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Poker Tells and how to Spot Them

Poker tells are any subtle but noticeable behavior or reaction to a players cards that gives an opponent an indication as to the strength of the hand. I have already covered the importance of information in an earlier article and poker tells are closely linked as a tell is in essence, the giving away of information without knowing it. Here we will detail a number of key poker tells although do note that not all of these are relevant when playing online poker as you will not get to see players face to face.

# 1 Facial Expressions / Habits

There is a very good reason that most pros look to conceal their face when they are playing. You will see sun glasses, caps, even hoods in an attempt to stop anyone picking up any tells. A tell can be anything from a nervous twitch to a bead of sweat running down the forehead. It could well be a bit more obvious like a sad look about you when you have a weak hand. In any case, a pro will look at your mannerisms and facial expressions when you win and when you lose and see if there are any repetitive expressions that give away whether you are weak or strong. Another key facial tell is in the eyes - the eyes never lie and a good reason why pros wear sun glasses and visors. For example, players know how difficult it is to look someone in the eyes while being dishonest, a reason why pros ask opponents lots of questions when faced with a tough decision.

#2 Strength when your weak - Weakness when your strong

This is fairly straight forward however players like to act like they have nothing when they are strong and like to show strength when they are weak. It is common place for pros to act disinterested in the hand. This will often be a sign of strength. On the flip side a player might declare, "I have you this time!" indicating that they have a big hand. This is very often a sign of weakness.

#3 Table Talk

Take notice of what is being said at the table as there is plenty of information that you can pick up. For example a talkative player who suddenly falls quiet is likely on a big hand. It is also common place when you are on a big hand that players try to talk to you to see if they can pick up any tells on the strength of your hand.

#4 Nervousness / Anxiety

Players will often get nervous or appear anxious when faced with a make or break decision. Often this is not completely concealed. Some examples of what you may see is a players breathing speeding up as his pulse races, muscle twitches, eye pupil dilation or even taking a drink as the player has a dry throat. They might fidget with their chips when nervous or sit back in their chair when they are strong and hunch when they are weak. Some of these reactions the players might not even notice themselves that they are doing and so will be unaware that they are giving away information.

#5 Looking at your chips

Once a player has looked at his hole cards, another tell is the player glances at his chips. This often indicates a big hand as the player is counting how many chips he is going to bet.

#6 Handling your chips

Often players pick up tells about the way a player handles his chips when he has a big hand compared to when he has nothing. Additionally, there is often information that can be picked up about the way that a player puts his chips into the pot when he is strong or weak. To avoid this you should always put your chips in the same way whether your weak or strong.

#7 Betting Patterns

Betting patterns are a very subtle tell to the observant. It is always a good idea to keep mixing up your game to make sure that you are not playing in a repetitive fashion. An example of a betting pattern might be that you notice that a player always raises when you check to him on the river but when you lead out and bet, he always folds without a hand. This is a betting pattern and a player will use this against the player and will likely check a number of times on the river to induce a bluff.

Does everyone have tells?

In short, pretty much everyone has tells if you watch them long enough. T. J. Cloutier made this statement when commenting on tells..

"We've watched all the really good players over the years--and every one of them has a tell. Even legendary players like Phil Hellmuth, John Bonetti, Stu Ungar and Doyle Brunson. If you observe enough and watch them play hands for long enough, you'll find that they all have a certain tell when they have a really big hand versus just a hand. Of course, the top players don't show tells very often, but they do do it. And that's pretty true of everybody else in poker, too".

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