Common Poker Tells – What They Are And How To Spot Them?
Common Poker Tells
On September 30th 2021, thousands of poker players from all over the world will converge in Las Vegas. They will be taking part in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) which is the world’s longest-running live poker festival. All those who come to play are looking for two things: to take home some winnings, but more importantly to win a coveted WSOP bracelet. This is by far the poker player’s most famous and sought-after piece of poker jewellery. By being able to play well within the rules in order to get their hands on this item, they will need to use all the crafty skills they have under their belts. One method to increase your jackpot winning chances is to be able to analyse the opponent’s common poker tells.
This is not easy. You’ll need to learn to play in the manner of the poker greats like Doug Polk. Each player will do everything possible to disguise any underlying stress or joy from giving themselves away at the poker gaming table.
How Common Poker Tells Can Help A Player
Poker’s often be described as a jackpot game with incomplete information. By that, we mean that you only find out what your opponents are holding if it goes to a showdown or if your opponent decides to show the hole cards. If you’re a poker player then you know that these decisions are based on a number of different factors. These can include such things as an opponent playing style, the stack size, everyone else’s position at the table and the size of the wagers. A player with more experience will make use of his opponent’s common poker tells as an additional source of information. Which leads us to the question, what is a poker tell?
A poker tell is essentially an unconscious physical or verbal action the poker player makes whilst playing at the poker table. Because many of these actions are involuntary, the player is not aware that they are making them. Though you should also be aware that some of the more clever players will give off fake tells as a means of achieving the outcome they want.
Look Into The Eyes
Though some people may claim that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, we don’t need that sort of depth when playing a game of poker. Nevertheless, watching another player’s eyes is going to help you sometimes. You’ll notice that on many televised poker games players are wearing sunglasses. This is not because they want to feel like rockstars. It’s because the eyes really can give away a lot of information. It’s the same story if you’re playing online, especially with a live dealer, like the one you’d find at 32Red Casino. They will offer you a great selection of poker variations, as well as a fantastic casino-like experience.
We’re going to be generalising here when we say that a player who looks you directly in the eyes will probably have a strong hand. As using tells is all about confidence, then if they look squarely into your face, you can feel confident they have a strong hand. And, just as in real life, those people who are bluffing or lack backbone in their decisions, often struggle to keep eye contact. Once again this comes down to the fact that they are uncomfortable in the current situation. Essentially they are lying to you. And when people lie, it can be difficult to maintain eye contact.
Watch Your Opponent’s Hands
It is said that how a player handles their chips will give you an idea as to the strength of hand they’re holding. The first thing to notice is whether their hands are trembling as they handle their cards and chips. In truth, this is more likely to happen with a nervous player who’s inexperienced as opposed to the cool demeanour given off by a veteran player. Having said that, it’s very difficult to fake the trembling of hands to be convincing. To that end, it can be seen as one of the most reliable common poker tells. Unsurprisingly, shaking hands is a symbol of nervousness. On the other side of the coin, they can show that someone is holding an extremely strong hand. This is because the player may be over-excited about the possibility of having such a big win. All that adrenalin pumping around their body will make their hands shake.
See How They Grab Their Chips
Another interesting point you should note is how the players actually grab the chips. Especially when they play with a strong hand or reach out and grab for their chips before any action actually reaches them. In other words, they cannot wait to put more chips into the central pot. Simply because they’re holding a very strong hand. At the opposite end of the scale, we have a player with the weaker hand. He will leave his stack of chips untouched as he has no reason to use them.
In many WSOP competitions, you’ll see players making use of card protectors. How they use them can give you an idea of what they may have in their hand. A very simple example is if a player immediately places their card protector on the hole cards after looking at them Then the chances are that this is a playable hand. On the contrary, if they don’t use the card protector after neglecting to look at their cards, it means that the hand is not as strong as they wanted.
Timing Tells Can Be Reliable Too
The length of time that the player takes to act is probably one of the most common poker tells you will see at WSOP poker competitions. Now, whether you’re an experienced player or a seasoned veteran player, both will use about the same amount of time including checking, calling or raising. We suggest that you do the same. In other words, ensure that the time taken to do all of these operations is exactly the same.
This is because if you take longer other players will assume that you are thinking about making a decision between checking and betting. In some ways, this will indicate that your hand is playable. In which case, many jackpot poker players will assume that this is a drawing hand. They suspect that you’re contemplating whether to semi-bluff or not.
Card Checking Speed
If you make a very quick check of your cards it may mean that your hand is weak. That’s because it requires very little thinking time. And also it’s noticeable that you’re not putting any more chips in the pot. Having said that, be extra careful of a clever player who checks super quickly, in order to lull you into a false sense of security. Note that someone who calls quickly will have some sort of worthwhile hand. But on the other side of the coin, they will not be too happy with it. These tend to be drawing hands and so they’d like to see the next street or get to a showdown without adding anything more to the pot or seeing the pot get any bigger.
You’ll notice that when it comes to betting, a quick bet often means that the player has a weaker hand. This is simply about game psychology. Fast action is designed to encourage you to fold by intimidating you. Also, be wary of anyone taking a long time before betting. This could be a sign of significant strength. In other words, they’re thinking about the exact amount of bet to get the most value from the hand in play.
Common Poker Tells Don’t Show The Complete Picture
When sitting at the poker table you’ll need to have all your wits about you and particularly your observational skills. You’ll need these to pick up on any common poker tells. Keep in mind that poker tells will not give you all the required information, but only a small component of it. That’s why we suggest that you pay attention to the hands of your opponent’s showdown, especially before and after they act in a certain manner. Comparing their behaviour before, during and after a hand, particularly where they have shown a strong hand, will give you an idea of how they behave when things are going well for them. You should also compare and contrast their behaviour if they have a weak hand.
Beware Of Reverse Psychology
What you’re really trying to do is build some sort of playing behavioural database about your opposition’s common poker tells. These jackpot winning tips and tricks will stand you in good stead as you play. Yet it’s also important to be aware that there are many clever players around who will deliberately act strong when they are weak and vice versa. They understand reverse psychology very well. Still, by carefully watching their before-and-after behaviour, you’ll be able to see the tricks they are playing.
This will not matter so much if you happen to be playing online poker, as you only get to see the dealer. Still, there are other bonuses with the online game. For example, the bonkers welcome bonus that all new players receive of 200% up to €1000 from 32Red Casino. This will certainly help stretch your bankroll, thereby giving you even more chance of taking home some winnings.
Maintain A Poker Face At All Times
One final word of warning about common poker tells. That is, be careful you are not focusing so much on your opponent’s tells that you forget about any you may be giving off yourself. When playing poker it’s important that all your actions are completely uniform. This goes for the length of time taken to play, as well as the expression on your face. You must endeavour to keep a “poker face” as Lady Gaga would say. As one of your best jackpot winning strategies, this will prevent your poker playing opponents from being able to gather any information about the nature of cards in your hand.
