POKER SKILLS: TELLS

by Scott Paterson

A tell is anything that your opponent(s) do
to give away the strength of their hand.

Tells can be verbal or physical, and they can be instinctive
(unintentional) or designed to mislead (intentional).
Instinctive tells are more reliable, whereas tells designed to
mislead are much harder to decipher.

When you spot what you think is a tell the first thing you should
ask yourself is whether or not the tell you’ve spotted is instinctive
or put on (hint: instinctive tells are more common among average
players, tells designed to mislead are more common among strong
players). Then watch your opponent(s) closely over the course of
a few hands, and see if you can spot a pattern.

Some of the more common tells include:

Betting patterns (instinctive)
Betting patterns are easily the most common and most
reliable tell. They’re common because everyone must bet
at some point during the game. They’re reliable because it’s
human nature to make the best play we think possible.
Oftentimes that means creating patterns.
Does your opponent check or bet their draws?
Does your opponent slow play or bet their strong hands?
What does a minimum bet/raise from your opponent mean?
Does your opponent overbet the pot in an effort to protect weak hands?
All of these things create a pattern which you can use to help
determine the strength of your opponents hand.

General body language (instinctive)
This tell is fairly common and fairly reliable. Your opponent’s
posture will often give away the strength of their hand. Was your
opponent sitting back before looking at their hole cards or the flop,
and is now sitting up looking interested? Something what I like to do
is watch an opponent who has bet out and is awaiting a call.
Watch them closely as the person behind them acts. They’ll often
let you know how they feel about a potential call or raise
(particularly if the person behind them begins to count out chips).
Hand motions can also give away the strength of your opponent’s
hand. Watch how they put their chips in the pot. Players wanting
a call will often place their chips in the pot inconspicuously
(they don’t want to intimidate potential callers).

Chip loading (instinctive)
This tell is common and fairly reliable. Players that are dealt strong
starting hands, or that connect on flops often immediately glance at
their chips. I’m not talking about players that look at their chips
when the action is on them. I’m talking about an immediate and
very brief glance at their chips after they look at their hole cards,
or the flop comes out. Sometimes players don’t even move their heads,
Just their eyes. Preflop, I like to watch my opponent(s) look at their
hole cards, and then look at mine as the action approaches me.
I also like to watch my opponent(s) as the flop comes out, and then
look at the flop as the action approaches me.

Staring (attempt to mislead)
This tell is fairly common, but a little less reliable because
it is an attempt to mislead. There are actually three
manifestations of this tell, but they all mean basically
the same thing. Players that stare at their hole cards,
stare at flops, or stare down opponents are usually weak.
All are thinly veiled attempts to intimidate. Players stare
at their hole cards to make their opponents think that they
possess a powerful hand. They’ll stare at flops for the
same reason. After they bet, they’ll often stare down potential
callers to intimidate them. Since this tell is less reliable
you’ll really have to watch for a pattern to develop.

Gaining information
There are two things I like to do in order to elicit tells from
my opponent(s):

Reach for chips as an opponent is betting
If my opponent hesitates, looks back at his cards, or completes
his bet with added emphasis he/she is likely weak. If he/she
completes their bet in a smooth manner their likely strong.

Count out chips & make it look like I’m going to call
If my opponent stares at me or looks back at their cards
he/she is likely weak. If my opponent smiles at me genuinely
or appears uninterested he/she is likely strong.

REMEMBER: Tells become more reliable as patterns develop.