A poker tell(".)?

I've been reading articles about poker everyday and watching poker videos; and just last week, I concentrated on poker tells...
...on how to spot one
...how to know if it's only a bluff or not
...things that you really have to know and spot once your on the poker table.

But one thing really caught my attention when I was watching a video about tells. A poker player said that "by just looking at your opponents neck, you'll know if he's bluffing or not". That just gave me a thought and wondered... ...How am I going to do that?
...is that really possible?
...hmm...I tried it to my girlfriend...but I was having a hard time spotting it unless you'll to look closer.

Even if it's possible...how are you going to know if that's a bluff or not
Need help! any thoughts, advice or tips will do and will be appreciated a lot.

Is this (".) in your title some sort of secret code

never heard of that before but would be interesting to know what it meant

tells are over rated

Just saw a WPT event that had one guy say that this other guy always blinked alot when he was bluffing. Wouldn't you know, he was setting him up for when he had a monster hand. LoL

That is hard to do. I think you have to palpate it. LOL. But how will you know if he's bluffing or not? Is it if he's going to swallow is saliva? LOL. Better get myself a scarf.

dont know about tells but tell ya what like your easter outfit lol.

you got to work out the tells by yourself, player for player...
it even works online..., in parts...
articles and videos are only going to help you in terms of which possibilyties there are...
GL
aC

Ermmm shot in the dark but u have a main blood vessel in ur neck and if u look at it and it's beatin fast (bulging?) is he bluffin? Bcos of high blood pressure bcos its a neverious moment?

Jus a random idea on ur thread on "look at the neck"?

I agree every game has a different set of characters in it, so it is hard to come up with a universal tell. Although a couple of tells I look for are double takes of cards if players have a strong hand, and players organizing their chips sometimes signals a big hand also.

This.


Learn to play the game before worrying about tells.

I try to focus more on betting patterns...you play with someone long enough, you should be able to figure out how they play different kinds of hands. Physical tells are less universal, and don't help at all when playing online obviously.

That must be very useful if you are playing cash games at the same site against the same people, but in tournaments you tend to be moved from table to table quite frequently.

i think that tells are useful when you really understand them and know how to use them. obviously if someone says they know what you have by looking at your neck, that does not apply in every situation. a good book i read dealing with tells is "read 'em and reap" by Joe Navarro. i personally like to try to read betting patterns more than tells because i think they are more reliable.

The look at the neck i think it's connected to the veins and blood.
When someone is bluffing the guy most likely be nervouse, the blood goes fast and the veins are bigger, and if you look on the neck, you can see it i guess.
I don't know about the tells, but i'm trying to get to showdowns with small amount to see how the others plays, and then read them later on.

this is interesting i don't think i would rely on the neck tell too much because some people sit certain way no matter if they are bluffing or not but their eyes and and hands won't be the same so i think those tells are more important.

tells are a HUGE part of live play. It is something you have to practice watching for. Studying videos and books is important to get you on teh right track but you have to watch people very closely for very subtle hints. the more you do it successfully the more you can rely on your assessment. When you first start looking for tells, you have to take them all with a grain of salt because the tendency it to imagine tells because you're looking for them. The tell about looking at the neck does suggest seeing the heartbeat in the carotid artery. if you were to pick up on a difference in a player based on that alone you'd have to ask yourself (and it would vary player to player) if it were beating because of being nervous to get caught in a lie, or out of anticipation of the monster they were hiding. The best time to catch a tell is as the new card comes out. Watch the players as the card hits the table, not the card hitting the table. You will catch more in that split second than you ever will once they've had time to digest the new information. As far as all the negative comments on tells, i can tell that most of you are strictly online players or only play live once in a while for a fun quaint little home game. Live poker is almost ALL about reading players. If you want to improve your knowlege of tells, check out Carro's Book of Tells. A great read even if you're not convinced it's effective.

Tells work. Get outside poker and look for
books or cd's by ekman , alexander, and if you are really really serious about tells find slyan tomkins books, the four volume set. I will not give you all the secerts but you will in a live game double your hourly rate.

rugby, you sound like you appreciate the skill of reading tells and are serious. Do an internet search for the John Reid and Associates Interrogation Seminars. The Army put me through one a few years back for tactical questioning. It not only paid huge dividends in the Army, It reeally paid on the card table. The seminars are designed to teach interrogators how to tell if someone is lying. They are expensive but worthwhile.

hmmmmmmm makes you wonder why more cops don't retire and play poker for a living then...this end of the game would seem to be pretty easy for them

Your wrong on me. I am the complete opposite. I don't like online poker because it takes the person out of the game. I play strictly 2/5nl live, over 100 sessions last year. My negative comment was made because a lot of new players get the (Hollywood like) idea that everyone at the table has a magic tell that they can read and know exactly what hand the person has. Its a totally unrealistic approach to tells, and to understanding the basics of the game and body language.

