how to avoid giving off tells?

I've recently read over Mike Caro's book of tells for the first time. Very good book, I usually spot one or two of the tells per session now. One topic it doesn't address is how to avoid giving off tells yourself.


Personally, I have a very hard time being comfortable when I bluff. Throwing the chips out is easy enough, but I seem to go into this guilt state right afterward, feeling awkward even pulling my arm back after the bet. I suppose this is a good thing, as it prevents me from trying to bluff very often, but I also feel like it is preventing me from bluffing occasionally when it would be profitable to do so. A good observant player may be able to see my discomfort. Anyone have tips for how to get rid of this problem?

You answered your question yourself- just refrain from the behavior you just described. There is no magic to it. Also, very few people will pick up on these tells anyway so this really isn't a very important thing to worry about. Tells are overrated so don't put too much emphasis on them.

As for tells in general, the only way I know to get rid of them is to spot them on yourself, and then consciously rid yourself of them.


As for this particular tell, you've got to fully and emotionally understand that there is nothing to feel guilty about. Did you ever play baseball? Did you feel guilty when stealing second base? Of course not, it's part of the game. Same thing here.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Another method I sometimes use is to actually visualize in your mind that your cards are different than they are. This screwing around with your own head can be funny.


For instance, on the river, it is checked to you. You have busted draw. Your hand is worthless. Nothing. The only way to win this pot is by betting. So you bet.


Of course it is time to give up this little ruse when you flip over the nuts and start mopping chips /images/smile.gif


Jim

I wouldn't be too paranoid about giving off tells, but a simple way to cut down on them a lot is to consciously standardise the way you bet or act. For example, if you sometimes toss chips in and sometimes stack them neatly and push them forwards, even if you do it differently just for fun, you leave open the chance that subconsciously the way you do it will be affected by your confidence/cards etc. So always put your chips in the same way, always pause the same length of time before you check/bet/call, always look at your opponent (or not) the same way after you bet etc. etc. etc.


RFL.

Mechanical solutions are probably worthwhile in that they'll cover up your underlying mental state enough that only the most perceptive of your opponents will be able to read you.


But a strategy based only on mechanical solutions has the problem that you have to be aware of every possible expression of your internal uneasiness. Those that you identify, you can fix, but there are probably others.


So I suggest that you work on your mental state. The more at ease you are with the situation, the less you have to work on smoothing out mechanical expressions of your uneasiness.


Review how and why you bluff, bet for strength, semi-bluff, etc. Convince yourself that, in each situation, your overall strategy is positive EV. Then, the next time you happen to be bluffing or semi-bluffing, you will know that, regardless of what happens on this particular hand, in the long run the play is positive EV. The confidence that comes from this knowledge will make you more comfortable, and then you don't have to worry about throwing uneasiness tells.


So the next time you're heads up on the river, the pot is ten big bets, and it's checked to you on the button and all you have is a dead busted draw, stop and think about it -- your opponent has to call ten times out of eleven, or more, for your cold bluff to be negative EV. If you quickly convince yourself that he's not going to call that often, you're going to win in the long run! Make your bet and let game theory work its magic for you.


You have to be playing at a small enough level that you can comfortably absorb a lot of situations where you have positive EV but, for whatever reason, this particular hand didn't work out. If you're in over your head, you're going to throw off more tells and that's just the way it's going to be.


Sorry for the slightly incoherent rant, I don't have the time to polish this up...


--JMike

Take note of exactly how you bet when you've got the goods. Then do the same thing when bluffing. Practice practice practice.


Tommy

Nice post.


Concealing your emotions from perceptive people intent on descerning them is very challenging. I think it is alot easier to work on deprogramming the emotions themselves instead their symptoms. Work on not being proud of you good cards as well as not ashamed of your weaker ones. Try and find as much excitement in the quiet decisions as turn reraises. I have a ways to go, but I think it was a good sign when I found my last AA vs KK face off a little boring.


zooey

i guess what i do when i bluff is i am able to convince myself that i have the best hand and am betting for value. i intentionally lie to myself and 'pretend' i have the immortal nuts, and then i bet. im not sure if this is actually what happens, but it is the best way to explain it. this way i am betting the nuts, and i have no fear in my bet.

Understand that when you bluff it is unlikely to win that particular pot.

If you realize you will probably not win the pot in front of you it should be easier to toss the chips in.


Practice making betting motions at home. Keep them consistant as possible.

Geez, I didn't know you guys cared what you had... for crying out loud, I am more comfortable with a busted hand because I only have one set of odds to calculate, no outs. Sometimes I consider whether I could play better if I just didn't even look at my cards, but I have to just in case I have the rockets, you know...


I mean, I like to isolate a guy and then stare right into his soul. Then, whatever I do, it is purely a reaction to him, no radiation whatsoever. I have cards? It would be much easier to pretend to be limping with some kind of draw, spend your time reading him, and then, BANG, bet at just the right moment.


I mean, there are a lot of calculations to be done even in a single round of betting, and most opponents are on a visible rollercoaster as you watch the new permutations unfold in their heads, and as you watch them build in new information.


So, in each round if you want a guy to drop, there is a correct moment to bet, a correct second. Sometimes it doesn't come. The more you stare, the more they radiate, the more you know how much they care what you have or not. It's a radar game, you have to be looking right at them the moment you bet or call, the moment the card hits, the moment...


Geez, I have cards?


Maybe if they think it's just a head game, if you can draw them into one, they will play without regard to their cards, too...


Maybe that's why I'm such a loser...