How To Read Your Opponent In Poker: A Guide To Common Poker Tells | The Communication Blog

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

How To Read Your Opponent In Poker: A Guide To Common Poker Tells

By Bruno Chauvet

Being able to read your opponent is crucial in poker. It is what differentiates a game of skill such as poker from other games of chance such as roulette. Everybody has poker tells at the table and the more you observe, the better you will be able to read what a player is thinking and what cards they hold. Poker tells include any source of information that you can gather from an opponent including physical movement, changing and patterns of talking as well as how they move the chips around the table.

The Eyes Reading a player starts with their eyes. Watch how they view the world and you will gain insight into their thoughts. An opponent who glances at their chips immediately after seeing the flop is thinking about betting and likely has a monster. Some players will stare at their hole cards longer than normal when they have a big hand. When the flop comes down and the player stares at the flop as if staring straight through it, they have often missed.

Hole Cards Double checking their hole cards is a useful tell, if someone saw two Aces the first time, they don't need to look a second. Looking away and uninterested when checking your hole cards is always strong. Players usually stare longer at cards that are bad than cards that are good. They look away to deceive you instinctively. When player's glance back at their hand when the flop comes out monotone, you can almost be certain that they did not flop a flush. Instead, what it probably means is that they have one of that suit. If you notice someone that looks at one card before they look at their second e.g. if they look at their first card then immediately look at their second; you can probably assume that the first card wasn't very good. However, if they look at their first card, then take a moment to squeeze out the next card, this is probably because the first card was an ace.

Betting Patterns Strong means weak and weak means strong, when someone is bluffing, they feel the need to look strong. If you notice a player forcefully betting his chips, he is probably bluffing. If a player looks and then checks instantly, it's unlikely that he improved his hand." When a player at the table takes an unusual amount of time to act, this is generally an indication that he has a big hand. If a player looks at his hand then bets instantly, it is highly unlikely that he is bluffing. As said above, a forceful or exaggerated bet usually means weakness. So what do you think a soft and innocent looking bet means? It almost always indicated that the player has a strong hand.

Chip Stacks Studying how the chips are put out, the amount of bet, whether it is large chips or small chips can give clues to betting tells. Loose aggressive players usually have unorganised stacks while tight conservative players keep neat stacks. Some players keep two stacks in cash games, these type of players will stack their winnings off to the side or in front so they can easily tell how much they are up on the game. If you can determine this, they will be less likely to call a bet which would put them in the red for the game, unless they have a very strong hand. If you ever notice a player winning a large pot, and perhaps may still be stacking their chips from it, they will not play the hand unless they have good cards.

Voice Changes If a player is talking smoothly while in a hand, it means he is not overly concerned about the hand he is playing. This is because he feels comfortable and usually means a big hand. Any speech means strength. Any question directly at your or the dealer means strength e.g. Is it my turn to bet?. An opponent that is acting rude is trying to induce a spite call.

There are many poker tells. If you keep your eyes open and always watch the table, you'll be on the right track to becoming a great player.

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