lets talk about tells

[timwakefield 68]

i think another great tell are those people who just constantly act out of turn. usually it happens when someone sees the flop starts pushing checks in, realizes it's not their turn, and pulls back. likewise they fold in the same manner, cards are pushing forward, they wait for actions when they realize they dont have to fold yet and pull back...oddly enough some of these people will see a flop anyway and are ready to fold to the first bet with paint on the flop...strangeobvious advantages from these. you can lput in extra bets or save extra bets.

I've seen lots of people check out of turn (especially after the flop), and as a rule I think you have to bet there. They never call hahaha.Also you can use a 'reverse tell' by betting out of turn when you want to get information. Quickly throw out a good-sized bet out of turn, then apologize and take it back. If your opponent then bets you should probably at least call, and if he checks you can either try and steal the pot or slyly check and get a free card. It's cheating, so never do it twice haha.

[Kangaroo 0]

side note: about the bouncing girl that was in royal's sig, how do you guys know her age? Does she have a website or are there more pics out there? :twisted:

[goose 0]

Copied from another thread:When I play with new players to live games there's ALWAYS some basic tells I can pick up right away:1. When they're all in or just made a raise, and they stare at you aggressively, trying to stare you down, it's usually a sign of weakness. If they look away from the game, and pretend not to be interested in what's happening or what your decision is going to be it's often a sign of strength.2. If a weak player hits a card on the flop, they generally stare at it for an extra second or two. this is a HUGE tell, and one that's tipped me off to hands so often in my home games I can't even fathom how much money I've made/saved off of it. Players who glance over the flops a couple of times generally didn't get helped by it (or sometimes they have a big pocket pair and are just making sure it's not coordinated enough to scare them)... this is another fairly big one.3. If someone goes all-in on you and you're debating calling, sometimes talking it out will help get a read. If you say something like "well I have two pair, what could you have that you'd bet like this, trips?" and they respond by pointing out something else they could have, it's usually weakness (if they wanted a call they generally wouldn't want to discourage you or point else what could have you beat)... this is different from them being like "Ya fold I've got the nuts" really aggressively.4. If they're chewing gum, playing with chips, or doing something else repetative and they all of a sudden stop what they're doing when they make a raise (or you can notice that they stop breathing), it's usually a sign of weakness.These are the four biggest ones I pick up on in my home games, and these are generally only done by weak/new players, although there's a couple of really strong technical players who give away their hands pretty often. Reading this book will give you more of an idea what not to do.My advice for your big games is to pick a routine/face/expression which you stick to, and DO NOT talk to other players in the middle of a hand, and DO NOT show your cards, no matter what the situation is. If you're really experienced and know what you're doing there are times, but rookies tend to like to impress other people by showing, or when someone says "he's so full of shit" when you weren't.... DO NOT TALK AND DO NOT SHOW... trust me, I'm only an average play but I can usually pick a new player to live games out fairly quickly, and read him pretty accurately.If you're getting badly outplayed, and really think these people have a great read on you and are going to eat you alive.... start pushing preflop.Good luck.

[gaddyjr 0]

This has been interesting. I generally play live at a $1/$2NL or a $2/$5NL game in Tunica. To me, some of the easiest tells to pick up on are:- Hands shaking - Generally a dead give-a-way- If you watch someone's eyes when the turn and river come out, they will generally look away quickly if they hit - they want to appear uninterested. On the other hand, if they miss, they generally study the board as if they are trying to make a hand.- The way people check - After the button moves around the table a couple of times it is fairly easy to see how people check when they do not have a hand. They usually act quickly, just trying to get to the next hand. This makes it easier to determine if they are trying to trap- Staring you down after making a big bet - I've had guys make a bet and then look at me like they wanted to fight. They might as well have written "BLUFF" on their forehead.

[timwakefield 68]

Players often look at their hand before it is their turn to act. A lot of times you can tell when they are going to fold long before it's their turn to act.

[THE_ANDYAA 0]

The best tell I ever "exploited" was at a home game. I say this because it made me lay down quite a big hand. Two of us saw the flop, I was holding AK it was raised preflop. Flop comes AAQ. I was happy, and bet, but got pushed all in. I started talking to myself like I do and hemming and hawing. My opponent starting getting very impatient, after only about 15 seconds, saying things like, " you already know if you're going to call or not hurry up." I ended up mucking the hand because I felt like he had the AQ for the boat. I folded and he showed his hand out of frustration. He in fact had the AQ. I don't know if it was a one case thing, but the sincere impatience this guy helped me win the tournament we were playing.

