Poker Tells
In the heat of a game, reactions or behaviors taken by a player can potentially reveal information about their hand or mindset to other players. When a person’s subconscious behaviors give away the information they are trying to keep hidden, we refer to that as a tell.
Reading tells is about deducing hidden information from information that you already know. Very often it is also about deciding what assumptions about human behavior are likely versus possible. Nothing is ever a sure thing in an incomplete information game, but hints at someone’s likely attitude towards their cards can let you make a more informed decision when the action is on you.
Understanding Poker Tells
Let’s say that your opponent has pushed a large bet into the pot and sits back from the table, letting out a deeply relieved sigh. This player has sent a clear signal – they aren’t engaged. The stressful time during the hand was making that bet, and now they don’t feel the need to watch intently as players decide whether to call, fold or raise.
This player’s behavior indicates that they think they have the best cards. The bet is placed, they don’t have anything to worry about. Don’t jump to conclusions too fast though! Is this typical behavior for that player? Are they feigning confidence in the hand to cover up that they don’t have absolute rags? Probably the latter. Players have a tendency to try and appear strong when they are really weak.
Online Poker Tells
It’s easy to assume that tells are only something that plays into live games, but that’s not exactly true. You may not be able to see your opponent’s body language playing online, but you can definitely still deduce information from their behavior.
Think about what information you do get from opponents in online games. Most obviously, you get betting amounts. At the speed online poker moves, this is actually incredibly useful information. In a lot of ways this kind of data can be more reliable than physical poker tells.
Utilizing Online Poker Tells
Say you have an opponent you’ve been at a table with for an hour. You’ve played dozens of hands against them and have noticed some patterns. They like to raise 3x the big blind in bad position and 4x the big blind in good position, and they very rarely limp in unless they are on the button. They tend to fold low draws pre-flop you’d guess, because you never see them get caught chasing.
One hand, you notice them uncharacteristically limp in from good position. Once there’s a 5x raise back to them they fold. A likely assumption to be made from this based on their typical behavior is that they had a high suited straight draw. J/10 suited maybe? Q/K suited? It’s unlikely they would have backed down so easily if they had the nut straight draw at A/K, so you can deduce 3-5 likely hands that they had from this behavior.
Minor Information, Major Advantage
In an incomplete information game like poker, little bits of information and likely assumptions can add up to a big edge at the table.
Let’s imagine that you have an opponent who you haven’t quite gotten a read on. They’ve been hanging on calling several times and haven’t yet raised or bet themselves. The flop comes 5/9/Q with suits scattered. They keep calling and playing very passively.
The turn comes a J. Suddenly, the player is much more engaged in the hand and responds to your bet with an instant raise – previously they had been considering each check carefully for several seconds. When you call their raise, the river comes a second Q. You check to the raiser, and they hammer a massive bet at you.
So what do they have? From their behavior, there’s one rather likely situation – they carried a 10/K into the flop. This explains why they wanted to hang around for as cheap as possible until their J dropped on the turn. They still had a live draw and an over card. Since the table draw is a gutshot, they know that they have drawn to the nut straight, and they’re hoping that they caught someone with the lower straight draw.
This is definitely not a sure thing. They could potentially have a busted gutshot draw with a 6/7 or something, and they’ve chosen to pretend that they have the nut straight to scare you off. Most people aren’t brilliant actors under pressure, however, so deciding whether they are trying to mislead you is a far simpler proposition than attempting to guess their random cards offhand.
One more thing about this example – they’ve been representing hitting the nut straight. You can put that hypothesis to the test! A second queen dropped on the river. If they have hit the nut straight, they’ll know that someone who had two pair going into the river – queens over X – will just have hit a full house on the river. That beats their straight.
If you come back over the top and they falter, that’s more evidence that they were on that straight draw. You may even be able to represent a late full house aggressively and scare them away altogether even.
Thinking Strategy
Like anything in poker, there’s a difference between understanding tells and applying tells. It takes practice to make the observations necessary to draw valuable information from tells, and even more practice to establish the discipline to know when and when not to act on likely assumptions about another player’s behavior.
Start to put your skills to the test. As you watch the behaviors of your opponents you’ll get better and better at it. You don’t need a poker club or casino to go to… you can start working on playing off of player behavior on Sweep It Poker today for free! See how your opponents react to different situations, and start to think about why when their behavior changes.
FAQs
What is a poker tell?
A poker tell is a behavior or reaction displayed by a player that can potentially reveal information about their hand or mindset to other players.
Can online poker players still utilize tells?
Yes, online poker players can still deduce information from their opponents’ behavior, such as betting amounts and patterns, to make informed decisions during gameplay.
How important are poker tells in the game?
Poker tells can provide valuable insights into an opponent’s likely hand and mindset, allowing players to make more informed decisions and gain an advantage at the table.
Credit: news.gala.com
