Live Tells

[Jezza]

Reading about swampsters experience in the gutshot cardroom in another thread got me to remembering there is another way to play poker apart from sat at your computer infront of sky sports :lol. Playing poker live is a totally different kettle of fish..People fold more, theres more "chastising" of the so called bad players, people notice others habits such as tight, loose or just plain crazy far more so than is noticed online and of course there are the classic "tells". The subtle body language clues people give off as to the strength of their hands. IMO knowing the most common ones and basic theory behind it all is VITAL to stand a good chance live. Not only becuase it will help you pick off some clues as to others hands but also because it will stop you giving off the classic ones yourself. Most of the stuff I am about to write about has come out of mike caros book on tells, this is a classic (and until recently rare, out of print and highly sought after) book with vast amounts of great information and if you are going to play live a lot I suggest investing in it is not a bad thing - aside from anything else it will help you judge other people in rl as well :D . Basically tells fall into two groups. Ones people are not aware they are giving off and ones people know they are giving off (called the "acting tells). The first category there are a few things you can look for. The most common, and almost EVERYONE does this, is the glancing at chips. You have to be quick to catch it and you must be looking at someone when they look at their cards or see the next card come off but if they like what they see you will almost always see a quick subconcious glance at their pile of chips. It will only last for a fraction of a second and if it is the true tell you will know its not an act but it is a sign of real strength. You can use this to fold marginal hands or go for a checkraise if you have a monster...just apply it to your situation. Playing in a hold em final table if the first position looked down at his hole cards, glanced at his chips then flat called I would have to put him on AA or KK. You will notice also that someone who only looks at their cards quickly before hiding them likely has a very good preflop hand - anyone who looks at their cards and continues to stare at them probably has total rubbish. Along this line, when the flop comes out in hold em anyone who glances at it for a split second then looks away v quickly is liable to have flopped something large and anyone who continues to stare "interested" at the three cards probably has nothing. Other, more obvious, tells exist subconciously. Anyone eating/drinking or talking with a mate who suddenly stops to play a hand certainly isnt bluffing - if they were in the middle of eating a sandwich and stopped to bet a flop of AA7 you had better fold your A10 quick smart as they sure didnt interrupt themselves with anything weak. When considering if someone is bluffing or not on the end bluffers will NOT want to chat/order drinks off the waitress/takl to you or their friends. If you force a bluffer to talk he will probably come out with gibberish - however if they freely talk about their day at work with their mate you can be sure it isnt a bluff. The other type of tell is that of the "actor". When you make it clear you are looking at someone to try and work out if they hold something good this is what a lot of live players will do. Basically if they want you to fold/have crap/are weak and they bet when you look at them they will act strong! They will stare at you, try and look menacing, narrow their eyes or put on a fake smile. this all adds up to one thing - THEY HOLD SHIT :rollin . Note this can be quite subtle at times but if you start to look for it you will see it. On the opposite, someone holding a strong hand and begging for a call/raise will try to look disinterested/away/not a threat at all so as to try and not look any sort of threat to the rest of the table. Basically you have to decide if the person is acting what they want you to do and dissapoint them time and time again. Teasing someone a little and telling them you can read them like a book is liable to bring these tells on even stronger and make them even easier to read. Jez

[Norfolk Enchance]

Re: Live Tells I've read Caro's book Jezza and would also highly recommend it. Don't think there's anything else out there quite like it. I particularly like the last one you mention. He is spot on - in live games people tend to look at you and make very little movement if they are bluffing. If they hold a good hand they will tend to look away from you and act more uncomfortable. Thats what I have found anyway. Great read :clap