Alerting Friends Of Their Tells...

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

I have a friend with whom I play on a regular basis. For some reason I just ALWAYS seem to have his number. He is overall a decent player, but NEVER has managed to wind up beating me. At one point, Last night we were playing and I wasn't in the hand. He lead out on the Turn and I KNEW he was bluffing. I took a moment to analyze why I knew this with my usual certainty where he is concerned. I replayed the last few minutes of his behavior. And as I looked at him I noticed his left hand was on his face and realized that was probably his tell! At the end of the hand he proudly showed his Bluff. While he is a decent player, he isn't likely to employ "false tells". As the night wore on I confirmed he had a tendency to put his hand to his face when I felt he was Bluffing. I wondered how long I had been sub-consciously picking up on this. A huge part of my game is getting a read on my opponents - however it is rare for me to detect such an explicit physical tell. I had to think of the "Oreo Cookie Tell" from "Rounders"I see absolutely nothing wrong with taking anyone's money at the table, including (especially!) that of a friend. And, of course, in Live Poker Physical Tells are crucial. However today when we were "debriefing" last night's game, I decided to clue him in on his tell. For me, part of the "Social Aspect" of Poker is working with my Friends to dissect our games and improve. Part of the Quid Pro Quo of collaborative analysis is bringing something to the discussion that helps my friends improve too. I will be interested to see if it helps his game.

[Bad Muscle 0]

DO ME YO YO MASTER, DO ME

[El Guapo 8]

Depends, who at the table is packing heat?

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

I hope I am not coming across as some self proclaimed "Tell Master". On my best days I am an above average player, but I do notice things. Just found this interesting.

[Bad Muscle 0]

no, i just felt like saying thatsry

[Merby 3]

Tell him to stop eating Oreo cookies at the table. :PIn all seriousness, though, it depends on the atmosphere of the game. Your friend might take offense to your info, he might not. I play at a home game with some good friends who all take poker serious. We stop at nothing to beat each other ion that game, but since the stakes are meaningless relative to our normal poker ventures, we are also freely talking about our strategies and thought processes in the hand and during the session.I remember one hand when we had a less poker-savvy friend join us (call him Bob). He ended up calling down one of the TAG regulars with J-high, no draw (looking for a pair...?) At the end of the hand he mucks on the river, and before the cards are lost in the muck pile, another friend of mine (call him Jeff) reaches over, picks up the cards and starts berating him about how he had no business being in that hand with those hole cards. He goes into a 5 minute tirade about hand selection, selective aggression, and generally the raise-or-fold mentality that Bob was lacking. I ended up giving Jeff a hard time about how he handled the situation (revealing a mucked hand, 5 minute tirade, ... seriously???) but he *was* right. As a plus, Bob never made that stupid call-down again.On another unrelated note, Bob has yet to join us for another home game... he is always busy... Hmmm...

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Depends, who at the table is packing heat?

"Excuse me - I just noticed that everytime you touch your gun you're Bluffing...""...that's not my gun, and I'm not bluffing."

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Tell him to stop eating Oreo cookies at the table. :PIn all seriousness, though, it depends on the atmosphere of the game. Your friend might take offense to your info, he might not. I play at a home game with some good friends who all take poker serious. We stop at nothing to beat each other ion that game, but since the stakes are meaningless relative to our normal poker ventures, we are also freely talking about our strategies and thought processes in the hand and during the session.I remember one hand when we had a less poker-savvy friend join us (call him Bob). He ended up calling down one of the TAG regulars with J-high, no draw (looking for a pair...?) At the end of the hand he mucks on the river, and before the cards are lost in the muck pile, another friend of mine (call him Jeff) reaches over, picks up the cards and starts berating him about how he had no business being in that hand with those hole cards. He goes into a 5 minute tirade about hand selection, selective aggression, and generally the raise-or-fold mentality that Bob was lacking. I ended up giving Jeff a hard time about how he handled the situation (revealing a mucked hand, 5 minute tirade, ... seriously???) but he *was* right. As a plus, Bob never made that stupid call-down again.On another unrelated note, Bob has yet to join us for another home game... he is always busy... Hmmm...

