“I see you. Your eyes. Your hands. Your chips. Everything. So I don’t need to see your cards.” – Poker Pro Howard Lederer on a Commercial for Poker Site FullTilt.NET
The fight or flight response is human nature when one faces a confrontational situation. Since poker is often a confrontational endeavor, knowing the key tells (subconscious actions) may provide insight into a player’s hand. Symptoms of the anxiety response include pupil dilation, increased heart rate, shaking hands, abnormal inhalation, muscle flexing, dry throat and voice modulation are all .
To potentially notice a slight change in the voice is one reason to try to get a player to talk while in a hand. A dry mouth or higher voice might betray a monster hand. Seeing eyes pinpointing is actually difficult, but seeing the chest expand or the vein on the side of the forehead throb might be clues.
Playing in a tournament at a few years ago, an older gentleman placed a significant raise. With a shaking hand, he placed a large percentage of his chips in the pot in front of him. Another player at the table saw the shake and said, “You must really have a big hand.” The older man stared him down and said, “No. Parkinson’s.”
If a player’s hands are shaking as they place their bet, it is often a sign of a monster hand. Just be sure you have paid attention to their hands earlier, for they may simply have palsy and their hands always shake.
Players are more likely to make eye contact with you if they are weak and more likely to avoid eye contact if they are strong. If you find yourself in a marginal situation, look at your opponent. If they are staring right at you, you should be more inclined to call. If they are looking away, you should be more inclined to fold.
“Son, I’ve made a life out of readin’ people’s faces, and knowin’ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.” – Kenny Rogers, The Gambler
Do not look at cards as the dealer lays them on the felt. Instead, look at the players still in the hand and try to gauge their reactions to the cards. Many players instinctively look down at their chips if the flop helps them, calculating the amount and preparing to bet. You should be less likely to bluff or play marginal hands after spotting this tell.
One classic tell is a player who glances away from the flop when they have hit a monster hand. If this trait becomes consistent, then you can comfortably fold your pocket Jacks when the player glances away from the Ace, King or Queen on the flop.
How a player positions his/her body can often show a lot more than they realize. Players often move forward, showing more interest in the hand when the flop hits the board and helps them. A slump of the shoulders often occurs when a hand does not improve. Sitting up straighter and showing more interest in a hand can denote strength. A bluffer often leans into the table in an intimidating, confrontational manner. In a similar vein, players who look at their hole cards before their turn, then start talking on the cell phone or showing disinterest, normally have a weak hand and are just waiting to fold.
Body language can show how a person is feeling in general, not just on a particular hand. Someone having a bad day at home or the office can bring that to the card room and play poorly because of it. A tense player may play more conservatively or may be more prone to go on tilt. A happy player (or one who has overindulged) may become looser and play more hands or bet larger amounts than normal. It is not only the body language of players still in the hand that can provide tells on opponents’ cards.
Watching the actions and talk of players who have already folded can be important. A pained expression or comment following a dealt card might provide an insight into the cards already folded. The use of sunglasses has become a common and controversial feature, from local home games and poker rooms to the televised final tables. Many players feel the use of black or mirrored shades give them an edge by not allowing players to read their eyes. If you feel the player sitting across the table from you can remember what the size of your pupils were from four to eight feet across the felt prior to and after that big flop, then grab a pair of shades and cover up.
While playing in a satellite tournament for the 2009 Wynn Classic, I had the seat to the left of a Frenchman wearing opaque sunglasses. Thinking that his sunglasses protected him from giving away tells, he never realized that his eyebrows arched with a good hand and his forehead creased when the cards on the board did not improve his hand.
If your eyes are giving away significant facial tells, you need more than sunglasses to conceal the strength of your hand. Phil “Unabomber” Laak takes this trend to the extreme when he cocoons himself inside his hooded sweatshirt. The use of these hoodies is often frowned upon and in some cases, they actually banned in some casinos and card rooms.
Sometimes the glasses are more for a shock effect, from 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer’s hypnotic orange eyes to the holographic bulging eyes this author uses. The use of this type of lens is more to disrupt an opponent’s concentration than to cover up a facial tell.
Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.
