Interesting Poker Tells
If you are a novice player, it would be extremely helpful for you to know Poker Tell. Poker Tell is an habit, behavior, or physical reaction that gives other players more information about your hand. Consider the following as tips supplied by the pros, which you can apply against novice or advanced players. You should keep in the mind that in poker there are many contradictions and exceptions to the rule. Also, you should be wary of experienced pros who tend to give out false tells to inexperienced players.
Facial Expression
Facial expression is another very important tell as many pros try to disguise their entire face by wearing a cap and looking downward. Lots of players employ this tactic to avoid the blunt stare down that experienced poker players resort to and are famous for. Experienced players may try to study your face for nervousness to detect a weak hand or even look for repetitive characteristics like a body tic. They will be watching for any signs you may evince when you may have genuine concern on your face when your hand is weak. Conversely, you may show a happy face and will be confident when your hand is strong.
Watch the Eyes
You know that the eyes rarely lie, this is why many experienced players wear sunglasses or visors/caps when playing. You will witness that many players can't help, but stare at big hole cards, so their length of time peeking is longer. On the other hand, if a player is looking to steal the pot, he may look to his left to see if the remaining players who haven't yet acted to quickly have a glance at their cards and are likely to fold. Another situation would be when a player asks you questions about your hand, knowing that people rarely can "look someone straight in the eyes" while being dishonest.
Weak is Strong/Strong is Weak
This, in its most simplistic form, applies to new and inexperienced players, but frequently applies to experienced ones as well. The bottom line is that players tend to be actors and when they have a monster hand, they act to look disinterested. A typical situation occurs when a player says "Oh, is it my turn to act" or "Oh, I guess I will play these cards." You should be careful when a player increases the level of his voice while raising the pot and tries to look intimidating may actually be running a bluff. Remember that this tell can be easily detected, if you are careful.
Glance at Chips
Glancing, as you would understand, is related to the eyes. Very difficult to detect, but it is actually very common for players to quickly have a glance at their chips if they connect with the board after a flop. For example, this may be a subconscious reaction, but it is quite possible that the player is already planning his attack.
Trembling Hands
Trembling hands are also considered to be a byproduct of anxiety. You should be wary of a player whose hands are trembling, as this nervousness may be an indication of a big hand.
Peeking Hole Cards on Flop
When thE board is showing a potential 3-Card Flush Draw some players will take another look at their hole cards. In reality, the player is looking to see if one of his cards is connecting because he remembers only that the 2 cards are different suits.
Anxiety
You would know that anxiety typically occurs in people when they are either confronted or anticipating confrontation. Psychologists refer to this as the Fight or Flight Stimulus-Response, which links back to the days when we were cavemen/cave women. When you have anxiety physical changes also occurs including flexing of muscles, eye pupil dilation, palpitating heart rate, dry throat, trembling hands, sweating, etc. In poker, however, when someone has a big hand they are typically ready for confrontation and tend to exhibit some of these characteristics. You may witness the chest expanding abnormally or you may notice the players become slightly higher as he says something. Some of the extremely experienced players in the game will try to stare at the vein on the topside of your face for blood pressure changes. During a bluff, the player may demonstrate some kind of anxiety, but may look quite comfortable if he knows that he will fold the hand if re-raised.
Betting Patterns
You should try to observe the betting pattern of some players. Remember that the most revealing tells are based on the way players habitually bet during particular situations. Typical situations would be when the player always checks when he has made the nuts or a player may regularly fold after being re-raised.
Chip Stacking
You should study the way the players stack their chips when you first sit down at a table. Although, it is a generalization, loose aggressive players typically maintain unorganized or sloppy stacks whereas conservative players will keep well organized or neat stacks.
Body Posture/Attitude
You can be assured that some players elicit changes in their posture based on their hand or attitude strength. You may witness that the shoulders of players slumps when they are not confident indicating that they have a weak hand. Also, you might notice that the player is very attentive and sits in an erect position when he has strength. You may also notice that the player leans forward in a confrontational situation when he or she bluffs a lot.
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