This article is provided free of charge by www.RoyRounder.com . “Roy Rounder” is the pen name of a successful professional poker player and author.
To skyrocket your Texas Holdem winnings, join his free newsletter. Just click here.
***QUESTION FROM A READER***
Roy, Your newsletters have greatly helped my play I used to be a tight wad player. Now that I have changed gears (play more aggressively) in my head its thrown players off balance a lot. I take notes on my friends poker play so it helps me remember betting patterns etc.
I am really good at sniffing out stone cold bluffs (I’ve been known to call with queen high before) or strong hands that are hard to recognize like small sets and low and medium straights. I’ve even folded full houses before knowing that other players have four of a kind by their erratic breathing and confidence in their voice and shaky hands.
However I need advanced improvement on reading tells and avoiding traps. Other then the ones mentioned in Caro’s book of poker tells it is a little outdated. Especially I have had also a problem with reading people when they play medium strength hands aggressively - especially in casino tournaments unlike my weekly poker games with my friends.
After a while you learn your friends play but in tournaments they are all strangers how to get a read on them? Some players bet medium strength (not weak strength hands) aggressively. Does your e-book cover these questions?
Does it also have a section on poker tells as well. I’ve played players giving off false tells as a trap such as acting weak when weak and strong when strong? My friends do this as well giving off false tells doing the opposite of the opposite of what you would expect - we’ve read the same books.
Thanks, A.C.
***MY COMMENTS***
I want to start off by saying CONGRATULATIONS, my friend.
Calling bluffs with a queen high and laying down full boats is a sign of a BALLSY player… That level of faith in your abilities is a CRUCIAL step towards a successful poker career.
I am also impressed by your choice to take notes on your opponents. I notice that there are a lot of players who CLAIM to want to be better, but don’t take the TIME to do what is needed.
As far as your question about reading poker tells against players you aren’t familiar with… here’s what you can do:
When you are at a new table, it is obviously VERY important that you pay close attention to the GAME and to the PLAYERS right away.
Most players… when they sit down… get so caught up in themselves and their own heads that they don’t even make it to this first step…
To put it bluntly: “SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and WATCH.”
Don’t start running your mouth… don’t try to act cool… and don’t daydream. The first few minutes you’re at the table is perhaps the most IMPORTANT time there.
Once you’ve done this, be sure not to rush into any hands. In fact, I recommend NOT getting involved in any hands at the very beginning… and here’s why:
If you’re an experienced tournament player, you know that most players are eliminated from tournaments when they are in “shuffle times” (when they are moving from table to table).
It is at these times when the BIGGEST MISTAKES are usually made.
Let’s say that you sit down a new table. You may have been playing at a tight table where you could buy a lot of pots…
You sit at this new table… and fall right back into your betting pattern. You make a bold move, try to buy a pot, and get burnt because THIS TABLE is much LOOSER than the last one.
This puts you at a disadvantage right away… one which you might not recover from.
When I move to a new table… or begin at a game where I don’t know the players… I always wait at least 3-4 rounds of betting before I get involved in a hand… and a lot of times I wait EVEN LONGER.
This gives me a chance to get to know my opponents… BEFORE I risk any chips.
I call it my “Study Period.”
Of course, the WHOLE GAME is a study period in itself… but these first few hands is 100% devoted towards just watching my poker opponents.
And here’s the added benefit:
If I don’t know my competition, THEY don’t know ME, either. By taking my time and doing my study period, I learn about THEM… but they DON’T LEARN ABOUT ME.
If anything, they just ASSUME that I’m a tight player…
That means within 10 minutes, I immediately have an advantage over all the other players at the table… even if I haven’t won a pot yet… or even played a hand.
OK, so when you do your study period, what should you look for?
A lot of newbies think it’s all in the face and in the eyes… which is a mistake.
Most poker tells are the COMBINATION of an entire set of movements and behavior…
On TV– especially in movies– poker tells are portrayed as something as simple as the twitch of a nose or the movement of a leg.
Kind of like in “Rounders,” when Mike McDee figures out Teddy KGB based on how he ate his cookies.
TAKE NOTE…
For the most part, this type of portrayal of poker tells is a TOTAL MYTH.
If you think you can figure out a player’s hand just based on how he blinks, you’re in for a rude awakening… and you’ll lose your chips fast.
In REAL LIFE (where you play), tells are more complex…
…VERY RARELY are they “cut and dry.”
When you study your opponents… here are the things you should think about:
1. Past Play
Think about how this player has acted in the past…
Is he usually strong or weak?
