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Poker is a unique table game that relies heavily on both strategy and psychological aspects in gameplay. Part of this is reading your opponent’s ‘tells’, which can be the difference between winning the pot or losing.
Tells are the movements and behaviours that can clue you into a player’s strategy, bluffs and intentions. With a better guess on your opponent’s tells, you can use it to your advantage and act accordingly. Because of how powerful these tells in poker are and the variety of ways they can be used, you should know how to take advantage of them.
Learn how to spot poker tells and use this knowledge in your future poker games.
What is the strategy of bluffing and tells?
Understanding ‘bluffs’ and ‘tells’ is crucial to successful poker gameplay. While using them won’t guarantee your win, they can make your gameplay experience more engaging. Read about the basics of bluffing and tells below.
The basics of bluffing
Bluffing in poker is a strategy wherein you act a certain way to influence another player’s moves. Good use of bluffing can help you manipulate your opponents into folding or surrendering, leaving you with a better chance to win the round.
There are various ways to bluff, from making exaggerated hand movements, placing unusually big bets and even acting smug around the table. All of this can be interpreted as a bluff, which influences your opponent’s perceptions of your hand.
Though bluffing can be effective, players can learn to see past these tactics by analysing your tells, slip-ups and mistakes.
What is a poker tell?
Bluffs and tells go hand-in-hand because tells are the traits and movements that can indicate a player’s bluffs or intentions during the game.
These tells can take a variety of forms like twitching, face scratching and excessive hand movement. Furthermore, tells can be more verbal and look like frequent sighing and grunting.
Tells can also be observed in online live dealer poker settings, but they can differ from those in a physical poker match. Some common poker tells for this poker game are overly confident behaviour in chat and larger than usual bets.
How to read poker tells in brick-and-mortar poker games
Now that we’ve established what they are, learn about reading poker tells in physical games below:
Noticeable emotional changes
Calm and collected players can turn into aggressive poker players depending on the course of a poker game.
These emotional changes can highlight a player's intention during the game or how they think they’re faring against their opponents. Additionally, emotional changes, like a quieter player becoming more cocky, can indicate that this player has a potentially winning hand or is bluffing.
Spotting this tell requires you to take notice of the player’s emotions at the start of the game and keep track of them throughout the gameplay. Doing this gives you a better understanding of what these emotional changes mean for the player and how to predict their next moves.
Changes in body language
A player’s poker tells body language may be subjective, but there are signs that a player may be in a tighter spot than others. A risky situation could include being down to your last wager where a lucky card could mean another round. Another example would be having a mediocre hand with the opportunity to bluff against other players with potentially strong hands.
An easy-going and talkative player may show signs of tension, such as becoming more rigid or clenching their knuckles, when they're running out of funds and are down to their last set of chips.
Conversely, a stoic player may become more talkative to create a more laid-back atmosphere, encouraging others to talk. This could be their way of looking for more information to use.
Posture of players
Posture is also a poker tell you need to observe while playing. Confident players usually sit back straight, while weak hands slouch to signify defeat. However, you must be careful with this poker tell since it can also be a bluff. Others would intentionally manipulate their body language just to make you think otherwise.
How to spot poker tells in online live dealer poker
Bluffing in live dealer poker games also happens despite the lack of physicality. Virtual tells like the amount they bet, their betting pattern and timing can all be hints in online poker that give you a glimpse of your opponent’s strategies.
Here are the different online poker tells you need to remember:
Betting tells or inconsistent betting tendencies
A more advance poker tell is how players position their bets in online live dealer poker games. These behaviours are showcased in several ways. for example, playing a ‘safer’ game by folding and ‘checking’ at the start and then taking risky moves in the game's later stages.
Here are some examples of betting tells:
The massive overbet
This poker tell happens when a player makes a bet twice or thrice the pot size. Players who have strong hands have the guts to do so because they are confident with what they have.
As such, this poker tell is a good tactic to make others fold, especially those with weaker hands. They would not risk losing a lot of money when they know they can lose in the long run.
Typed in bets
In online poker, you can use table management software to automate your bets. This means you don’t have to manually think about how much you want to bet in the game.
To spot this poker tell, you need to take note of the bet increments your opponent places since the software can place specific numbers.
Timing tells
This poker tell category is related to how much time people spend deciding what action to take.
An example is quickly deciding on moves early in the game while becoming more hesitant later, showing uncertainty in their hand. This could indicate that they have a weaker hand.
One more example would be suddenly making big bets in later rounds. This shows that the player is confident with their hand, and it may be strong.
Here are some examples to help you understand this category:
Tank calling
Tank calling is a poker tell where a player takes a while before making a call. Most of the time, players do this to consider all available options before making a decision.
Tanking then big raise
When a player tanks and then raises a big amount of money, it is possible they are holding a powerful hand.
Behavioural tells
Players also present themselves online by expressing a certain behaviour. However, when something does not happen as planned, these players may exhibit behavioural poker tells such as the following:
Openly express their tilt
When a player lets their emotions take over, they enter into a tilted trance. This is an obvious poker tell because the players themselves would state what annoyed them. At the same time, some would use tilt as a tactic to agitate other players and throw them off their game.
Overly talkative in the chat
Certain poker games come with live chat features and this means another opportunity to spot tells. This feature allows players to connect and interact with other players and even the host. You need to pay attention to the chat box for online poker tells as some players will use it to taunt other players into making a bigger bet.
Remember that this behaviour is only effective if you respond to the person inciting it in the first place. You should also consider that this could be a bluff or an attempt to make you slip up at a vital moment.
