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]

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.

[sully4321]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

fyp

[Yawkey]

Ahh, thank you! Do what I think, not what I write.

[bustedchucks]

look at thier eyes, not the flop( or turn or river) as its being dealt. if they stare, its generally missed them, if they flinch or more importantly quickly look at thier chips and then away be ascared.

as was mentioned above pay attention to betting patterns. if you play with the same people every week it might be worth it to pay for info now, ie stare at joe after he makes a large (or small or whatever) river bet on an uncoordinated (or paired or suited) board, note how he responds and then call see what he flips and try to make connections. i play in small games with the same people so doing things like that are good long term plays for me.

also another good idea if your playing with the same people is pick one person and only one per game to really study and focus on when ever your not immediately involved.

one more quick tidbit for soft home games when someone goes all in without any thought its better than even money to be a bluff. when you have a good hand you need a moment to think of whats the best way to get paid.

take all this with a grain of salt but get in the habit of really paying attention while your playing is the best advice i can offer, even though im an idiot and spend half my time playing with my chips and talking to my neigbor

Probably the biggest tell I have picked up at my home game involves one player. If he doesn't hit on the flop he starts fingering a stack of chips like he's jerking it off. When a player reaches for his chips out of turn, it's usually because he thinks you're going to bet and is trying to intimidate you into checking. So, if I see him doing this and have nothing I'll fire out at it with about 2/3 of the pot and will take it about 95%. It also lets me catch a lot of his bluffs if I check and he bets. Thank you Caro.