[ricker 0]

Best thing I found to avoid giving off tells is learning to memorize your hand with your first glance at your cards (when the action gets to you preflop of course) There's nothing wrong with checking and rechecking, but I've found that when I watch people who check and recheck their cards after the flop/turn/river are usually looking to see if they hit their draws. What really helped me out in learning to memorize those cards is just dealing myself hands at home, looking at each one in turn and making a game outta which cards are where. Start with just the value of the cards, then move onto color of the cards, and finally the suits. I think a lot of online players get lazy because their cards are constantly on display, so when they make the jump to live play, they're constantly looking at their cards because they've forgotten exactly what they had. When they do that usually you can get yourself a whole 'nother opportunity to get information from them.

[ben_wallace 0]

Ok so we have done a lot of what basic tells are and a few stories of them, I know most of these and I am teaching myself to look harder for them. I am actually not bad at spotting them and trying to exploit them, but I want to get better at it, that experience though.Heres where I really want to go, how do you spot tells on yourself. After reading Caro I spotted I did teh look away with a strong hand so I have stopped that, also playing heads up in a home game tournament I noticed a tell no teh way I placed my chips when bluffing, which I have since stopped, but I know some of my friends have some tells on me and if they can spot them better players will to. They obviously dont have them down pat cause I still keep them guessing but sometimes I know they have worked me out and i wont b happy till i work it out.How can you possibly spot tells on yourself?

[steve7stud 0]

Ok so we have done a lot of what basic tells are and a few stories of them, I know most of these and I am teaching myself to look harder for them. I am actually not bad at spotting them and trying to exploit them, but I want to get better at it, that experience though.Heres where I really want to go, how do you spot tells on yourself. After reading Caro I spotted I did teh look away with a strong hand so I have stopped that, also playing heads up in a home game tournament I noticed a tell no teh way I placed my chips when bluffing, which I have since stopped, but I know some of my friends have some tells on me and if they can spot them better players will to. They obviously dont have them down pat cause I still keep them guessing but sometimes I know they have worked me out and i wont b happy till i work it out.How can you possibly spot tells on yourself?

I answered that question in the first page of this thread.

[etip 0]

I have done this maybe four or five times --I can't think of any way to describe this except to use an example. This only works in holdem (limit or no limit) really. Say I have looked at my cards and I know I have AJ off-suit. The flop comes w/ 3 spades. What if I've forgotten whether I have the Ace or Jack of spades? I don't want to look back at my cards because that is obvious to everyone at the table, so I study everyone else who is in the hand, and I try to determine if someone is scared of the nut flush draw, or if someone may have the draw, and if I think I have a chance to take the pot away later in the hand. If I sense weakness I will usually check-call the flop, and bet on the turn if it is a good card (which could be a spade or not a spade, depending on my read) - whatever it takes to win without a showdown. Obviously you have to have a good read on your opponent(s) and how much pressure they can stand to make this play (or to know not to make this play).I guess this is more of a way to avoid giving off a tell about yourself because you could either have the draw or not, you're not even sure yourself! But it also has to do w/ getting reads on your opponents to know how to play the hand.Finally, the beauty of the play is if you have mis-judged your opponent and he calls your bluff (?) the whole way, you get to have a little fun and squeeze your cards real tight cause you just might have ended up making the best hand if a spade does hit, and if you did, it's like winning the lottery, lol.As a side note, I have only done this in 3-6 limit and 1-2 nl because I don't care about those stakes so much (which probably improves my play actually) - but I don't know if I would have the balls to do this in a bigger game.

[UVaScott 0]

I would also like to add.....that it is important to work on your tells at home....get yourself a good set of chips and practice betting and putting chips in the pot....Personally..I can beat most home games by just watching people put chips in the pot....Becoming a good chip handler and becoming CONSISTENT with how you bet will reduce your tells significantly....

Could you elaborate on this one? I notice these things but have a hard time applying them when the times comes....

[alf13 0]

I would also like to add.....that it is important to work on your tells at home....get yourself a good set of chips and practice betting and putting chips in the pot....Personally..I can beat most home games by just watching people put chips in the pot....Becoming a good chip handler and becoming CONSISTENT with how you bet will reduce your tells significantly....

Could you elaborate on this one? I notice these things but have a hard time applying them when the times comes....

Sure.......It is easy....Most people are not used to handling chips.....most people don't play poker often enough to be very "handy" with chips...so they have a hard time counting out bets...etc....Since it is something that most people don't do often...they reveal things about their hand by how they bet and how they handle their chips....If handling chips becomes second nature to you...you will be able to "standardize" how you bet...and thus...reveal NO patterns on how you put chips in the pot.As for watching other players put chips in the pot...of course...use all of the standard tells that Caro talks about....but I really like to look at the hands...the relaxed motion of the hand or the tense twitch of a hand.......speed of the counting of the chips....how deliberate they are in counting out a bet....The Hands tell you everything.....now...with a more seasoned player....you will have problems picking up ANYTHING.

