part, again and again. And this sort of "typecasting" keeps us from ascending to greater heights as players.

Like those poor domesticated turkeys plummeting earthward in that Thanksgiving episode, we can't become something we're not and suddenly take flight.