General tells

I searched this forum to no avail.

Are there any basic tells that inexperienced players make?
Ive played about 5-10 home games w/my friends and I cant seem to get a real solid grasp of why they make the plays they make.

Note: these are very bad players. Their flop call means that the two cards in their hand may or may not have anything to do with the board.

The only thing I may have picked up on is when someone is ready to fold their cards, they usually have their hand on them. Are there any other tells, like how they put their chips in the pot, that I should be paying attention to?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Doc7]

The most important things to pay attention to are betting patterns.

Do they bet when they flop a straight or flush draw, or check? Raise or call (if they have position)

What kind of cards DO they raise with? Overcards, made hands?

these are more important than physical tells usually and more reliable. People might always try to check for free cards with draws, but they might not always be so excited about how strong their draw is that their hands shake.



Anyway, in terms of physical tells, as you can find on the internet (or at a DVD store, i'm not advocating downloading anything you don't pay for...) Mike Caro has a video, (and a book for that matter) in which the main point is "STRONG MEANS WEAK, WEAK MEANS STRONG" Try that out. If they throw their chips with vigor into the pot, they're probably bluffing according to Mike. If they are sitting still and trying not to breath to hard, again, they colud be bluffing and trying not to show weakness. of course some people could be the exact opposite, which is why betting patterns are more important than anything else [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[TheBlueMonster]

[ QUOTE ]
Mike Caro has a video, (and a book for that matter)

[/ QUOTE ]

[caser85]

One that I find is pretty reliable is that people with a winning hand want to keep the game moving quickly. In doing this, they will reach out and organize the chips quickly and possibly tell the next person it is their turn. The reaching for the chips thing is big though because they feel like the chips are already "theirs".

[srm80]

caro's book of tells, the psychology and body language of poker

great book for learning how to read body language at the table, i strongly suggest you read it, it will help you win!

[TheCroShow]

the biggest one for me was spotting "fake weaknesses." subtle gestures, sounds or speech that try to sell you on a weak hand, "Oh I GUESS I'll call," player x whines as he throws in a call, shrug of the shoulders as a player checks or throws in a call. If you spot a clear weakness, it's usually for a reason, and that is human nature to want to look weak when you are really strong. do not fall for this novice mistake!

Watch your apponents eyes after they limp in or make a small bet. If they are watching your chip stack as you count out your chips before you decide to call or raise, I find they are usually weak. This is usually a good time for a fair sized raise. If they aren't looking at your stack as you shuffle or count the chips,and are just staring away, watch out!

[sully4321]

if they are, in fact, inexperienced players, here are some tells i have picked up on in my own home games (with my inexperienced friends) listed from most to least reliable:

1. looking at their chips quickly after seeing a flop: 95% of the time, they caught a piece and usually a strong piece

2. making sad sounding noises -- "pokerclack" as Caro calls it -- 90% of the time they have a monster.... watch out for "reluctant" looking bets or people taking exceptionally long periods of time to think, and then raising

3. looking at their hand after 3 of the same suit come on flop or turn (NOT river)... this means they do NOT already have the flush: they are checking to see if one of their hole cards is of the suit on the board (so they can see if they have a draw)... if their hole cards were suited, they would already know the suit and not need to check their cards... accurate, i'd say, 75% of the time

4. nervous tics stop when somebody is bluffing -- ie. a tapping leg, excessive blinking, being overly talkative, knuckle cracking... they don't want to seem nervous so they try to seem as relaxed as possible... in doing so, they actually tense up.... very accurate but hard to catch


hope this helps -- it certainly helped me. especially rule #2

[Yawkey]

Yes, there are tons of them! Let me first say find someway to either read Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells, or see his movie (I think the other guy mentioned this also), it's a real quick and great read (I don't know why it doesn't out sell Harry Potter).

Ok, so here are some of my favorites.

Slamming Bets on the Table: this is found best if you aren't playing on a felt table. A player who is bluffing will often slam his bet down on the table. With clay chips it can be very loud and when you see/hear it it will be obvious.

Glancing at chips after the flop: Don't watch the flop, keep your eyes on your opponent because this is an easy one to miss. If the flop is good for your opponent they will quickly glance down at their chips, indicating they are thinking about betting. If you have a premium hand this may be a great place for a check raise.

Staring you down: this usually means they have a weak hand, and they are trying to intimidate you into calling.

Looking away: just the opposite of staring you down, this guy probably has a good hand.

Those four will go a long way, and try to think about different variations of these that might indicate strength or weakness. Remember don't watch the flop! And don't expect these to be correct 100% of the time.

[illini43]

Watch your opponents breathing patterns. I usually try to look at their neck to determine if their heart is pounding or if they are calm and relaxed. (You can usually tell if someone is breathing quickly and heavily or if they are breathing slowly.)

Most of the time players hearts race when they have a monster and they are calm when they are bluffing.

HOWEVER, each player is different, so use the hands that they are involved in with other players to help determine what each players breathing pattern means.