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Understanding Poker Tells

As you already know, poker is a game based on information availability. We don’t ever know for sure how good or bad another player’s hand is, often until it’s too late. But because poker is a game of human interaction, we sometimes receive clues from other players, based on changes in their betting patterns or their physical demeanour, which indicates the strength or weakness of their hand. These are called "tells". A player gains an advantage if he observes and understands the meaning of another player’s tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may even fake a tell, hoping to induce his opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell.

The Two Forms of Tells

Tells come in two forms; betting patterns and physical tells.

Betting Patterns

Betting patterns are the most dependable tells. By studying the way a player bets both past and present, you will have more information and be better able to judge whether to check or bet. These betting patterns will remain your main tells. As with all tells, a baseline for each player should be established. How long does he take to bet with a good/bad hand? When he bluffs? How much does he bet in any given situation and why? Does he bet one-half the pot when he bluffs and bets the pot when he has a hand? The more you ask yourself what range of hands could your opponent have, or why did he bet that way, gives you a better your chance of knowing what action to take.

Physical Tells

Physical tells, many of which are dramatized in movies and television, are the most fun. They can help a player win some crucial pots over a lifetime. Recently in a WPT Circuit Event, a player pushed all-in on a critical hand. I had been playing with him for three hours. Right away, I noticed he was holding his breath (tell #1) and frozen (tell #2). But this was not evidence enough for me to call him. I stared at him for over 45 seconds before he moved. He drank from his water bottle but looked very uncomfortable (tell #3). As he squirmed in his chair (tell #4), I wondered if this was an elaborate act, but when his foot wrapped around the chair leg (tell #5) and his hand stroked his mouth (tell #6), I announced call with ace high, and his chips helped propel me into the money. But, unless you are a savant, learning and analyzing a cluster of tells does take some work.

What makes tells hard to implement is the way they vary from player to player. For example, a player may throw his chips into the pot with force, and then leave his hands out near the action. For most players this means a big hand, for other players, it is a bluff. Some tells are false, many are contradictory, and some are just downright unreliable. There is no magic to it. As you make observation a habit, you will learn to sift through these multiple tells and notice that the first tell is very often genuine, and the shortest tell is the most reliable. Most long, drawn out tells are false, set up to confuse. We have all seen a Hollywood tell as someone makes a screwed up face of displeasure and then bets! A small probe bet or feeler bet (more on these later in the course) is a useful tool to test the reactions of an opponent and gain more information. The general rule is that weakness usually means strength, and strength usually means weakness. But, you must decide how much weight to give a tell at any given moment. If you make learning tells fun, it will be an ever-changing, exciting part of your poker arsenal.

List of Poker Tells

The list of tells in this lesson is a general guide. The reliability of each varies, and guessing how reliable each tell is becomes an art form. Many tells mean strong with one player and weak with another, it is up to you to tell the difference by being observant.

Tells Before The Cards Are in the Air:

  • If a player buys his chips in a loud, flamboyant, money waving act, he will play that way.
  • A conservative approach to dressing means a conservative style of poker.
  • Sloppy chips stack, usually means sloppy play.
  • If a player is performing chip tricks, then you know he’s unlikely to be a complete beginner.

Tells That May Indicate a Strong Hand:

  • Fluid speech.
  • Shaking hands.
  • Full relaxed lips.
  • A full, ear to ear, relaxed smile.
  • Eyes open, not blinking.
  • Stare at flop, and then glance out of corner of eye at players.
  • Blood pressure is up. Red in the face or throbbing vain in neck or head.
  • Drawing in a big breath, nose flaring, and rapid breathing usually mean ready for action.
  • Glancing at chip stacks (their own or yours) to see how much to bet.
  • Impatient, wants to bet.
  • Suddenly sits back in chair, relaxed, calling or betting.
  • Suddenly sits up in chair, becomes very attentive.
  • A player’s hands or fingers going closer toward the action, toward the middle of the table.
  • Anything held up in the air, shoulders, head, nose, fingers, thumbs, or eyebrows arching.
  • Sliding chips delicately, quietly into the pot.
  • Look at flop then glancing intensely at players.
  • Cheek muscles start to flex.
  • Some players try to act relaxed, looking off at a TV or a waitress, and then betting.
  • Pupils of eyes get bigger.
  • Protecting hole cards more than normal.
  • Acting weak by making a noise, sighing or shrugging as they call or raise. (Why give away information when you do not have to? They would not!) (Weakness means strength.)

