A Powerful Tell

Anyone that thinks their is an "old faithful" to tells does not play enough live poker or is reading the wrong books...back in the days of rounders, maybe, but now its pretty easy to take the checks of someone who thinks this way. A good player changes speed thoughout the game, different movements, the way one looks or bets. If you change things its alot harder for someone to figure you out.
And I'm not talking about the dreaded allin trying to steal, I just mean body language and movements, or when you take a drink, stupid little stuff

do me a favor and go back and read it again. this is for the online player that rarely plays live poker and also for the new player to the game. for someone that plays daily live poker then this is something they already know. also so you know this came from one of the top pros out there so i would listen to some of it at least......

Good article. Please quote your source in the future.

Good article,
I did have a girl in our homegame who was a habitual chip glancer. After reading that tell and watching her glance all the time, I made the mistake of laughing. Well, it came out and we all had a laugh. She stopped her tell...for awhile...and then she went back to waht she was hardwired to do.
I do think I should note that she was not experienced and didn't really develop like some of us. In live games around LA, you get a pretty savy bunch of players and this tell is probably less reliable. Thanks for sharing and quotes sources would help.

Source please.

Reasonably - it has its problems though.

For example, I played a live game last week and flopped quads against two aggros. Sure enough I got them to both lose the maximum, but it was only after the hand that my hands started to shake - I was actually having a hard time stacking the chips.

good advice, i will remember that for when i start to play live poker

My hand shakes when im cold, when im making a bluff, and also when I have the stone cold nuts.

Pick your poison "tell masters"!

I also glance at my chips when Im going to bet after I see the flop, obv so I can see what im grabbing at. Ill also sometimes look down at them and move my bet slowly, maybe for a bluff, or maybe if I hit trips. Gotta mix up them tells yo.

I dunno, ive banked alot of hours playing live now and these tells are mostly bullshit in my opinion.

Hahah yea this is when my hands shake the most too, you dont wanna slow the game down and quickly stacking the chips is kinda hard because you are excited about winning the big pot. Its just like... adrenaline running I guess.

Very good article. I know that it seems my ability to read my opponent online versus in live play varies tremendously.

Good advice. It was also really good 24 years ago when I read it in Mike Caro's book.

Quote your source please.

TY

This is from a recent e-mail promoting Daniel Negreanu's new book.

this is where i got it. i get e-mail promos all the time but i have used this in my home game and it does work. well atleast with them so i thought i would share

Beginners also give tells sometimes with their ears or eyebrows. If they hit the card they wanted, their eyebrows sometimes move and if they are betting big and you can see their ears turnin red, then that sometimes might me tell also.

The only reliable tells are betting patterns imo because someone could do any of the other tells you all mention without it indicating a certain thing.

"you can see their ears turnin red" ? Hahaha never saw that at someone. You sure it's not from drinking wisky ?

The eyebrow thing sometimes is a tell but it won't always mean they have a monster it can also mean the flop surprised them. Just watch if they make a habit of it or if they only do it if they have a monster.

great post pugsley alot of good information there and wouldnt hurt any of us to brush up our game a little and be able to read our opponets better ..cheers i enjoyed it

If you dont cite sources you will get dinged. They have a (well hidden) demerit point system here.

Of what?

Is he shaking because he's bluffin? Or is it because he's got a monster?

Without experience watching that particular player, his tells "tell" us nothing.


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IMO you just have to be able to adjust to the situation and players at hand. There is definately some solid advice here, but I think most importiantly you must pay very close attention to what is going on and be able to trust your instincts from what youve seen and react accordingly. There are tells and and bluff tells and set ups so make the call and learn
GL

This is true, and like I said above everything needs to be taken in context. Sometimes it can be a delayed reaction from the previous hand.

In the absence of any indicators to the contrary though, shaking hands are almost always an indicator of a monster hand. It's certainly reason enough to proceed with caution in the hand.

Some good advice. Went out playing tonight and caught tells off 2 people 'straight from the book'. It was almost as if they were trying to prove it right for me. I understand that every game is different but damn, worked for me tonight!

the shaking hand dont say much. only for relative new players who you will own anyway

Be wary with this, make sure you know your player before you assume it automatically means big hand....I will frequently do this on purpose when I'm bluffing at a pot when I know I'm up against a solid player who will take notice of it...and it has been very effective. Its very hard to mimic the exact motion that will occur naturally but a slight shaking action that is not too overacted as you place a bet will work...I've had several players fold only to hear them tell the player next to them "I saw his hand shaking"

Tells need to be looked at for what they are. Swayers. If i am not sure of a decision then a tell can give me the little sway i need one way or the other. Sometimes a smart person is going to give you a tell to push you one way when they want you to go another but most of the time those are easy to sniff out (most folks are not good actors- myself included). Now my 8 yr old daughter (oh the drama LOL).
Bottom Line:
Evaluate tells when a decision is fairly close. Otherwise, they're not strong enough clues to negate the obvious decision.