Body Language At The Poker Table
To become a pro poker player, you need to master your body language, identify common poker player traits, and learn how to spot tells. Poker tells are common, irrespective of whether you play at a tournament or cash game table.
Studying poker tells is effectively studying body language. One of the key principles of studying body language is you have to establish a baseline. For example, if you were part of the FBI interrogating a murder suspect you wouldn’t assume the suspect committed the crime because he is nervous: of course he is nervous, he is suspected of.
- Here are some key hands from last night’s tourney, in each of which body language, reads and poker tells played a big part. Hand 1: Weak equals strong The first big hand of the evening developed after about half an hour, when we were two hundred and fifty blinds deep.
- Researchers have found that people more accurately understand mood when they examine body language, rather than facial expressions. “When people rated a whole image, it was clear to them – they saw winners and losers,” said Hillel Aviezer, now an assistant professor of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The professionals know how to hide tells, the amateurs fall into the trap. You may be extremely skilled at the game but if you are using the wrong body language or are not being able to spot tells, you are losing out on a lot of profit.
Remember – Body language is essential for poker players!
Yes, nonverbal science has a role to play in poker. It adds a whole new dimension.
Tells are generally very subtle, yet once you master them, you will be able to pick up cues to judge poker player traits and the opponent’s game. Remember the general rule – in poker, weaknesses mean strength, strengths mean weaknesses. Poker is a sport of deception and players will try to fake a tell. Just keep a constant eye on the player’s moves but make sure they don’t get to know that they are under your observation.
Many popular poker players around the globe have shared tips and guidelines for reading tells. We’ve collected the various inputs and put them together to help you decode the common traits of players and improve your profits in the game.
- The glance at the chips – Now, this is something most players do unconsciously. As soon as the cards are dealt, if a player takes a quick look at the chips and then looks away, it means that he/she probably wants to bet. The next unconscious tell is to look at the opponent’s chips.
- The glance at the cards – This is one of the common poker player traits of beginners where the player takes a brief look at the cards in hand. For instance, if the flop has 3 cards of clubs and the player takes a glance at the cards, chances that he/she has a flush are low. This is because the suit is usually not noticed in an off-suit hand. If there is a suited hand, they will remember the suit of their cards. Therefore, it is safe to guess that they have at most one card of clubs.
- The breathing pattern: How a player breathes is very important. And this is not an intentional tell. If you are close to the player, you will be able to easily monitor the breathing. Shallow breathing or restricted breathing to avoid breathing loudly means that the player has a weak hand.
- The truth about nervousness: Nervousness is often decoded as the sign of a weak hand. But a lot of times, nervousness is just an act or imitation. You will see that there is a bit of an exaggeration because, in reality, the player is holding strong cards.
- The fake reluctance: If a player is uncertain about the bet or shows reluctance, the player has a strong hand. If they had a weak hand, they would do everything possible to hide this. On signs of such a poker tell, you must fold unless you hold a very strong hand.
- The lean back:Most professional players know that they are being watched and so, they sometimes try to fake their actions. One of the classic tells is – the lean-back. When a player has a strong hand, they lean back from the table and sit with their arms crossed. They are trying to hint that they don’t have much interest and are non-threatening but the truth is that they probably have the best cards.
- The size of the eyes: This one is a general human tendency. As soon as you see good cards, your eyes get bigger. You must watch the opponents’ eyes to notice who likes what they just saw. The eye muscles unintentionally retract the eyelids and there’s a dilation in the pupils. If that’s what you notice, know that he/she has a good hand.
- The repeat: Apart from nonverbal tells, there are also some verbal poker player traits that you can focus on. These are also equally valuable. For example, if you ask your opponent, “Did you just get a flush?” and their response is, “You think I just hit a flush?”, he/she most probably did get one. If you use verbal tells in the right manner, you can fish for useful information. The action of repeating your question as a response to you is a sign that they don’t wish to lie and they are sitting on a strong hand.
- The easy smile: Another very interesting tactic used on the poker table is a stare-down. If it is just you and another player and you are trying to judge what that player has, try to give a stare. If his/her response to your eye-contact is a slight smile, you can guess that they have a good hand. But be wise. There is a lot of difference between a genuine smile and a fake smile. A genuine smile will bring back the corners of the mouth along with the corners of the eyes. A fake smile will reflect weakness with only the mouth smiling.
- The dejected sigh: This one is extremely common. You would have seen it many times by now. Some players immediately show frustration or say ‘Dammit’ after seeing their cards. They are just trying to tell you that they have pathetic cards and are weak. However, you must go back to the general rule – weaknesses mean strength and when someone is attempting to blatantly show weakness, it means he/she is strong.
Spotting a tell is not easy, especially for new players. It takes time to master the act and you need to go slow. Every player is different and so are their actions. Player A might genuinely give reactions while Player B might be a master at hiding weaknesses. Go slow to get into the habit of understanding tells.
