Reliable poker tells in live poker

[droozy]

Hello,

I would like to open thread with your reliable poker tells which you have come across during your live game sessions (either in tournaments or cash game) and ask you to share them.
Mainly as a live poker player, I noticed different live tells at different situations (also fake tells) but my most reliable poker tell I have encountered is rapid blinking with eyes (it was in cash game). Opponent was a young female and when she made a hand, she was blinking with eyes rapidly. It was so accurate tell I could not lose a hand with her heads-up.
Also, I have experienced fake tells, especially in MTT. Late phase in MTT, I was in big pot with relatively young male. I had top two pairs OOP. On the river, I checked and he moved all-in. I had been looking at him maybe 3 minutes and he started to touch his face, nose and crossed his hands. After long pondering, I did call and he showed the nuts. He did these kind of fake tells multiple times. Thank you for every reply.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Everyone is different. Some mannerisms are "normal" for some and for others it means the opposite. Similarly, a few tricky players may even try to fool you with some "Hollywooding" (fake tells, or reverse tells).

However, some tells are more common than others and some have different "reliability."

I recommend reading Read 'em & Reap by Joe Navarro and Phil Hellmuth as well as reading Caro's Book of poker tells by Mike Caro. Naturally, there will be a few tells not mentioned in either book because everyone is their own person; sometimes I even see different (but genuine) tells from the same player on different days. Lots of factors can influence tells including their mood, game results or even factors outside the game like personal or family problems.

Since people might exhibit different tells on different days, it highlights the importance of staying observational and adjusting in the moment.

 

[droozy]

You did not get my topic - I read those books and as a live player, I know everything you wrote. I was asking you to share your specific poker tells in specific moments/examples you have encountered during your career.

Everyone is different. Some mannerisms are "normal" for some and for others it means the opposite. Similarly, a few tricky players may even try to fool you with some "Hollywooding" (fake tells, or reverse tells).

However, some tells are more common than others and some have different "reliability."

I recommend reading Read 'em & Reap by Joe Navarro and Phil Hellmuth as well as reading Caro's Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro. Naturally, there will be a few tells not mentioned in either book because everyone is their own person; sometimes I even see different (but genuine) tells from the same player on different days. Lots of factors can influence tells including their mood, game results or even factors outside the game like personal or family problems.

Since people might exhibit different tells on different days, it highlights the importance of staying observational and adjusting in the moment.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Well those books are helpful to comment for anyone else reading this thread then

I think every tell discussed in both books mentioned, I've witnessed at least once or twice. I won't detail every live game situation I remember for each tell because I'd be cataloging for hours lol.

If someone has an exceptionally interesting story relating to a specific tell witnessed, then I'm curious to hear it as well - but let us not put too much emphasis on tells at the lower levels when value betting and minimizing mistakes is the name of the game there

 

[teepack]

Shaking hands when people get a monster is a good one to look for. But you also have to be careful. I played an event one time with a guy and I noticed his hands quivering one hand, so I folded a good hand. Then I noticed a few hands later his hands were still shaking when he was out of a hand. Turns out he was an older dude whose hands just shook.

One thing that has worked for me a few times is to get tells from people who are out of the hand. They tend to let their guard down. Once I was on a hand with Q-8o. When the flop came J-8-8, the guy directly across from me, who had folded pre-flop, leaned back in his chair, stared at the sky and shook his head. I was pretty sure he had folded the other 8.

 

[droozy]

Great hint! Shaking hands are pretty good tell when people hold monsters! I have experienced it aswell and it is pretty reliable.

Shaking hands when people get a monster is a good one to look for. But you also have to be careful. I played an event one time with a guy and I noticed his hands quivering one hand, so I folded a good hand. Then I noticed a few hands later his hands were still shaking when he was out of a hand. Turns out he was an older dude whose hands just shook.

One thing that has worked for me a few times is to get tells from people who are out of the hand. They tend to let their guard down. Once I was on a hand with Q-8o. When the flop came J-8-8, the guy directly across from me, who had folded pre-flop, leaned back in his chair, stared at the sky and shook his head. I was pretty sure he had folded the other 8.

 

[Jwl8092]

One thing that a lot of players to is the moving of the cards closer to them or further away.

 

[SPANKYSN]

There are many physical signs of elevated blood pressure or excitement...the trouble is knowing whether the pupils dilate or the ears turn red or the hard swallowing is the result of joy over having the Nuts, or fear that the opponent will call the bluff.

 

[ScottyDee]

Still working on these skills