Playing on Tells

SycoFrogg · #1 09-05-2005, 03:50 PM

I havent seen this talked about but I havent been around long either. I was recently at a 2/5 NL table at the Borgata this Saturday which happened to be the toughest table I've ever happen to sit at with a lousy 300 while there was four or five stacks well over 1500. Anyways I knew I had to pay alittle more attention to get anywhere in this game and during one slop hand I was dealt 36o and being on the button I really wanted to play this hand. Big 300-400 dollar pots were being won left and right. Ive been around for 2 or 3 hours and I normally don't put anything on top of my hole cards to protect them but soon after looking at my hole cards I dropped a chip down ontop of them, I got 2 limpers besides myself one to my immediate right in late position. The flop came 337 rainbow. The play came down to heads up with me and the fellow in late position who when at showdown flipped pp 10's. I couldn't help but think on why he didnt raise to a few limpers with pp 10's in late position. He was a solid player and seemed on the up and up. My personal opinion is I scared em with a false tell while protecting my hand with a chip. Any comments?

#2 09-05-2005, 05:46 PM

Interesting. I've done exactly the same thing. Like you, I usually don't protect my hand with chips unless I'm sitting in the seat immediately to the dealer's left or right. The reason I do it then is because two of the dealers asked me to. They explained it prevented them from accidentally mucking my hand if they were rushing.

I've not thought to try it again but think now I might. I often, consciously, try to mess with the table's minds by using a tell. Yeah, sometimes it's just the opposite of what it's "supposed to mean." And sometimes it's exactly what it's "supposed to mean."

I think it's just part of good strategy. It's like mixing up your playing style.

#3 09-05-2005, 07:10 PM

That does seem strange that he wouldn't raise in that spot. To leave overcards out there without making them pay is usually outside the bounds of proper strategy.

How would you describe his hand selection? He might look at tens as a low pair in which he would maybe rather see the flop in hopes of catching a set.

Did you limp in and show a big pair in a previous hand? What was your image at that point?

You placing a chip on your cards could mean anything. It was most likely a combination of many different things.

SycoFrogg · #4 09-05-2005, 10:09 PM

Like I said, he was pretty solid. He 4bb his big pairs and slicks wasnt a chaser and seemed ok. If he was someone who actually paid attention to people then im thinking my placing a chip ontop of my hole cards mighta scared him into limping.

#5 09-05-2005, 11:43 PM

That is interesting. In his book of tells, Mike Caro says that someone who puts forth extra effort to protect his cards generally has a strong hand. Maybe that is what your opponent felt your actions indicated.

OrangeKing · #6 09-06-2005, 12:21 AM

[ QUOTE ]
That is interesting. In his book of tells, Mike Caro says that someone who puts forth extra effort to protect his cards generally has a strong hand. Maybe that is what your opponent felt your actions indicated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but the most likely scenario here is that the other person didn't notice anything at all. Not that sending out false tells to a mediocre and somewhat observant players is a bad thing - I'm just saying that most people would be unlikely to notice them. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

#7 09-06-2005, 03:12 AM

Even if he thinks you have a monster, he should raise PF. Then he gets some information from how you respond to the raise and maybe will be able to get away from his hand. Perhaps he is a Caroite and is 100% sure you have a monster, so he limped for set value. Even so, then he should fold because he didn't catch. Frankly, any way you view his play, he played the hand awfully.

#8 09-06-2005, 04:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Even if he thinks you have a monster, he should raise PF. Then he gets some information from how you respond to the raise and maybe will be able to get away from his hand. Perhaps he is a Caroite and is 100% sure you have a monster, so he limped for set value. Even so,
then he should fold because he didn't catch. Frankly, any way you view his play, he played the hand awfully.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I agree. No matter how you look at it, this was a very poorly played hand on his part. There is a good chance that he didn't pick up on any false tells and that he simply decided to play the hand differently than he normally would to keep his play random. However, unless he's jsut a very poor player, he seems to have played the hand in a very strange manner and I would be curious to hear his reasoning behind the ay he played this hand.

benkahuna · #9 09-06-2005, 04:37 PM

Next time ask him before one of you leaves. Be friendly and ask him away from the table or in an otherwise discreet manner. Maybe a small friendly quasi-bribe like a drink (non-alcoholic or not) or sandwich. If you don't feel like you can trust his answer don't bother. If you don't ask him, you're not likely to know exactly why he did what he did. If you play with him more and experiment a bit, maybe you can figure it out.

More important than why he did what he did was how you might exploit it.