Notice one person at a time and develop your analysis on their actions – how they bluff, how they act when playing on a good hand, their body language when they fold, the meaning of high bets, etc. When you have a hang of understanding the tells of this one player, move on to the next one and over time, you will be able to notice the common tells on your table.
Check out: Poker Superstitions Popular on the Poker Table
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Body Language At The Poker Table
Body language is one of the two ways that you are going to
pick up on the majority of tells in live poker. You can learn a
lot from hearing someone talk, but many players won’t talk much
if at all when they are in a hand. Because of this you need to
learn how to gain information from other, more subtle clues that
are available.
Unlike talking, body language is much more
difficult to provoke. You’ll undoubtedly get someone to
shift around when speaking to them, but you can’t read directly
into these actions in the same way that you would with something
spoken. Body language is the type of thing that you’ll get
infinitely better at reading as time goes on. This could be said
about most any skill in poker, but picking up on tells is truly
something that requires actual game play experience to learn and
improve upon.
Body language comes, to me, in two different varieties. First
there are the standard actions that occur well before a hand
gets overly involved. This would include pre-flop play and the
first street or post-flop action. The next type of body
language is demonstrated when someone is involved in a more
significant pot. A player might place a river all in bet or be
facing a decision when they start to really squirm around. Of
course, if they are acting last, their body language is
irrelevant to the outcome of a hand. If, however, you are
deciding whether to call a player’s bet, you can make an
educated guess based largely on how they are acting. Using these
two defined types of body language, we are going to take a
closer look at what you should be keeping an eye out for.
Pre-Flop, Basic Body Language
Pre-flop body language is generally going to be tame and even
mundane, but it can come into play later on in a hand. If you
think that a player is acting particularly strong pre-flop, you
could factor this into your decision making if there’s a bet on
the flop, turn or river. Your goal as a player is to always be
piecing together the most believable story. If a player seemed
passive or weak pre-flop but is now trying to pretend like they
have a big pocket pair, you should be able to pick up on this
sort of irregularity.
Players who tense up and start looking onto the action with a
very intent demeanor should worry you the most. This is often
times a tell that a player is strong and is ready to get down to
business. When this same player has a smaller hand, they are
more inclined to play passively and/or without as much
intensity. If you think about it, there’s a good chance that
you are doing the same exact thing.
An example of a player who is very interested in their hand
will be someone who has their eyes darting from player to player
while they remain quiet. This same player will also make sure
their cards are in a safe place and may even place a card
protector on them. Another way to spot weakness is when a player
looks nervous but is actually trying to act as if they are very
calm. A reverse tell is huge in poker. Players will only be able
to hide their actual feelings to a certain extent. If someone
seems like they are ready to explode with pent up anxiety and
are
trying to shuffle their chips anyway, be careful when you get
involved with them.
The obvious body language moves are also the most common. For
example, players with small hands will usually toss their chips
into the pot playfully. They won’t take the time to count out
chips neatly and precisely because deep down they aren’t overly
concerned with the pot at hand. A player who seems generally
disinterested will usually be just as disinterested as they
seem. For the most part, body language in pre-flop play will
coordinate with the types of hand strengths that you would
expect. It isn’t until post-flop play that most players start to
really hide their true emotions.
Post-Flop, Intense Body Language
Reading Body Language At The Poker Table
Post-flop is when the bigger amounts of money tend to get
involved. Players don’t want to give away any valuable
information and will be making every effort possible to ensure
that their hand strength is kept as secretive as possible.
Though some players have come close to mastering the art of
deception through body language, the majority of your opponents
will end up giving away a few tells that can be used to your
advantage.
The player who sits back in their chair after making a big
bet isn’t someone you should take lightly. While sometimes this
player is in fact weak, they are usually making a big bet and
trying to act as nonchalant as possible. They will often times
cross their arms and make it seem like they are just waiting for
you to call so that they can muck. If a player is putting this
much effort into trying to appear as if he is relaxed, you can
make a safe guess that he is really on pins and needles hoping
you call. This is one way that players try to keep their
emotions at bay whilst giving off vibes of weakness despite
actually being strong.
As a rule of thumb, a player who is putting forth an obvious
effort to appear strong isn’t necessarily strong. Think about
it, what kind of player would want everyone else at the table to
have an idea of just how valuable their hand is? Players who act
like they have a big hand do so because they need to convince
their opponents that they are beat. They figure, and sometimes
rightfully so, that an aggressive and intimidating image will be
enough to force a fold. You need to be able to see past this
façade and determine whether it is at all honest.
In the end, poker is a game of deception and trickery. If you
assume that someone’s outward emotions are true indicators of
how they are feeling, you are likely to get burned time and time
again. Instead, look at what makes sense, see if you can really
get a feeling for where they stand, and put together a
believable story. If everything adds up, chances are that you
are on the right path.