Poker Tells that Say 'I Have a Good Hand!' Acting Uninterested in a Hand While Still in It: This is usually a sign of a strong hand. The player is pretending that he’s not excited about his cards – but he is. Reading Poker Tells — Many readers have called my first book, Reading Poker Tells, 'the best book on poker tells.' Verbal Poker Tells —Learn how knowledge of verbal poker tells will help your live game. Sign up for the free 5-part email course above if you're curious about the kind of stuff I talk about in there. In a real cardroom, one way to eliminate given tells is to always in the same way using the same hand, the same method of stacking chips, etc. Since online poker tells are mostly based on.

1. Poker Tells Online
2. Best Online Poker Sites
3. Poker Tells Hands
4. Live Poker Tells

Often when a new player starts to learn about this fascinating game that is poker, they become bogged down in the technical and strategic parts. And this is needed, of course.

You need to understand the game inside out if you hope to become a great player. But one of the most overlooked parts of the game (and quite frankly hardest to learn) is the psychological aspects.

Live poker tells such as reading people’s reactions, body language, and subconscious signals can give you the edge against many opponents. And equally, knowing how to manipulate these psychological tendencies can help you throw your opponents off if you feel yourself playing in a predictable manner.

With all this in mind, I’ve decided to write down a few tips to help you learn the psychological side of the game, more specifically, what common poker tells are telling you.

Some of this may seem basic, some may seem extraordinary, but all of it will help your game.

Guide: Poker Tells to make the most when playing Poker

Contents

1. The first obvious poker tell is someone staring down the other players. Why is this a tell? Well, if he or she is staring you down, they are most likely trying to show strength. But if the hand really was strong, most people wouldn’t make it so obvious. The player may have something, but you will probably be able to beat it. Obviously this isn’t an exact science – experience is needed.
2. The next tell is jittering and fidgeting, which sometimes isn’t so obvious. This poker tell is usually not an act. It’s usually a sign of impatience. So what does this mean? It probably means the player betting has a weak hand or is bluffing, and therefore, does not want the call. If a player has a big hand he will usually stay relaxed when pending a call. Here’s a really important tip: If you’re not sure about calling or folding, reach towards the chips to see what his reaction is. If he stops fidgeting (this includes things like drumming the fingers, as well) then you should call. If the action doesn’t stop, you should fold, as he probably has a strong hand.
3. The next tell I will talk about is shaking hands. Firstly, this tell is hardly ever an act. Why? Because most players won’t try to “act” nervous, and genuine hand shaking isn’t an easy thing to fake. So what does this tell mean? Well usually, hand shaking happens in connection with your opponent having a very strong hand. The reason his hands shake is that it’s a subconscious release of tension due to the suspense of what’s about to happen next. Depending on the circumstances, some players are nearly always nervous, however. So don’t mistake the two types of hand shaking. If your opponent hasn’t been shaking, and then all of a sudden he is, then you can be fairly confident that he or she has a very strong hand. Similarly, you want to observe if there is shaking legs. Although not talked about nearly as much, when a player’s legs are shaking, it’s no different to the body as a whole. They tense up when they’re not comfortable but if they’re moving or shaking then the player is more excited and probably feeling good about his hand.
4. Another common tell is changes in breathing. This is rarely an act either. If you can tell your opponent has changed his breathing (either by hearing, or seeing his diaphragm move faster) then you will be able to read this tell. What does it mean? If your opponent is breathing faster, he may have become slightly more excited due to having a strong hand. If a player is bluffing he may try to hide the change of breathing by consciously breathing slower, or even holding their breath.

2 Videos here explains bit more about Tells:

Poker Tells Online

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A big part of poker tells is gathering information to know the strength of your opponent’s hand. If a poker tell suggests they’re strong or weak, it allows you to play perfect poker against them, assuming your reads are correct. If you expect them to have a strong hand you’d never consider bluffing them or bluff catching, and on the flip side, if you think the player has a weak hand, you’d be more inclined to bluff them or call their bluffs.

When you are controlling the betting in a hand, it’s hugely advantageous to identify the strength of your opponent’s hands when they call, especially on draw heavy boards with many potential draws. The first common tells players give when they have a drawing hand, is when they may be checking hole cards after a flop. When the flop is showing signs of giving one of the players a flush or straight draw, keep an eye out for people who are re-check their hole cards. They are most likely checking to see if they have a piece of it. Your opponent probably doesn’t have the flush or straight just yet. How do I know this? Well, most players wouldn’t need to check if they had it already. They are checking to see if they can draw it.

Other Poker Tells:

The other drawing poker tell is when a player is taking a while before calling his bet. If he seems to be doing some sort of calculation, he probably is. What’s he doing? He’s probably trying to work out the pot odds to see if it’s worth it to risk getting the cards he needs to complete the drawing hand.

I know this stuff is fairly basic for most people, and when you’re judging these tells, be aware of the skill level of the players you’re up against. If they are beginners then you can feel free to make decisions based on these sort of tells, because they’re too inexperienced to try being deceptive. But if the players you’re up against have some experience, be very wary, since accomplished players will often give you false tells like this, to throw you off completely.

As always, you need to use your own experience to guide you, and judge wisely.

One of the most important skills in poker is reading your opponent. In an average game of poker, you will learn more about the state of the game if you can decipher an opponent’s tells than through any other method. In other words, if you can master reading poker tells, you can master the game of poker.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true. If your opponent figures out how to read your tells, then you have already been beaten. If you make a noise or shift your eyes or drum your fingers in response to a good or bad hand and someone else figures it out, then forget bluffing, forget aggressive betting. Your tells will give away the game.