Beginners should worry about playing their own cards, basic pot odds and probability, and hand strength relative to position. Tells are nice, but they are completely overrated. I highly doubt that you have doubled your hourly rate by your mastery of tells.

I agree with the post "learn the game first". Then through experience you can perfect your skill at spotting tells at the live tables. It takes time. Mike Caro, "the mad genius of poker", is the expert, so read his books and watch his DVD's, so you'll have a good idea what to look for and also for spotting false tells. There are a lot of sharks out there so pick your "tells" wisely and always watch the players, not the cards...

it's a face (",)

I'm not sure about the neck thing. A rapidly beating vein could mean that a person is bluffing (I guess) and hopes everyone will fold, or it could mean that they want you to call because they're not bluffing and have a monster hand that's going to take all your chips. I've been fortunate enough to meet some of the same players at sites I play often on, I take notes on them and I tag the bluffers, sharks and donks.

I agree that tells are overrated (movies fault), and i wonder what you can tell about the neck of people is it plausible to see more blood pressure at the neck? i think no...
Two tells that i noticed pros relay and try to cover is the eyes and the breath, I believe it is possible to practice noticing breathe changes and get a tell by it, if you disagree i would like explanation why pros (like chris farguson) covering they mouth and nose with their hands, i heard that when you get more adrenaline you start to breath with your mouth not sure about that, and what about the sunglesses i wonder why pros play with this sunglasses, do you know any eye tells?

Knowing tells is great, because you will have a huge advantage over that person, but dont rely on the general tells. Not everyone has the same tell as books seem to tell you. I learned it the hard way. You know how there is a tell that people seem to act strong when they are weak and weak when they are strong? Yeah, that one.. My friend is the total opposite. He acts strong when he has a big hand and weak when he doesnt have it. He doesnt force it to be that way, i guess it comes naturally to him in such a way that when his hand is good he is confident and acts approprietly. Others tend to get nervous when they hit a big hand, some get nervous just because they have to make a move.. First few times and even utill this day when i`m playing money bigger then usual i tend to be very stressed out when its my turn, if one would think that because i`m nervous i have a big hand they would all fold to my raises. Funny my friends always think i have a big hand becaue my hands tend to shake a lot, but they shake if i have a hand and when i`m bluffing.. Everyone has their own tells, so dont rely on the general ones. Before you start thinking someone has a tell, you better get it confirmed few times and even then , consider your opponent. Is he tricky? Does he know about tells? Does this tell seem forced? Good luck..

Gorblid, The best explantion of chris f. and Phil H. behavior is in joe navvaro's book, Read them and Reap. Your question about eye tells is answered very simply. Look at your wife, mother or your children their eyes will assume many shapes under various combinations of emotion. The most basic and forgotten part of using tells is that you must establish a base line behavior first. Example, if you see a neck pulse is it because this is the first time you have looked or is it because the player is experiencing some additional stress. Then you need some additional clues as to the stress cause to be in a position to use this information to your advantage. If you have additional questions post them in this thread and i will answer as i have time.

That isnt true man. Just by looking at the persons neck... Let me explain
to you how poker tells work. When someone has a bad or a good hand
that person might react to that hand happily or sadly... basically they are
expressing their emotions, and if you see those emotions you can know
if the person has a good hand or bad. Now, everyone has different ways
to express their emotions, being either genetic or something obtained
through the course of their lives. A lot of people do however share similar
hints of emotion... and thats exactly what a tell is... a hint of emotion...
but to tell you the truth tells usually only work with more expirienced
players, cause the new poker players generally cant understand the
importance of some great hands, or missing some important flops, which
in turn doesnt reflect in the emotions because they cant understand whats
going on. That might be a reason why you might not be able to read your
girlfriend, but on the other hand maybe her neck doesnt really have a tell.

