Tells

[Gambler101]

I have read "Caro's Book of Poker Tells," but I still am

having difficulty with reading my opponents. What else

should I read/watch in order to better read my opponents?

P.S. I am considering purchasing "Caro's Pro Poker Tells

(VHS)."

[SossMan]

You can watch most of the clips from the "tells" video on Mike Caro's website. Google it, I don't know the URL.

[illunious]

Very nice, SossMan.

Here's the link.

In case you don't have quicktime, here's the to standalone download without iTunes.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

If you're playing limit, forget tells and concentrate on betting patterns.

[Moyer]

Just to add to what Kurn said,

There has been a lot of discussion here on the forums, and in other books, about the real hourly value of tells. It's basically been concluded that tell spotting really isn't worth that much. It's nice to spot a fool proof tell, but it rarely happens, and even then it's mostly only in live games. Even in live no-limit poker, the value of tells is not that great. Especially when you consider players deliberately showing tells to confuse opponants.

Most beginning players think that reading tells is a huge part of poker. This myth is mostly brought on by television and movies. In reality, there are much more important aspects of the game to concentrate on.

So, as Kurn said, if you want to try and read other players' hands, pay more attention to the decisions they make in the hand.

[blackaces13]

[ QUOTE ]
It's basically been concluded that tell spotting really isn't worth that much.

[/ QUOTE ]

Moyer,

I see this or a similar sentence on this forum frequently and I know Malmuth is always telling us how tells are largely irrelevant to your bottomline. However, I play a NL cash game with friends every week and its tell city. The day after I read Caro's book it was as if I was being told whether they were strong or weak on every hand.

Grabbing at chips when I'm considering betting, staring at me when they don't want me to call, looking away when they're strong, talking about basball or the dog when they carelessly lob a pot sized bet into the middle with the nuts, staring at the board for 10 seconds with a busted straight draw, foot tapping, you name it.

Obviously playing solid poker is the most important thing and betting patterens (especially in NL) are crucial as well. But I don't see why tells are so marginalized by many here. I truly believe that they have accounted for hundreds of dollars to me in a few months of these games.

[LetsRock]

Tells are much more valuable if you play with the same crowd every week. You can really get to know certain players habits and can verify your reads because you see them time and time again. WHen you've seen somone do the same thing 100 times, you can count on your read to be reliable and make good money on it.

It's a much different story when playing with random players. You don't usually get much of a chance to validate your tell suspisions because it's unusual for similar situations to occur frequently enough with the same players to be able to get a solid read on anyone. You MIGHT get to see someone do something 2 or 3 times in a similar situation during a session and that's just not enough to get rich on. Sure the telegraph tells (pre-muck routine, reaching for chips etc) will help you know who'll be in behind you and this is helpful, but they're not really the "tells" that will help you in a big situation: Is he bluffing or does he have the nuts?

Spend a good amount of time looking for betting patterns and improve your hand reading. Tell-reading will work it's way into your game with time.

[Moyer]

Another point is that for a tell to be valuable, it has to incline you to make a different decision than you would have without spotting the tell. Many times I find that tells just reinforce the move I was going to make anyways. This gives me confindence, and makes me feel good about the decision, but doesn't make me much money.

On the other hand, in a game like you described, I certainly believe that tell spotting has some value.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

True, but let's not forget the first four words of my post...

If you're playing limit,

In big-bet poker reading strength and weakness is much more important than in a limit game. However, you still need to understand what their betting actions mean.