Can you read people ?

Can you read people in life, as well as at the Poker table ? To what extent is your skill at Poker actually a life skill, a people skill ?

The reason I ask is this:

A while back, I used to work with a guy who I never liked, though I couldn`t exactly figure why. He was sociable enough, but I just sensed that there was something odd or distasteful about him.

He lived alone and was close to his mother, so I guessed that he was maybe gay and, since I am not, I presumed that this was why I felt ill at ease around him.

I moved on from that job, and I haven`t seen him or thought about him for a few years.

..............

I just heard that he has been posted on the Sex Offenders Register. He admitted in court to owning obscene pictures of children.

Yuck.

wow.i like to think i can read people, but i am not as good as it as i would like to be and probably should be for my own good. i think i am better at it at the poker game then in life in general.

Definately a life skill.

Around 10 years ago people started seriously considering 'Emotional Intelligence' (EQ), as equally imporant as IQ. eg knowing how to act in certain situations, empathy, understanding peoples' behaviour, minipulating situations to your favour etc etc

There are now fairly well established EQ tests, and it is widely covered on psychology courses, MBA courses etc.

My feeling is that people with high EQ generally make good poker players (as they tend to be more observant, more patient, better at reading people, better at picking up subtle behaviour changes, and have better self-control).

I wouldn't call it a read but rather a feeling about some ppl, look in thier eyes and you seem to not like them or feel uneasy right away and you don't even know the person, so I guess it's some sort of read.

yes that is a read . intuition. gut feeling.

Definitely a life skill. Reading people at work, at play, at the table...it's all important.

Think of the amount of people you meet in your life, and think, there can only be so many different types of personality out there. I think you meet a person, and subconciously you remember meeting a person a long time ago with the same personality traits, and you can pretty much read/predict how they are going to act in different situations, etc........

Nope, that dont make sense, does it?

I agree, I think it is definately a life skill. You get good practice reading people at the table and that is transferable to the workplace. All the practice also sharpens your intuitive sense as your reading skill becomes more of a subconcious process rather than a conscious one.

I think it probably does make sense, KD.

Except that I hope I haven`t met many perverts, so therefore I can`t spot one by remembering back to other pervs I have known. More likely, one builds up through life a sort of roadmap as to what is normal in others. Obviously, that would be a pretty wide range of different personalities. By reference to that, you pick up clues as to whether a person is not quite "kosher".

Think about it...you're having this exchange with KD. LOL

Ouch.

I used to be in charge on the midnight - 8am shift of a 24hr store and used to be able to tell within 5 seconds wheather who just came in would be trouble.

The 'quiet hide things away type' , the loud pissed (drunk) type, the over confident type, the normal-everyday type and the always fun psycho type.

But at 3 in the morning who else would you expect to see ?

I've been busted!

yep, we get the same at our place through the night, 'cept we are right next to a nightclub that shuts at 3am, so 3.10am we get ALL the p*ssheads. At 5.10am we get the raving alcoholics looking for any alcohol, but are 2 hours late cause they got lost on the way...........

found this related to EQ http://www.ihhp.com/quiz.php. How did you do?
My results:

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same here shinedown, 45-54.

Me too, scored 52.

This is interesting. Tiny sample so far, but are we proving that Poker players are indeed above average in this skill ?

69. Oh, wait, sorry wrong thread. LOL

I got a 50.

Yes its really True. I Agree to 100 %. In Poker it is much easier to "read " somebody than in real life..