My apologies to White Lightning, i didin't mean to assault your play or understanding of tells, comepletely not my intent. I agree wholeheartedly that in the beginning players should focus on their own play and strategy development. As your game develops an area that can be developed to take your skills to another level is reading tells. I also agree that Hollywood has overdramatized tell reading but they do it to develop drama and suspense. I'm in the Army and the overdramatize C4 and Handgrenade explosions too. I also am not suggesting that everyone displays all the tells in the books. They are just examples of things to look for. Tells are not only subtle glimpses of emotions of happy or sad that go unmasked. They are also physiological reactions that are in many cases near impossible to control. A great explaination of this in located in a book called "Blink" by malcom Gladwell. It isn't a poker book but it does explain how these physiological reactions give away motives and contribute to subconcious body language. I am not an expert, but i'm getting better everyday. It's all about arming yourself with the right tools. Your knowlege of tells is not an absolute silver bullet but there are times when they help, and every thing that helps, well, helps.

Hi guys, thanks a lot for the replies...it did widen my thoughts and learned some new ideas(",). I do agree that you have to have a better understanding with this kind of game and I've been playing poker for 4 years now but I got serious with it just this year. As a poker player... It is one of my biggest goal to become a professional poker player...equipped with the right tools and knowledge so I could win a title some day(",)LOL I hope that is not too much.

Once again(",)thank you guys, you all have a big part on my game.
Have a nice poker day!

Mike Caro's Book of Tells is a good one. Not only does it explain all of these tells, it gives ratings on how accurate he believes each one is. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, even uncontrollable tells like shaking and pulse rate can mean different things with different people. He does talk about seeing the person's pulse in their neck but I haven't been able to see this yet.

Annie Duke has a short video on Netflix about tells and I have spotted a couple of things she mentioned about blinking and self-soothing motions.

If you can get them down you can kill on the tables but you also have watch out for fake ones like the thing where people us them to set you up.

I absouletly agree. Analyzing situations is very important, tells help, but they aree over rated.

Spot on.
I don't know about the neck tell. I play live several nights a week at a local casino. I'll list some tells I'm aware of, it's not a complete list, buying Mike Caro's book of Poker Tells would be very helpful imo.

Keep in mind most (certainly not all) good players will minimize tells or have none that you can see, betting patterns will be your best tells with the good players.

Newer player tells I've observerd:

1. They look directly at you after a large bet or all in. This is a bluff. The look is to try and intimidate you into folding.
2. After a large bet or all in they won't look at you, they hold still, look down or look at the tv like they are disinterested in what you are doing. Fold, they have the nutz.
3. In a decent size pot they throw out a bet equal to or above the pot, this is an attempt to steal. (unless there's a straight or flush draw on flop this might be to get you to fold a draw).
4. They call your bet on flop, turn card comes and they look at their chip stack. This usually means the card hit them and they are intending to bet it.
5. They shake their leg or play with their chips (shuffle chips when they hadn't been doing before). They are nervous. One guy I play with does this when he has a great hand. A few other players I play with do this when they're bluffing. The only difference I've seen so far at where I play is the guy with a good hand shakes his leg like it's crawling with fire ants, the leg goes crazy! The others that seem to bluff more have a much slower shake.
6. They are chewing gum and suddenly stop chewing when a card hits the board - or - they are having a conversation with someone and stops talking - or - they were glancing at the game on tv and suddenly starts paying close attention when the card hits the board - these are all tells that they just hit a card/flop that improved their hand.
7. Talking, is it nervous chatter or babbling? They want you to fold.
8. Drinking - be it water or alcohol - they make a bet and pick up their glass to drink - usually a bluff.
9. Player takes a minute to think before betting, usually he/she has a good hand. He/She's trying to think of how to get the most money out of you.
10. A seemingly newer player quickly overbets the pot, shoves all in. They just flopped the nutz. New players have a tendancy to get excited when they flop the nutz and bet too much too quickly.
11. A players hand is shaking when he bets big, he usually has the nutz and is very excited about it.
12. A player leans forward in his chair when a card hits and he bets out, he has a good hand.
13. A player leans back in his chair after a bet, he's trying to steal.
14. The most dangerous tell that is most of the time accurate: He pushes all in and says "I guess it's time to go home". LOL! Fold!!! He has the nutz!


***Keep in mind good players are aware of most common physical tells and may try to intentially give you a false tell if they think you are an observant player.

The other night I flopped a boat, the guy flopped top pair with top kicker, I reraised him. I first made it look obvious that I was calculating my outs, then I started shuffling my chips, sat back in my seat, reraised him and took a drink of my beverage. He insta reraises me all in - he even said he was sure I looked nervous like I was trying to buy the pot. My plan worked because he was observant and watching me after I took some time to think about what to do. Had he not be an observant player this would not have worked.

If you are watching Phil H or Howard L vidio on tells and you study just the very basics of what they are saying it will help you a lot. I try not to over think it. Just go with what you have learned and your first instint. I am post here mostly because I want to follow this. Very good post!