Aggressive or timid?
Smart or dumb?
And so on…
2. Timing
If your instinct tells you that a player deliberated for a long time trying to make a choice, chances are that his hand isn’t too strong.
However, you should also note how long he has taken to play in the past, to make sure that the move wasn’t just a regular timing move.
3. Posture
Especially with bad players, the posture of a player is a key tell that will reveal a lot about a hand…
If the person leans back, that USUALLY represents strength. If he leans forward, that USUALLY represents weakness.
Once again, poker tells aren’t black and white. It’s a gray area, where everything needs to be considered together…
4. Bet Amount
If a player tends to make small bets, but then places an unusually large bet, he could be holding a strong hand. Or he may be trying to buy the pot.
Always watch for irregularities in betting patterns… most amateurs don’t mix up their bets enough, which gives you an easy edge if you pay attention.
5. Pulse
This is one of the only “body tells” that I find works most of the time. You can usually see the intensity of a player’s pulse by looking closely at his neck.
Often if a player gets “shaky,” he usually has a great hand. If the player is cool and collected, it’s probably a fake.
6. Your Gut Feeling
Depending on your poker experience, your gut will often be your best guide…
I’ve been playing poker for so long now that when I sit down with newbies, I can usually read the players almost INSTANTLY, without much thought.
It just comes naturally… and it will come naturally to you, too… once you gain a lot of experience under your belt… and once you spend enough time studying the game.
With the pros, of course, you’ve got to be much more careful, because they DO know how to disguise their tells and play their hands in an unpredictable manner.
So, to recap:
1. When you sit down to play at a table of strangers… especially in a tournament… take your time before becoming involved in a hand.
2. Go through a careful “Study Period.” During this time, SHUT UP and STUDY the players intensely.
3. When you start betting, watch for the six things we discussed: past play, timing, posture, bet amount, pulse, and your own gut instincts.
Finally… there’s one more step to add…
And that is:
NEVER REVEAL THE WAY YOU THINK.
Here’s what I mean…
Poker is truly a BATTLE of minds. The tells we’ve been discussing are mostly simple REFLECTIONS of how a player is thinking at the time of a bet. For some reason, it’s a natural tendency in all of us to share our thoughts at the poker table… ESPECIALLY when we aren’t involved in hands.
This is more common during “home games” than in tournament play or casinos…
For instance, let’s say there’s a heads up match between Don and John after the river card.
Don goes all in…
The river was the third diamond on the board. John has trip Aces.
(Of course, a flush would beat John’s three of a kind.)
Anyway… John’s has to decide whether Don is a on a bluff… or if he caught the diamond flush.
THIS is where everyone starts screwing up:
Since Don is all in… and can’t change his mind… John shows his trip Aces to the other guys at the table who aren’t in the hand.
He says, “Man, I don’t know whether to call. Don made a pre-flop raise… I think he’s just pot-committed and is trying to buy it.”
Someone else might chime in, “Yea, but he seems like he’s got the flush. Did you notice how he’s been quiet the whole hand?”
Someone else says, “C’mon wuss. Just call his bet and go all-in… I’m getting tired and want to get going.” And so on…
Do you see where I’m going with this?
John should NEVER show his Aces to the other guys of course… aside from being bad poker etiquette, now they just saw an entire “free hand” and got to see how John acted the whole way with his three of a kind.
The next guy just revealed that he’s been watching how SILENT Don has been… which clues everyone in on how this guy thinks about tells. Now you know to be very conscious about how much you talk around this player.
And the third guy reveals an attitude of carelessness… which means as soon as I caught a good hand I’d try to get in a heads-up match with him and go all in… because there’s a decent chance he’ll call.
When you reveal your THINKING PROCESS, you’re simply GIVING AWAY tons of crucial information… FOR NO REASON.
The other players at the table with pick up a read on you quickly… both consciously and subconsciously.
So don’t do it.
Period.
As you know, Texas Holdem is filled with TONS of techniques and strategies like these, that anyone can understand if they just take the time to learn them.
Unlike popular belief, poker is NOT about having natural talent.
It’s about LEARNING– through experience, analysis, and expertise– how to MASTER the game.
To develop YOUR poker genius, subscribe to my one-of-a-kind poker strategy newsletter. You’ll gain the exepertise you need to TURBO-CHARGE your winnings instantly.
Best of all, it’s 100% FREE! Just Click Here.
Your New Friend,
Roy Rounder
