Phil Gordon's Tell

[Officer Farva]

Well I agree with your first statement, that it would be idiotic to let an opponent know if he had a tell (unless, of course, you were playing against a Russian mafia member and only had until morning to make good).

But maybe Phil Gordon KNOWS he has a tell and can't stop it. Maybe thats why he never wins bracelets? I, for example, can't stop myself from shaking a little when I pick up monster hands. I'm getting better at it, but its not like I don't know about. The point about a lot of tells is that they are an instant, physiological response to the stress and emotion created by certain holdings in certain situations.

And as much as I could see Matusow writing off someone like Phil Gordon as some guy who's easy to beat, he seems too brutally honest to be lying about this one. Either that, or he was being incredibly sarcastic.