From the internet to live play -- Giving off tells?

billyjex · #1 06-23-2005, 04:45 PM

Hey guys,

This question might be a little general but as I prepare for the main event I want to get some opinions on giving off tells.

As an internet player my live experience is just about nil. The biggest live tournament I've played in was $50 and it doesn't really matter how I conducted myself while in a hand -- my opponents weren't good enough to notice anything about me anyways.

I guess I'm wondering, especially to you guys who have been playing/played in the WSOP this year and previous years, are there any tells that I should concern myself about? Obviously I will try to sit still and motionless while I play a hand, but I'm wondering if some of those pros can pick up things not even I'm aware of..

James Lang · #2 06-23-2005, 04:53 PM

Have you read Caro's book of poker tells yet? I read that on the way down to the NOLA circuit event, it helped a lot.

smoore · #3 06-23-2005, 04:57 PM

breathing. Keep it the same when you bluff as when you have a monster.

bet actions. It's hard to stop trembling but make sure you're putting the chips in the same way every time.

preflop hole cards. Develop a procedure for how to look at/protect your cards. i.e. I always check them, stare at them for count of three and then put a chip on top of them.

lean angle. pick one and stick with it, I prefer elbows on table, slightly hunched. leaning forward/back is a pretty big way to start to give off tells.

wear a hat. The forehead is the hardest to control facial muscle (also nice and large).

I would go ahead and wear sunglasses. this is a big event and you don't want to give anything away, even at the expense of looking like an online douchebag (don't take offense, I'm an inet dbag too). Take some cards and a trusted poker friend with you to the sunglasses store to check for reflection. If the salespeople give you any crap just tell them how much the buy in is. This should set off commision bells in the person's head and they will probably go out of thier way to give you diffferent lighting and such [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

and for god's sake, go play more $50 tournaments

billyjex · #4 06-23-2005, 05:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]
and for god's sake, go play more $50 tournaments

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i will be, it's just a pain because the indian casino is 30 minutes away. i need to stop being lazy (it's too easy when I can play 4 tourneys at once at my home!)

thanks for the advice.

locutus2002 · #5 06-23-2005, 05:05 PM

Get sunglasses.

Players will stare you down for minutes on end in a crucial hand. When they're not looking at you they will be salivating over your chips.

As a novice live player I was looking at my cards before it was my turn to act because I wanted to be thinking about my play as the betting goes around the table. Everytime I looked up from my cards I could see 1/4 of the table was staring at me. I stopped looking at my cards in advance when we got short handed. If you plan to do this, make sure that your action is the same for hands you intend to play and hands you intend to fold. In hindsight I think they were just trying to protect their blinds from loose raises (steals). Act in turn: I saw the player to my left move for his chips just before I was going to move for mine.

GL.

RedRum · #6 06-23-2005, 05:09 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and for god's sake, go play more $50 tournaments

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i will be, it's just a pain because the indian casino is 30 minutes away. i need to stop being lazy (it's too easy when I can play 4 tourneys at once at my home!)

thanks for the advice.

[/ QUOTE ]

30 minutes away!?! God I wish I was that close, I think it's 4 hours to a cheesy little indian job here, and 8 to biloxi.

/sigh

GL in the Main Event

plaid · #7 06-23-2005, 05:17 PM

getting out of your seat and screaming daaah! after sucking out on an opponent is a pretty strong tell, IMHO.

seriously:
Caro's quick glance down at one's chips. I've seen that one a few times indicating a lot of strength (and the likelihood of a large bet or reraise). In a few instances, I have saved money by not bluffing because of that tell.

while we're at it...you should be looking for tells yourself. Try to make it a rule that you don't look at your cards until it's time to act pre-flop...post-flop, look at you opponents' reaction to the flop rather than the flop itself. Sounds easy, but I've found this to be a very hard thing to maintain. You're looking for any type of adrenaline rush (eg: breath, chest thump, veins in neck throbbing, eyes opening wide, etc...) flowing through the person as they see AA in their hand, or as they flop a set. It's damn hard to keep these routines going...you might want to play a few more of those $50 B&M tourneys, just to practice pulling your attention away from your own cards, and focusing on what the other guy has.

Basically, always keep your eyes and head up...only look down when you have to...and watch for that quick glance at one's own chips, while at the same time not doing it yourself (of course, this could be a false tell that someone is putting on you). Or as was said earlier, buy some sun glasses [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

GL, Frank

MegaBet · #8 06-23-2005, 05:45 PM

I guess my biggest flaw in live tourneys is fidgeting when I hit a big hand unexpectedly on the flop. Like completing the SB with J10 and the flop coming J J 10. Thank god the guy didn't read me on that one! haha

IHateKeithSmart · #9 06-23-2005, 05:53 PM

Hey billy:

I am the opposite and have more of a B&M -> internet experience. I agree with all of smoore's advice except the sunglasses. If you are not used to wearing shades when playing, don't start now.

But, the real key to not giving off tells is to be consistent. Pay attention especially to how you handle your chips when calling/betting/raising. I would say practice offline if you have to.

Like smoore says, look at your cards the same way every time, and only when the action gets to you.

I never wear hats in real life, but always at the casino.

Good luck!
Jason

Tilt · #10 06-23-2005, 06:25 PM

The pace at which you act after looking at your cards is a huge tell. Some hands are easy decisions, so you act quick, others require thought for the given the circumstances. A good player will deduce your range of hands just by thinking about the kind of hands you would struggle with/act readily with. So keep you pace constant.