[Dixie Wrecked 0]

Best thing I found to avoid giving off tells is learning to memorize your hand with your first glance at your cards (when the action gets to you preflop of course) There's nothing wrong with checking and rechecking, but I've found that when I watch people who check and recheck their cards after the flop/turn/river are usually looking to see if they hit their draws. What really helped me out in learning to memorize those cards is just dealing myself hands at home, looking at each one in turn and making a game outta which cards are where. Start with just the value of the cards, then move onto color of the cards, and finally the suits. I think a lot of online players get lazy because their cards are constantly on display, so when they make the jump to live play, they're constantly looking at their cards because they've forgotten exactly what they had. When they do that usually you can get yourself a whole 'nother opportunity to get information from them.

If one (not necessarily you ricker) is not able to immediately memorize their cards by simply glancing at them, perhaps poker is not the game for them since memory is a part of the game.The way I remember cards is say I have A J . I dont think in my head Ace of Spades, Jack of Hearts. I think Ace, Jack; Spade, Heart. It doesnt seem like a big difference but for me it's easier to remember.

[ben_wallace 0]

Ok so we have done a lot of what basic tells are and a few stories of them, I know most of these and I am teaching myself to look harder for them. I am actually not bad at spotting them and trying to exploit them, but I want to get better at it, that experience though.Heres where I really want to go, how do you spot tells on yourself. After reading Caro I spotted I did teh look away with a strong hand so I have stopped that, also playing heads up in a home game tournament I noticed a tell no teh way I placed my chips when bluffing, which I have since stopped, but I know some of my friends have some tells on me and if they can spot them better players will to. They obviously dont have them down pat cause I still keep them guessing but sometimes I know they have worked me out and i wont b happy till i work it out.How can you possibly spot tells on yourself?

I answered that question in the first page of this thread.

Ok fair enough you said have a friend watch you, however how can you trust them when you are playing them regularly. If a friend I play with often ahs a tell I won't tell him cause I want to use it myself, so how can I expect him to do any different with me

[steve7stud 0]

Ok so we have done a lot of what basic tells are and a few stories of them, I know most of these and I am teaching myself to look harder for them. I am actually not bad at spotting them and trying to exploit them, but I want to get better at it, that experience though.Heres where I really want to go, how do you spot tells on yourself. After reading Caro I spotted I did teh look away with a strong hand so I have stopped that, also playing heads up in a home game tournament I noticed a tell no teh way I placed my chips when bluffing, which I have since stopped, but I know some of my friends have some tells on me and if they can spot them better players will to. They obviously dont have them down pat cause I still keep them guessing but sometimes I know they have worked me out and i wont b happy till i work it out.How can you possibly spot tells on yourself?

I answered that question in the first page of this thread.

Ok fair enough you said have a friend watch you, however how can you trust them when you are playing them regularly. If a friend I play with often ahs a tell I won't tell him cause I want to use it myself, so how can I expect him to do any different with me

I personally don't have any friends watching me right now. But if you ask someone that you trust who is indeed a friend, they will tell you what your tells are.People LOVE to give constructive criticism.

[nell789 0]

First of all, this is a really good thread steve, well done.Secondly, I'd like to talk about the "staring you down" tell. In a home tournament about a year ago, when i was a reletive newbie to poker, during a critical pot at the final table when I had TPTK, but there was 3 to a flush, and a pair on the board, this guy who I'd never played with bets $20 on the river which would leave me with $1.50 (blinds wer $1/$2). Now this guy gave me the full stare down...leaning forward, eyes popping out of his head, not blinking at all. Now being the young gun that I was, I cleverly picked up this "tell" (I had seen howard lederer's video) and called. Well turns out the guy had 4 of a kind :oops: and I lost the pot. Luckily I was able to come back and win the tournament . After I made the call, alot of people were critisizing me for not just going all in instead of leaving myself with not even a full bb, but I later rubbed it in about how smart I was to just call, as I won the tournament, but I digress...Anyways, I learned from this that every tell can be different for every person and that there are very few universal tells that are the same for everyone. So when reading someone for the first time, remember to observe them for awhile first before putting too much value in the tells you see them exhibit.

[sirphatticus 0]

when i sit down at live game, the first thing i do is find a spot to stare at. sometimes its the floor managers' ass, sometimes its the dealers right hand... its all irrelevant... i just always stare at that spot consistently. im pretty sure it has been said, but consistency is definatley a giant part of it... and im a shaker, my hands always shake a little bit... its great when people think its a tell.but i think personnaly, physical tell are all too easy to be faked, and none of them are consistent enough to be employed on a regular basis. betting patterns, IMO, are much more important to focus on. i know this is a tell thread, but thats my opinion on physical tells.other than that, just watch how they eat their oreos.MATT DAMONN!!!!