Though poker is a game of chance, and your game is as good as your
hand, there are ways to get the most out of your hand even with a bad
hand. Though this hand won’t likely win the game, it will help
you become a better player.
Learning your opponent’s habits is also very important to your
game. Often times, players have certain expressions and gestures
they use, usually without noticing them, that occur when certain things
happen. For instance, someone who is bluffing may bring their
hand to their face every time they do this. After a while, people
learn to recognize this gesture and know it signifies the player is
bluffing. These types of expressions and gestures are known as
poker tells.
By definition, a poker tell is any habit, behavior, or physical
reaction that gives other players more information about your
hand. The more you play with the same opponents, the more you
will come to recognize such occurrences.
Listed here are tips that can help you spot poker tells. Remember
that in poker there are many contradictions and exceptions. Also,
experienced players often give false tells in order to fool other
players.
Watch the eyes. Many experienced players wear caps or sunglasses
while playing because they know that the eyes rarely lie. For
example, many players can’t help but stare at big hole cards, so they
peek for a longer period of time.
Facial expression. Here too, many experienced players try to
disguise their facial expression by wearing a cap or looking down so as
to avoid the classic stare down that poker pros are famous for like
when trying to study a person’s face to try and detect nervousness
detecting a weak hand, repetitive body characteristics like a body
“tic”.
Weak is Strong/Strong is Weak. In its simplest form, this usually
applies to novice players but can frequently apply to pros as
well. Most players like to act, and when they have a great hand,
they will often appear disinterested thereby, sometimes tricking their
opponents. Adversely, a player who raises the level of his or her
voice while raising the level of the pot, trying to look intimidating,
may actually be bluffing.
Anxiety. Anxiety typically occurs when a player is either
confronted or facing confrontation. Psychologists often call this
the “Fight or Flight” response. This is believed to link back to
cave man days where physical changes happened such as muscle flexing,
dilation of the pupils of the eyes, heart palpitations, ETC. In
poker, a player with a big hand is often ready for confrontation and
may exhibit any or all of these characteristics. You may notice
the player’s chest expanding abnormally, or his or her voice become
higher than usual.
While these are just a few of the poker tells you may notice in your
opponents, they are of the most common to occur. Being able to
spot them is important and essential to your being able to bluff, and
may even help you avoid such tells yourself.