Therefore, you need to learn to master your own tells and get rid of them. At the very least, they should be very difficult for others at the table to read. The best way to get rid of them? Coach yourself out of them. Here are 10 ways to help with that.

1 – Always Be Aware of Your Hands

Your hands are two of your easiest sources of poker tells and, sadly, unlike the eyes, cheeks, scalp, etc., you cannot hide them behind sunglasses, a hoodie, a turtleneck, etc. Seriously, try playing poker in mittens to cover your hands. It just doesn’t work.

In all seriousness, pay attention to your hands.

If you think you are prone to that, pay attention to what your hands are doing. Practice laying them gently on a surface during play to avoid making fists, squeezing the table, etc.

2 – Play Sample Games in the Mirror

When it comes to how you look when you play poker, you probably know far less than everyone else. The only way to fix that is to play poker in the mirror. While you are playing poker, feel free to admire how good you look doing it, but also pay attention to your posture and your body movements.

Do you slouch? Lean forward? Lean back? Sit up straight? Yawn? Shadow box? Get fidgety? These are the types of questions you have to ask yourself as you play. Figure out if these types of body movements constitute a tell or are just part of your natural body rhythm. Either way, do your best to cancel all movement and sit there, giving no information about what is going on.

3 – Record Your Facial Expressions

Turn on your favorite poker app through one of the many mobile online casinos and point your camera at your face. Play a few hands where you win. Play a few hands where you lose. Rewind your video.

Now, as you watch the video, can you tell if you were winning or losing? Do you smile? Snort? Frown? Laugh? If you do, try to stop it. Any of those actions can become great tells.

Restart the video recording and play more poker. As you do, be intentional about not letting your face express anything about your hand. After a while, you will get it.

4 – Record Your Eye Movement

Yes, your soul is important, but the eyes are the gateway to your hole cards. Sadly, of all your tells, the eyes are the hardest to disguise.

If your tournament or casino or group of friends allows you to wear sunglasses, they’re not a bad option. You should definitely train yourself to wear them and play. However, you may not always have glasses, which is why you need to record your eyes while you play. Then, through constant repetition, coach yourself to prevent your eyes from talking too much.

5 – Watch Other People’s Reactions

When you play poker in real life, watch other people watching you. At first, this should give you a pretty good idea of what they’re seeing and when you’re revealing your tell. Perhaps you can hide when you have good hole cards, but they can always tell when you’re bluffing. Maybe it’s something else, but watching others can teach you about yourself.

Once you have mastered how others see you, though, it’s time to get devious. Start sending out fake poker tells and see how other people react. If you widen your eyes and suddenly everyone folds, there’s a good chance that’s your tell. If you shake your hands and people act like you’re bluffing, you have probably found another tell. Experiment to see if you figure out what information you’re broadcasting.

6 – Blood Pressure Cuff

Yes, this is taking things a bit far, but if you’re serious about getting rid of your tells, your blood pressure is a tell. It’s very possible that when you have great cards or miss dealing to an inside straight, your cheeks will flush or you will find some other way to turn red. This is good information for you to know.

Sadly, you may not have many options except to cover your skin, but at least you know you need to do it. You can also try exercises to keep yourself calm, but don’t let those become tells, too.

7 – Use a Timer for Changes in Speed of Play

Your phone should have a stopwatch on it. Keep track using the lap timer of how quickly you make your bets and see if you have any patterns.

With that said, this one can be a little tough to judge since there’s a natural cadence to how a game is played. Most of the time betting is much faster at the start of the hand and more thinking happens at the end. Take that into account, but do try to tell if you get antsy or overly thoughtful in certain situations.

8 – Record Your Noises

Turn off the video portion of your recorder and listen to yourself play. Try to pick out if you’re grunting or snorting or talking excessively at certain points during the game. Guess what? It’s possible these are all poker tells and, often, verbal tells are far easier to pick up than non-verbal cues.

Fortunately, they’re often much easier to correct. Just concentrate on being economical with words or talking all the time. Either way, keep a consistent sound pattern.

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9 – Sit in a Squeaky Chair

Do you fidget? If you’re not 100% sure, find a squeaky chair and play in it. Usually, the sound of the chair will alert you to whether you’re a fidgeter.

Sometimes, though, you need a little more data. In that case, record yourself with the volume turned up. If you’re playing for real money and you suddenly hear the chair start to go off like it’s in an earthquake, there’s a good chance you are fidgeter and need to stop lest you tell the table your emotional state.

The good news here is that you’re probably a fidgeter outside of poker. Therefore, you have lots of chances to practice.

10 – Ink the Card

Inking the card is just one way to figure out if you are consciously or unconsciously touching your cards. Once you figure it out, stop touching your cards.

People who check the hole cards repeatedly tell the table that something is going on. Therefore, your best bet is to leave your cards alone. Then, there’s no chance of sending the table any signals.

Conclusion

Figuring out your tells is a fairly easy process at the end of the day, though it may feel time consuming and, perhaps, a little silly. No one really wants to sit at the table in a blood pressure cuff in a squeaky old chair with cameras pointed at their face and eyes. Frankly, if you’re not playing competitively or professionally, you may never need to go to such lengths.

Poker Tells Hands

Looking at your poker tells is really just a simple matter of watching a video of yourself and seeing how react.

Live Poker Tells

Once you know what you are doing, you can make a conscious effort. With that said, we do recommend that you play small stakes games while coaching yourself out of your tells. Concentrating on not having a tell robs you from concentrating on the game, and your play might suffer. Therefore, practice when the stakes are low until it becomes second nature to not fidget, talk, etc., and you will be just fine.