There are two different types of poker tells: acting tells, and the unconscious tells. How do you know if a tell is unconscious or a deliberate act? If a player thinks that you’re watching them, and then exhibits a tell that we’ve gone over (or you’ve read elsewhere) in an obvious manner, they’re probably acting. This article doesn’t cover acts. (Another will, mind you.)
An unconscious poker tell is a tell that a player will expose when they think you’re not looking… they won’t even know they’re doing it.
Impatience
Tapping the poker table
There are two people left in a pot, yourself and Player X. You’re first to act, you check and then Player X bets. He then starts tapping the table. Most players confuse this poker tell if they notice it: they think, he’s being impatient because he’s bluffing and just wants to claim this pot. Wrong. He doesn’t even notice that he’s tapping the table, and, in fact, he’s got a very strong hand. In these instances, even with a strong hand, you should only call. (Or fold)
Shuffling hole cards
If you notice this after a player has bet, it’s essentially the exact same poker tell as above. Pass, or only call – don’t raise.
Guarding hole cards.
A lot of players do this. I did it myself before becoming aware that this actually gave away information. Take a look around the table on www.PokerStars.com at various stages of hands to see who exhibits this tell – you’ll probably spot it on 50% of all poker players. It’s apparently an intrinsic part of human nature to cover or ‘protect’ things that are of value to us… including cards.
Covering of mouth.
This is more commonly seen in amateur players. As a ploy to hide their face, they’ll raise their hand to their mouth – subconsciously believing that this will aid in them pulling off their bluff. If you see a player do this, don’t hesitate to call with bottom or a medium pair. Be careful when utilizing this tell; a lot of players may naturally raise their hands to their mouth regularly & obviously they’re not going to be bluffing each time they do this. Take note of which players do this frequently, as this tell cannot be applied to them.
Quiet = Bluff.
A player’s usually talking, laughing and just being generally obnoxious… Now, they’re actively betting into a poker pot and have suddenly fallen silent. What does this usually tell you? Well, the player’s trying not to instigate a call by angering anybody else. Basically, they’re limiting their moves and avoiding drawing attention to themselves while bluffing. A good way to help recognize this tell FullTilt.com is by asking the player a simple question. Even just “how was Melbourne’s football game on the weekend, hey?” – if the person would usually flow with an answer, and suddenly fumbles for words and can’t find a sentence to put together, they’re probably bluffing.
Talkative = Strong.
On the other hand, a poker player who casually talks about anything that interests them during a poker hand is probably not bluffing. To the contrary, it is more than likely that they’ll have a strong hand.
As a general rule for recognizing bluffs, you’ll need to analyze what sort of person the poker player is. When a player suddenly acts somewhat out of character, it’s highly likely that they’re bluffing or are weak. Remember that these tells aren’t gospel and will vary from player to player, and they’ll also be a lot more subtle with some players.
We can break poker players into a few different types:
*Loose Aggressive
*Loose Passive/Non-Aggressive
*Tight Aggressive
*Tight Passive/Non-Aggressive
I’ll elaborate:
Loose Aggressive
Bullies. Poker Bullies. These players are unpredictable, erratic, and probably your worst nightmare when you’re playing poker based solely on odds. These poker players will raise ridiculously, over-bet and bluff way too often. They ride their luck; when that runs out, so does their chip-stack.
You’re free to call these players with more marginal drawing hands.
Loose Passive
Too much money, not enough brains. They’re your free bank roll, or your massive suck-out for the night. Most of the time, these players aren’t too much of a hassle – just don’t get too antsy when they bad-beat you a few times.
Make the most of your moderate to solid poker hands to take them out.
Tight Aggressive
Most seasoned players would probably fall somewhere between this category and the loose aggressive category. Now, there’s no way to always win money when playing poker, but being tight aggressive would have to be the most logical. These players’ decisions are not based on a ‘gut-feeling’ but rather odds; if the odds aren’t favoring them, they’ll fold.
Enter a pot with such a poker player cautiously. You will, more than likely, need more than just a marginal hand.
Tight Passive
Tight asses. Yes, that is exactly what a tight passive poker player is. They gamble, yet cling to every penny like it’s their last. They’ll typically under-bet or possibly not even bet at all – instead they’ll just call.
A player like this rarely bluffs. If they’re calling you (or worse, raising you), call with nothing shy of a winning hand.
It is important for poker players on any site, including BodogLife.com to realize that they shouldn’t try to just ‘fit’ one of these types. Mixing up your game is an important part of poker strategy. Just don’t over-do it.
