Poker tells are a physical movement or physical representation when a poker player holds a strong or weak hand. Human beings are creatures of expression and we give off physical signs of emotion and feeling without even realising it, even when we think we are being completely still. Detecting these signs in an opponent and repressing as many of your own physical tells as you can is part of being a successful live poker player. Poker tells also appear in online poker games although to a lesser degree than live poker and in a slightly different way.
Every movement a poker player makes at the poker table could potentially be a poker tell. Every tick, smile, wince is giving information. The difficulty can be that some players give off deliberate or false poker tells to compensate for the true physical tells that they cannot hide. No article can teach you to decipher 100% of the time whether a poker tell is genuine or not, but here are some of the things to look out for.
Sometimes a poker tell can be seen in how the players stack their chips. Conservative, tight players will be tidy by nature and maintain tidy stacks. If they are constantly straightening them and maintaining perfect stacks it is unlikely this player is a maniac. Loose aggressive players are more random in style so may have more untidy stacks or look more disinterested in their chips as they are more interested in some poker action!
When a player acts overly disinterested in a hand after either limping in or raising then they are often trying to hide a big hand. If they glance at their chips after looking at their hole cards this signifies they are likely to bet. To hide your own tells after you look at your hole cards take a look at your chip stack. When a player touches their chips look for any shaking of their hands that is not part of their normal behaviour. Often a player tries so hard to hide poker tells the body simply must do something and hands begin to shake involuntarily because they are so nervous or excited inside.
A sigh or a shrug is usually a sign of strength. Players tend not to be too honestly emotive during poker games so any sign of blatant strength or weakness may not be genuine. When your opponent’s eyes stare directly into the pot and then at their chips they are probably counting and working out the odds of drawing to a better hand. There are some excellent poker books focusing on poker tells by Mike Caro and Joe Navarro that I recommend you read and study.
When playing online poker the tells you will encounter tend to be based around the timing of bets. An instant re-raise all-in usually signifies strength, the player has looked at his cards and the situation is obvious enough to go all-in without any thought. Players usually fold quickly so to think for a long time and then call or raise should be treated with suspicion. Online poker players can often become impatient and use the quick action boxes to check, call or raise so when they take more time this usually means strength. If they check instantly the hand is probably weak and often this is not a fold only because it is free to check.
Whichever poker sites you play on or when playing live poker consider the strength of your own hand before looking for tells. Tells are important for information gathering, but with 2h-3d you are perhaps better to fold and look for a better spot rather than shove based on a poker tell. Common sense has a place in poker too!
By Malcolm Clarke