A noisy player goes quiet
In online poker, players can communicate through chat and type whatever comes to mind. Normally, you would find someone who would always type a lot. You would know it’s a poker tell when they suddenly become quiet. This can indicate that they are more focused and attentive to the game when they realise that they happen to be losing.
Types of poker players and their poker tells
Now that you know how to read or spot poker tells, know the common and obvious poker tells to spot one while playing easily.
The relaxed player
These players act nonchalantly and dismissively as well as pay less attention to the table because they know that their card will win the entire pot. Their play is to look weak or not care about hiding the strength of their hand.
Impatient player who goads
These players show signs of impatience while playing. This can appear as continuously shaking your legs, fidgeting with an object, or goading.
Goading is the act of provoking someone to show a reaction or movement. Words or call outs, such as ‘who’s turn is it?’ or ‘why are you taking so long to take an action?’ are great examples of this behaviour. Impatient people goad because they cannot wait to reveal something, and in this case, it can be a strong poker hand.
Hesitant players who frequently pause when betting
Players with weak hands would not want to draw attention to themselves, which is why they place chips on time. If they take a long time to do so, another player might sense what they are up to. This adds more pressure to weak hands since they will be the first ones to be snuffed out of the table.
Players who bluff due to weak hands want to present themselves confidently. To do so, they may place their chips without any hesitation.
As for strong hand-holders, their body language exudes uncertainty and hesitation. This is because they want to make sure their bets are correct.
Irritable player who exhibits rudeness
Irritated or rude behaviour is under the category of verbal poker tells. This happens when the irritated player starts picking on a relaxed player. The latter would take their time or not care about the game at all, agitating the former. As a result, the irritated player would goad.
Aside from that, irritated players would often ask others about the popular poker question ‘will you show if I fold?’ Those who answer yes or any affirmation do not entail meaning compared to negative answers. Those who say ‘no’ will quickly giveaway that they are relaxed players with strong hands. Consequently, this will only agitate the person who asked even more.
What to do when someone is bluffing
Let’s say you’ve identified your opponents’ tells and you know for certain that they’re bluffing, what do you do? We answer that question and talk about what to do below:
Stay calm and recognise what they’re trying to do
You must stay calm and remain level-headed when you think someone is bluffing. Take a moment to assess what their tells are and what their intentions could be. Any rush action you make could lead you to walk into their trap and lose the game.
Analyse what they can do within the round and strategise against it
If you recognise someone bluffing, one of the best things you can do is try to piece together what they want to achieve by bluffing. Learning what they want you to do can give you clues regarding the strength of their hand and what action you should take to defeat them.
Let’s say an opponent is acting more passively and has been folding for the past few rounds. This could indicate that they have a weaker hand or that they’re trying to save their funds for future rounds.
Knowing this, you could make them spend more of their funds by making it seem like you have a weaker hand. This could encourage them to raise their bet instead of folding and start playing more aggressively. However, only do this when you’re sure your hand is stronger than your opponents’.
Poker tells: Tips and tricks for stronger poker plays
With all these in mind, you need to use poker tells to your advantage if you want to win. Here are some top tips for poker success you can use next time you play:
Practise reading poker tells
It’s one thing to know about poker tells in theory and another to gain experience from a game. Join a lower-stakes poker game where the participants are mostly casual players and practice identifying poker tells as you play.
Make a mental list of habits that you’ve seen from the game and record movements like calls, raises and folds throughout the game.
Once you’ve got enough information on the other players, try to see if you can predict it in the coming rounds. Verify if what you’ve observed and analysed from the other players are actual tells and not irrelevant habits.
Through careful observation and memorisation, you’ll be able to suss out a person’s tells and see when they’re bluffing or not.
Start observing from the earlier rounds
Remember that poker games start when you join a table and start betting. From the beginning of the game, observe the behaviours of your opponents. Doing this gives you a basis for how they act before any big moves have been made.
As the game progresses, recall how they acted in the earlier rounds and compare it to the later stages of the game. See if you can find any differences between their behaviours and if any patterns show up.
Understand your tells
Other players aren’t the only ones with tells, you have them too. It’s important to recognise your tells so you can learn how to minimise them during a game. To do this, record your actions, emotions and thoughts per game.
Bringing a friend to a poker game is also a good idea. Bringing them along to help you identify your tells gives you a third-person perspective on what tells you may have and how to avoid it.
Using false tells to trick your opponents to win poker
False tells are actions where you make your opponent believe your actions are true. For example, you are using the massive overbet poker tell to let your opponent believe that you have a strong hand. In reality, you are using this as a tactic to make them fold without realising that you have a weak hand.
Use poker tells to your advantage and turn the tide of the game!
Tells, like bluffs, can come in all shapes and sizes. What’s important is that you take note of these and use them to your advantage. While spotting and analysing tells is useful for predicting another player’s strategy, it can also give you insight into your tells and how to minimise them.
Keep practising spotting tells and expanding your knowledge of poker to become a better poker player and take home the pot.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Is bluffing a high-level strategy?
Bluffing is a more high-level strategy that is best learned after having a solid grasp of the fundamentals. This can be used to exploit other player’s uncertainties or hesitations when it comes to betting.
Are poker tells different in brick-and-mortar casinos and online casinos?
Poker tells in online casinos can differ from brick-and-mortar casinos as online casinos lack the physical and personal elements that live casinos have.
With that said, online casino poker players can also have tells like changes in betting, excessive chatting and taunting others.
How to read poker tells?
There are plenty of ways to read poker tells. However, you must start observing your opponents early on in the game. This gives you insight into their actions and see if their behaviour changes throughout the game.
A close observation of how a player presents themselves, from their movements, betting habits and body language, can indicate a tell.
Words by: Charlotte Kwan
