poker tells

[Felipe]

hello. I want to know about tells. My questions are

1. on the flop, player is first or second to act, and checks with good-to-verygood cards, will they look down? Will they look at other players' betting habits/patterns? will they look at other players' faces/bodies/tells?

2. When they check with poor-medium hands, what do they do? Look at other peoples' betting styles/habits/patterns? Or do they look at other people and their tells (etc.)

Essentially, what I want to know is whether or not a player is attempting to trap or check raise, or will they fold if I bet or raise. Obviously it is a personal thing, e.body reacts differently, but most people react similarly (in my opinion)


Thank you
-Felipe

ps. please don't recommend me to read this book or that book. I'm posting in the forum cause I don't have 'said' books.

[adamstewart]

I'm not sure that I, nor anyone else, can give you the answer you are looking for.

My best answer is: "it depends."

Having said that, GENERALLY SPEAKING (and I emphasize "GENERALLY," here), here are a coupple guidelines to follow:

1. Determine whether your opponent is being "genuine" or "acting." (i.e. can you tell the difference between a player who is smiling genuinely versus one who is pretending to be happy and smiling?)

2a. If he/she is genuine, act accordingly.

2b. If he/she appears to be acting, weak means strong and strong means weak.

Examples to illustrate point 2b:
- If a player forcefully thrusts his chips into the pot while betting, then stares at you in the eyes, *daring* you to call, he is generally "acting" strong - meaning he is *really* weak. Therefore, act accordingly.

- If a player timidly pushes his chips into the pot, then looks away from you, appearing disinterested in the hand, he may be pretending to be weak. He is trying to invite your call. Procede with caution.

I know you said you don't have any of the "said" books. But, if you would like to learn more about "tells," I strongly recommend Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells. It explores the topic in tremendous detail and offers a large number of examples (including photographs).

Remember these are tremendous generalizations only. Some players will act completely differently. The point is, though, if you discover this about a particular opponent, REMEMBER IT, and take advantage.


One other key point I would like to make is, if you're just starting out, don't worry so much about "tells." First, make sure you grasp the importance of playing only solid starting hands from their respective position and truly understanding the concepts behind pot odds .... and other the other critically important post-flop concepts.

Adam.

[Felipe]

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