Tap... tap... tap...Look at the fishies scatter!It is pretty funny to realize some of the habits you fall into in "friendly home games" by the reactions of "new blood"

[Merby 3]

Tap... tap... tap...Look at the fishies scatter!It is pretty funny to realize some of the habits you fall into in "friendly home games" by the reactions of "new blood"

So true......Nevertheless, we started this home game with the express purpose of improving our play (in all forms of poker) and not to make money off each other. So I suppose we have been following that original plan to a T.

[dna4ever 2]

most obvious tell I have ever seen is at a guy I used to play in a live game every week with who bet with his right hand when confident and left hand when weak. Strangest thing I've ever seen and it was consistently true at least 80 - 90% of the time.

[Mercury69 3]

That Oreo cookie tell in Rounders is SofaKing stupid. It's the equivalent of setting of a roman candle when you have a good hand (or whtever it meant). People rarely have tells like that and if Matt Damon was the first to pick it up off Teddy KGB, then all Teddy's previous opponents were morons.Anyway, if this guy is really your buddy, you might want to let him know what his tell is, because it'll cost him a lot to find out in Vegas or anywhere else for that matter...

[Merby 3]

That Oreo cookie tell in Rounders is SofaKing stupid. It's the equivalent of setting of a roman candle when you have a good hand (or whtever it meant). People rarely have tells like that and if Matt Damon was the first to pick it up off Teddy KGB, then all Teddy's previous opponents were morons.Anyway, if this guy is really your buddy, you might want to let him know what his tell is, because it'll cost him a lot to find out in Vegas or anywhere else for that matter...

Obviously Teddy KGB was an online pro who was just settling in to live play. Matt Damon was just lucky enough to be one of his first live opponents...

[Acid_Knight 2]

Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please I beg you not to discuss the legitimacy of that movie.

[No_Neck 0]

Depends, who at the table is packing heat?

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please I beg you not to discuss the legitimacy of that movie.

You mean that just because you bluff Johnny Chan off of a random pot in AC doesn't mean you're automatically ready to TP&MM?

[Mercury69 3]

Obviously Teddy KGB was an online pro who was just settling in to live play. Matt Damon was just lucky enough to be one of his first live opponents...

lol...Merby, I'mma call you for answers, bro. You always have a good one...

[bbgun 0]

most obvious tell I have ever seen is at a guy I used to play in a live game every week with who bet with his right hand when confident and left hand when weak. Strangest thing I've ever seen and it was consistently true at least 80 - 90% of the time.

So there was a 70/30 chance that 80% of the time he was bluffing when putting in chips with his left hand?

[Dratj 0]

Yah, I would tell my friend too. Unless you don't really care about this friend too much.

[Gaffer 0]

just take his money

[Bad Muscle 0]

That Oreo cookie tell in Rounders is SofaKing stupid. It's the equivalent of setting of a roman candle when you have a good hand (or whtever it meant). People rarely have tells like that and if Matt Damon was the first to pick it up off Teddy KGB, then all Teddy's previous opponents were morons.Anyway, if this guy is really your buddy, you might want to let him know what his tell is, because it'll cost him a lot to find out in Vegas or anywhere else for that matter...

DIAF

[Landshark 0]

I've known my brother's tell for years! I have even told him he has one, but I won't tell him what it is. It drives him nuts!! I figure it's payback for the lifetime of beatings he gave me when we were kids! Revenge is so sweet

[wsox8 10]

If it's not for serious money then yeah I would tell him. He might appreciate it and if he doesn't then that's too bad because you potentially saved him money by telling him.

[EStormOk 0]

In our home game (most of the guys take it pretty serious, but aren't near as good as they think) one guy always uses low denomination chips to bet when he is weak and big when he is stong.edit.No, I haven't told him and have even made jokes about when someone else does the same thing and he never has caught on.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

It really would depend on my friend. I have maybe 2 friends, whom I play with live, who's opinions I value and trust. I would tell them about any tells they had, and they would tell me, because we all are trying to improve our play. If your friend was that kind of friend, IE a friend who's information and feedback is more valuable than exploiting the tell, then I'd tell him. Most of my other friends I'd just take their money gleefully.