Playing the Player; Live Play Tells - 5K post

Introduction
I figured I would do a special 5K post. I haven't done a lot of strategy posts, because frankly, there are much better players here at CC than me that have already made great strategy threads.. so, I figured I would post on something that I do know a little something about, and that's reading people at the live tables.

Why and how did I learn to read people?
I've always been interested in the human mind, and why people tick the way they do. My mom was a police officer for 12 years, and she would come home telling me all kinds of stories - from the funny stories, to the horror and gory stories, to the crazy stories - about her day at work. One thing she elaborated on was how she could tell when somebody was lying. The way they were standing, looking, stuttering, even blinking.. and her stories always interested me. Psychology also interested me in high school, which I took 2 years of, although I don't know how much it has really helped me in live poker; psychology is a beneficial subject for people to learn that may at least help understanding one's self, and give yourself a piece of mind (pun intended).

People watching
It's amazing what just paying attention to people and listening to what they have to say will do for you in life, and just learning about people in general. You can learn a lot by paying attention to one's reactions to your actions, and becoming more intuned with your reactions to other's actions as well.

Attitude at the Table
Something I was going to talk about in my 5K post was actually brought up a few weeks back by Grossberger, so instead, I want to remind everyone about his post, Live Play Don'ts:

Live play don'ts

This is a good read and very good advice, and others have added to the list as well. I recommend checking out his thread.

Playing the Player
Alright, now onto what this post is mainly about; reading your opponent. Now, I'll touch up on a few things here, but it's difficult to explain in text about reading players, because everybody is different and have different mannerisms.. but I'm going to do the best that I can.

Watch & Observe
For the first few rounds in live poker, I usually play really tight, only playing the best hands, as I'm watching my opponents. Who looks at their cards first, when they look at their cards, how they look at their cards, how they're sitting, the way their arms and hands move when they look at their cards...

As Grossberger stated in his thread, "Don't look at your cards until it is your turn".. you could miss some information that others give off when they look at their cards. When you are watching others, here are a few things that you should look out for:

Jittery/shaking hands
Usually a sign of inexperienced players. The jittery-shaking hands/fingers are a sign that the player has a decent hand, and from what I've noticed, usually make a big bet from this. A lot of times when these players are all-in, their hands will shake due to nervousness. In this case, it may be best to get away from this hand, unless you have another read on him or her, have a monster hand, or are pot committed.

Strong/Heavy Breathing
Also another sign of someone with a strong hand.. this comes along with the nervousness feeling that some inexperienced players get.

Scratching the ear
This is a tricky one, because it's an easy one to pick up and easy to manipulate. Originally, I found scratching the ear was a sign of a bluff.. but you have to pay attention if that player is intuned with what he/she is
doing, or if they are not even aware if they are doing it. If they are looking at your when they are scratching their ear, then they are usually trying to play a trick on you, thinking that you think they are bluffing, and may have a good starting hand.

Looking down at the table
This is usually a bluff, or are on a draw. When people look down (or look up for that matter).. it's a sign of thinking. In poker, they are probably thinking of their outs or their next move. Most of the time, I will reraise this player if they are looking down at the table.

Taking time to check
Players who take time to check are usually unsure of how strong their hand is. If you're going to bluff this player, bluff big.. because they won't fold a small bet. On the other hand, if you have a monster hand, it would be good to make a small bet and pull him/her along on the string.

Conclusion
These are just a few tells that you can use at the table. The best experience to get tells from another player is by watching and observing your opponents yourself, though. An experienced player will change their tells up to confuse their opponents, or be able to not even give away a tell, or show very little of one.

Watch a change in people's posture and mannerisms when they have strong hands and when they are bluffing.. don't be afraid to pay someone off for some cheap information on how they handle themself on a bluff or a strong hand. It may help you in the long run.

Above all else.. enjoy yourself at the tables and have fun! Try not to give away too much information on your own habits, either.

great post and some very good pointers there

5k wowza hehe

Thanks for the contribution and the post. Congrats on 5k. Do you find a difference in accuracy between different limits of live play?

In live play, I have only played No Limit Hold 'Em.. I haven't found too many places around here that play anything other than that.. I have played some bar games with Pot Limit Omaha, but it was just for fun.. and wasn't really paying attention to reads then.

So, I can't really give advice on any other limits on reads other than no limit tournament hold 'em as of right now.

Great post, Mortis!

One tell I have noticed quite often is leg tapping when players get a good hand. All of a sudden one of their legs will go crazy, moving up and down in a rapid staccato rhythm. Once I saw a guy whose tapping was so strong the table actually shook. I said to myself, "I bet he has Big Slick". Sure enough, that's what he had at showdown.

Congrats on 5K+ Mortis! Nice post/thread. Didn't know about the breathing thingie. My fave tell to look for is the lean in/lean away...people tend to lean towards things they like & lean away from things they don't.

I have actually caught myself doing that before, lol.

I never noticed that before in poker, I'll have to watch for that. Lean towards the table when they have a good hand, and back when they don't?

Excellent post on live tells I really enjoyed reading it and very informative! I have for yrs never look at my cards until I receive them because of the great opportunity to assess your opponents reactions and tells! Another one that isn't mentioned is when a player intently stares you down after you have made lets say allin bet or big bet ! This usually means that he is trying to assess your hand to see if you are bluffing or is a realhand. I give no reaction to this stare and often they will speak to you to extract info and I will be stone silent in any situation.

great post and congratrs on 5K!

Yeah, I didn't talk about the stare down.. but you're right on they are usually assessing you when they stare at you.. and in this case, they usually have a really good hand, as well. A monster, possibly.. more than likely, a really good hand that's not quite a monster.

Congrats on your 5K post!

I really like your post...I've never played live poker...yet...but will definitely keep those in mind! I learned to read people pretty good in Psychology in Nursing School...and then afterwards. Very nice tells, Jason!

Not a bad post...I actually like live poker much more than online poker just because of the tells!
I'm more of an agressive player and it's tough being that online where you have much fewer information (action and timing is the only thing there) than in live poker. I'm much more successful live because I rarely make a wrong fold or call since I have the reading edge...
Anyway congrats on the 5k post and I'd add that many of the experienced live players don't give away any of those tells, and put on their cold face instead...But it's still possible to extract information from them

^^^ Yes, unless it's an extreme lean back with hands clasped behind head (& the-cat-ate-the-canary grin...LOL)...y'know how some peeps lean far back in their chair after having a satisfying meal?

The lean in/lean away is similar to when one is talking to another peep...if they're interested they'll lean in & uninterested lean away (= 'get away'). I'm more dependent on body language than facial expression as my eyesight is pretty bad, esp under casino-lighting conditions -- I tend to lean in just to see the board cards , as with the other types of tells, this is dependent upon observing the opponent(s) for a bit.

Nice post, I really have some trouble to interpret some tells. I need to take on practice more of those that you mentioned, taking a look good at my opponents, watching reactions and everything.

Thank you for the post.

Very nice post and great job on 5k. Good luck on 6k or 10k, whatever you're aiming for.

The timing and context as it relates to action at the table is very important.

At my local game most of the people dont pay attention to tells but for the few that do, I adapt my body language to specificly fool them, it appears to have been successful thus far.

I find that the scratching of the head or ear, unless done every time, is not usually a tell. I took a deception class about a year ago, and we learned alot of things people think are tells of lying like scratching the head or looking away may just be a trait of that person. I guess all i'm saying is you have to be careful on what you believe is a tell. Not everyone who looks away from you is trying to hide a weak hand.