shaky hands

[donuts]

Hi all,
I've read somewhere that shaky hands is one of the strongest tells of a good hand. The other night playing NL hold em I had a pair of 2's in my hand and the flop came Q - 2 - 2. As I reached for my chips to slowplay my monster hand, I realised my hand was shaking like mad! I like to think I don't give much away, but this was something I just couldn't control. Anyway, I ended up all in and raked a huge pot (the guy on my right had flopped a full house with a pair of q's!). If I ever see shaky hands I'm running for the hills....does anyone have any tips for controlling the shakes? apart from drinking less? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[sthief09]

drink more

[cjx]

Shakey hands is actually the only reliable tell I feel like I can get from other players right now.

How to control it? Play a lot more live... eventually you just don't get as excited, I've gotten it under control fairly well. I also try to riffle chips between and during hands to keep myself from getting tense when it comes to betting. I guess it also helps to be very aware of it in order to control it.

I've noticed it watching some of the tv tourneys too.

cjx

[Dante]

I've found that if you don't really pick up a stack of chips and bet with them, but rather kind of skim them over towards the middle and cut our your bet, it can reduce shaking.....

[Vazh]

I think it was the 2003 WSOP where Howard Lederer was up against the guy that zipped his coat over his head. He was shaking like a leaf. I'm sure Howard noticed, wonder if that's why he folded.

[beerbandit]

drink beer, not coffee

[deacsoft]

I'm going to agree with the poster that said play more live games. I had a slight shaking problem months ago, but I have now become used to holding it back or not doing it at all. It all came with time and pratice. Eventualy you won't even have to think about it. Just give it time, and if you are realy worried about it maybe try reading up on zen. Zen and the Art of Poker is a book I enjoyed that instructs with controlling emotion.

As far as using it against others, it's a great tell. Watch them as they put their bet in and when they are waiting for callers. I do believe that you need to be aware of the tell in order to control it and many players do not know that they are doing it. However, the tell must match the quality of the player. A lesser player who does not know the difference between a decent hand and a great hand may shake just as badly when he sees K-10o in the hole.

[whiskeytown]

being aware of the tell is one of the first things you can do to overcome it, but if you're not playing live, it can be a bear to overcome -

happened to me the same way one time....except I turned quads and there were two other Q's out there giving me quads against two possible boats - I tried to control the shaking as I raised a turn bet - and luckily the two still in the hand didn't notice, but one who had sat out did notice - (I joked about it after the hand) -

RB

[benfranklin]

Mike Caro has a lesson on this in his CardPlayer.com section. Go to http://www.cardplayer.com/?sec=caro and click on Lesson 10.