Telling the Truth
People don’t sneeze when they pick up Aces nor do they flare their nostrils and blink when they are bluffing. Despite Dr. Pavlov’s considerable research, human beings are just not so simple; especially not at the poker table.
But sometimes you pick something up. Sometimes there is just something odd about the way someone is behaving – sometimes something smells rotten. Here is some general advice on reading your opponent’s physical tells. Much of this will read as the Cliff Notes for Mike Caro’s “Book of Tells” and if you want to read as profound an investigation into physical tells as could ever be written, read this classic poker book.
Actor or Behaver:
The first thing you have to figure out about a player is if they are acting or behaving. Actors are so hyper aware of being watched that most of what they do at the poker table is in the hopes of being falsely read. These are the players that tend to show up in Armani suits or with their boobs popping out of a little black dress and they play under the premise that if they behave in a certain way at the table, they can throw off their opponent. Conversely, people who are just behaving at the poker table think that their bets do all of the talking. They won’t usually try to behave in a certain way to make you think that they have something – they just play their game and wait their turn. A good example of a poker actor is 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold while a classic poker behaver is ten-time WSOP champ Johnny Chan. Don’t confuse acting and behaving with the propensity to bluff, as the “Orient Express” bluffs as well as any player in the world. Acting versus behaving is a much more nuanced discussion – it’s about a player’s demeanor at the table.
The Behaver:
The following set of tells apply to the player who is behaving at the table rather than acting. First, watch the player look at their hole cards for the first time. Generally speaking, a loose behaver (someone who plays a lot of hands) will not take much time to bet strong with a weak hand. They will look relatively at ease doing it as well because they feel comfortable flopping around with lesser hands. On the other hand, a loose behaver will generally tense up when they pick up something big. They’ll take a little extra time to figure out an appropriate bet to do justice to their pocket Kings. They will leave their hands frozen in place on the table or their lap – for that matter, they might freeze up all together. They will also be extraordinarily focused on the flop and will follow each card with their eyes.
A tight behaver (someone who only plays strong hands) tends to work in the exact opposite way. A tight behaver will take very little time to discard trash. One of the most obvious tells that a tight behaver will perform occurs after they have folded 10-15 hands in a row and they are beginning to expect trash every hand. If they are to suddenly pick up a really strong hand, sometimes they will do a double take. They will look down, totally ready to throw away yet another 9-2, then will be shocked to see two Queens looking back at them. Then they will re-engage with the table and sort of shake off the dust of a prolonged period of non-involvement. They will set their feet, square up their shoulders, survey the situation and then bet. In this situation, they almost certainly have something very strong. Now when a tight behaver bluffs, they tend to tense up. They will seem to be uncomfortable: tight shoulders, unsure of what to look at and they’ll bet rather quickly. They also might even start to count out chips for a big bet then think better of it and check. While this balked bet is most likely a display of weakness on the part of the behaver, it is probably a sign of strength from the actor.
The Actor:
Figuring out exactly what a poker actor actually has can be as maddening as the poison scene from “The Princess Bride”. However, Mike Caro has a pretty simple solution, “Players are either acting or they aren’t. If they are acting, then decide what they want you to do and disappoint them”. So the question is: how do you figure out what an actor wants you to do? First, listen to how they are talking rather than to what they are saying. Almost without exception, poker actors are talkers at the table. Whether they have a big hand or are bluffing, most will keep yakking away. Rather than listen to what they are saying, listen to how they are saying it. When a poker actor actually has a strong hand they will tend to speak with more fluidity; they will have one point and they will be at ease saying it. A seminal example is poker actor Scotty Nguyen’s, “If you call, it will be all over, baby” said in the last hand of the 1998 WSOP Main Event. Scotty was presenting strength to Kevin McBride in such a way as to make himself seem weak, but his ease in saying that now famous line could have tipped another opponent off. In some cases, poker actors might even become silent when they have a big hand and begin to look all around like they are really scared in the hopes that their opponent will bet strong thinking that they are weak.
While it may seem that all poker actors are loose players, there are a number of very successful tight actors. Jennifer Tilly’s boy toy Phil “The Unabomber” Laak is a great example of a tight actor. He made quite a show out of trying to distract Johnny Chan in the 2005 WSOP $2,500 PL Hold’em event. Phil entered the heads-up portion of the tournament with significantly less chips than the player many consider to be the best in the world. As the underdog, Phil had to try and get Johnny to let up and make some loose calls. So Phil started doing push-ups, he started singing, he started dancing around the table all to try and get Johnny Chan to loosen up and cough up some chips. Of course, Johnny did not loosen up and went on to win his then record tenth WSOP bracelet.
Beware the Shaking Hand:
One tell that actors and behavers share is a slightly shaking hand. Whenever you see a player’s hand shaking it is because they have a monster. Generally, it only shakes after the flop when it’s possible to have made a big hand. Their hand shakes because they know that they have flopped a monster and have actually received a shot of endorphins from their brain. Poker may not be rocket science, but it sure benefits from neuroscience.
Everyone is Different:
Every poker player has different tells. One loose behaver will have different tells from another loose behaver. One actor will do push ups and another will whistle. Reading tells is a case by case thing and sometimes one player’s own tells will change. These bits of advice are just a place for you to start analyzing physical tells. In the end, if you are trying to get a “read” or figure out how your opponents play, watch their betting patterns and how they act in different positions. This is an immeasurably better way to get to the truth of players’ hole cards than to analyze their push-ups.
And for the love of God, do not pay attention to the way Hollywood depicts poker tells. Whether it’s an evil doctor taking eight seconds to bluff rather than the four seconds he takes with a real hand in the dreadful “All-in” or an evil arms dealer weeping blood in the recent Bond flick “Casino Royale,” do not trust the movies. I doubt that anyone in the history of the world has ever had a single tear of blood tell, and I know that no successful poker player in the history of the world has ever had one. So be really careful with physical tells, unless you are playing an evil arms dealer and they are crying blood. Then you can feel free to go over the top.
Tags: Aces, Dr Pavlov, Hole Cards