Master of the pause

[Mike]

Five players see the flop maybe for a raise maybe not, all check the flop. The turn is apparently no help either, and all check again. The 'Master of the pause' (mtp) in late position looks at his cards a little too long. He plays with his cards another a few seconds, pauses again - a few seconds to long and bets. He does this with no eye contact. All remaining players fold or it's a showdown between two really bad hands.

I have a theory that some of the betting we do is on automatic, and mtb's pregnant pausing slows everyone down and makes them think about the hand they would have bet if their wasn't that long intentional pause. Now mtb doesn't scoop every pot, but he scoops enough that it is a profitable play for him. Any thoughts on what is going on in our heads when mtb pulls this trick?

[Dynasty]

By deliberatating about his holding and letting everybody see that he is doing it, his following bet is an act of strength. Observant opponents should usually interpret this as a sign of weakness.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Johnny Chan paused for a long time before calling in an WSOP NL event. Andy Glazer, who observed it, thought that he was unsure of whether to call. He later realized that Johnny had a full house and was pausing in hopes of getting an overcall.

I believe this incident was reported in Andy's WSOP article in the current issue of Cardplayer.

Al

[Big Dave D]

n big bet poker a pause can mean a hell of a lot of different things. Padraig Parkinson, for example, is a master of mind games and will often go into "deep thought" just to rattle you and get a reaction, or to disguise the fact he was stealing with garbage.

GL

[Jedi Poker]

In the hand of a good and aware deceptive player, a pause can be one or both of two things. First, it is a tool for gathering information because during tense high stakes moments, it can elicit non-verbal responses of emotions like anxiety, impatience, tension, nervousness, embarrassment (as in like a kid whose hand got caught in a cookie jar), forced dissociation, and excitement from the other player's body language (breathing, changes in blink rates, body symmetry, head tilt, shifts in center of gravity and symmetry, posture, etc.) Second, it is a tool for manipulation and deception. He can pause when he's strong and sandbagging. He can pause when he's weak and semi/bluffing. He can pause when he's trying to get overcalls. And he can reverse all of these by NOT pausing in similar situations in the future. In short, pausing is a tool that one can use towards becoming more unreadable and random. It's just really commonsense.
For the poor playing and unaware player, a pause can be just habit or impulse. Just be observant of the player's SPECIFIC personal patterns so you can then exploit them.

[SittingBull]

is USUALLY an indication of a strong hand.
The player is trying to give the "impression" that he really doesn't know what to do with his hand. If he raises,U are in trouble!
However,if he knows he is playing against a field of Caro students,his "pause" would indicate a "reverse" tell when he is actually weak. So if he raises in this case,he is trying to convince his opponents that he is strong.

If a player is first to act,he is usually pausing to try to obtain a "tell" from his opponents--but only if the "pause" is a few seconds.

If an opponent pauses only for a few seconds to determine whether or not to make a call,he is trying to obtain a "tell" from the opposition.
Hence, in summary,a LONG pause usually indicates strengh and a few- second pause usually indicate an attempt to pick up "tell(s)".

H /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif appy pokering
Sitting Bull




Happy pokering,
Sitting Bull

[Noo Yawk]

Sometimes I pause because of all the drugs I did in college. It's not a tell, but what's a few dead braincells between friends!
Damn, I think those Kings moved...

[SittingBull]