Why are ‘tells’ important?
Poker’s about choosing your battles. It’s not always about outplaying your opponent; rather, choosing your points to outplay them. By knowing an opponents tells – that is, when an opponent may be bluffing or when they have a solid hand – is a great way to outplay your opponent. Not only will it aid you in betting opponents out of pots, but it’ll also help by giving you an insight as to when you should fold your hand.
Always keep this in mind when playing poker on PokerStar.net and trying to read another player: strong means weak, weak means strong
These are all predominately novice tells.
Acting uninterested while in a hand.
Indicates: Strength.
This is tricky because there are actually two different categories we can split this into. For the time being, we’ll leave it at the following: players who seem completely disinterested & players who take a glimpse at you and then, when you make eye contact, look away immediately probably have a solid hand – you should be wary and it’s in your best interest to lay it down.
Shaking Hands.
Indicates: Strength
This is an extremely novice tell. I don’t think I’ve seen any more-seasoned poker players do this… shaking hands is a sign of nervousness. When a player is exhibiting signs of nervousness in poker, be wary. It is commonly mistaken by poker players that this tell (and nervousness in general) is due to the player trying to run a bluff. 90% of the time, it’s not.
Faster Breathing.
Indicates: Strength
Rapid breathing is a big indicator of a strong hand. It’s obviously a lot harder to notice a poker player breathing more heavily than normal but, if you do, call with nothing short of a strong hand. This is another sign of nervousness and, as you’ll find it if you play enough, nervousness is typically a big sign of strength.
Glancing at chips.
Indicates: Strength (usually)
Be cautious here. If a player looks at his/her hole cards (or of course: the flop, turn or river) and then quickly glances at their stack whilst they think nobody’s looking, they’ve probably increased their hand-strength and will be looking to bet or raise.
Added note: Players may also quickly glance at your stack when they’re looking to bet or raise after improving hand strength. This is a more unreliable tell, and you probably shouldn’t bank on this poker tell – as it’s also been known for players to look at your stack to see how much they need to bluff in order to buy the pot.
Taking a long time to raise.
Indicates: Strength.
If you’ve just bet at a pot, and another player takes their time to think it over (seemingly calculating a raise) and then decides to perform the raise, you should probably back out unless you’ve got a solid hand. Players don’t usually act this one out – they’re thinking about the raise for a reason.
Checking hole cards again.
Indicates: Player holds a drawing hand.
Players who hold a drawing hand will typically double check their cards – just to make sure. For example: flop comes out 3 diamonds, you notice the two other players in the hand check their hole cards again. Keep in mind that most players won’t remember individual suits of their cards unless they’re suited, so they’re actually checking to see if they hold one diamond. From there, it’s really dependent on particular situation as to whether you check or try to take the pot down.
The big stare-down.
Indicates: Weakness!
Personally, I’ve never seen this tell outside of a free poker tournament. That said, it’s very reliable. If a player is staring you down in a seemingly confrontational manner, they probably have a weak hand. (Weak means strong, strong means weak) You should consider calling if you’ve paired the board.
Granted, this article hasn’t exactly covered a lot in the way of weak tells… but we’ll get to that later! Poker psychology is an extensive topic, and a lot of weak tells need to be elaborated upon individually. Stay tuned!
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