Tells That May Indicate a Weak Hand:

  • Incoherent, forced, high pitched, slow, broken, or unnatural speech.
  • Holding breath and not moving.
  • Putting chips into the pot with great force.
  • Staring right at you. (Strength means weakness.)
  • Picking up a handful of chips like they will go into the pot if you bet.
  • Play acting like they are going to turn their cards over prematurely.
  • Checking hole cards after flop.
  • Treating their hole cards carelessly.
  • Inhales when he misses and stares blankly into space.
  • Breaths through mouth when worried.
  • Licking or sticking out lips.
  • Lips tense, and get smaller.
  • Upper lip develop stiffens.
  • Biting lip.
  • Tongue in cheek.
  • Covers mouth.
  • Eyes squinting.
  • Eyes blinking.
  • Eyeballs rolling.
  • Hand over eyes.
  • A fake smile.
  • Nail biting.
  • Hugging oneself.
  • Hands and arms go toward the body, toward safety.
  • Rubbing of hands, arms, legs, neck, hair, nose, lips, and chin, to pacify oneself.
  • Nervously pressing and wring ones hands till knuckles turn white.
  • If they stop riffling chips, shaking leg, grinding teeth, tapping, chewing toothpick or gum.

Questions to Obtain Tells

Questions are a potent tool to read opponents. Ask a player any question when you meet him to get a benchmark for his answer. Read his tone, fluctuation, and all mannerisms of his answer. It can be something simple like, "Do you live here?" "Is that drink good?" Later ask him if he has a good hand and compare the way he answers. Here are some other questions that can help break barriers, and allow you to understand some players:

  • Do you play cards online?
  • Have you been playing poker long?
  • Is there any advantage to reading poker books?
  • Who made the last bet?
  • How many chips do you have left?
  • Did you put in the right amount of chips?
  • Is it your bet? (when it is not).
  • Did you raise before the flop?
  • Was that you that raised last hand with JT?
  • Are you on a draw?
  • Do you have three sixes beat?
  • Why did you bet that much?
  • Is that your drink/food/cup holder/lucky piece?

Beginner Tells

It’s important to recognize that beginners will not go to great lengths to confuse you with reverse tells. Don’t read too much into their bet timing or the body language they are giving off. If you are going to look for psychological tells, just know that the most obvious ones are going to be the most accurate. But in reality, most of the "tells" you will get from beginners are simply about their betting patterns.

Online Poker Tells

The laundry list of poker tells listed in this lesson so far is of little use in online poker – since there is no face to face interaction. You are pretty much limited to reading betting patterns. But remember, betting patterns are the most reliable of all poker tells, and this is something you have to focus on and pay attention to when playing poker online. Look out for changes in a player’s betting pattern, and to enhance readability, you can combine the amount bet, with any table talk and response time. Take notes on how each player acts and re-acts. A large amount of time before calling can sometimes mean a weak hand, and a fast call usually means a drawing hand. But don’t pay too much attention to response times, since for all you know the online player is also reading a book, watching TV, or rushing back from the bathroom.

Practice is the Key

Looking for tells does not come naturally for most of us. But, after a while you will observe the flow and motion of the table, sifting through countless confusing bits of information, calculating whether to check or bet, all the while relaxing, having fun, talking, ordering drinks, and doing some cheap chip tricks. Once you learn to read the cards (mathematical odds and technical aspect) what is left? Reading people!

Practice is the key to reading any tell. Whether you are a trained observer in poker or a trained criminal scene investigator (CSI), the key word is trained. Learning the poker tells listed above all at one time is difficult. It is more fun to learn a couple every time you play. For an example, one night at your casino, home or bar game notice when a player sits up in his chair and leans toward the action. This sudden interest means he has a good hand. Watch everyone’s posture all night and it will become a habit and you will ‘train’ yourself to be observant at the table.

You do not want to give off tells, so watch yourself. Do you lean toward the action when you have a good hand? Try this – when you have a fair hand (like JT on the button) sit up in your chair, be obvious, squirm around a little, raise the pot, and look at the other players. Notice who looks at you. You just gave them a false tell. They think you have a big hand. Bet the flop and watch them fold. Note which players are not sophisticated enough to notice your Academy Award performance, and be aware of the players that do not ’seem’ to notice but are thinking, was that for real, and who is this hot dog. They are the best players, the players we want to emulate.

Another way to train yourself is to observe just one or two players for the first 10 minutes and then gradually add other players to the mix. Start with the player closest to you, because they are the ones that affect your play the most. For instance, can you tell if the players to your left are going to fold or raise? Can you tell if the opponents on your immediate right are calling with a big hand or just want to see a cheap flop?

Tells are Fun!

Tells are a fun game within the game of poker, and should be exploited. Not many players concentrate on this part of the game. That is why you will have a big advantage when you learn to spot more and more tells as your poker game continues to improve. Whether you are talkative or quiet, practice developing your own style, of getting and not giving off tells. You can do your best, "table talk like a Hollywood agent," Jamie Gold imitation, or be like Mike Sexton, who does not talk much at the table, but likes it when other players talk so he can watch and gain information.

Of course, poker tells are nowhere near as important as learning the fundamentals, but they become increasing important as a player goes from the intermediate to the advanced levels of the game. Some players like Phil Hellmuth say that reading people is 70% of the game at the professional level. Granted, they will not make you money on every hand or every hour, but over time, they will add to your profitability. In any business, if you could increase profits by 10%-30% you’d be very happy.

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