Rory Gold

There is probably no greater expert in the science of tells than Mike Caro. Caro, a long-time professional player, author and lecturer on poker theory, dedicated himself in large part to a better comprehension of the human animal and its behavior when attempting to deceive. The result was ‘The Book of Tells’, considered by most live pros to be one of the holiest tomes in learning the nuances of the game.

It’s Caro’s primary contention that when trying to deceive, people will instinctually go overboard in pushing the other envelope. In poker, this pattern of behavior can be summed up by six telling words:

Weak when strong; strong when weak.

Burn them into your brain. Actually, this is a good rule of thumb in all walks of life, let alone at the poker table. The most boisterous individuals are seldom the most confident, as they wouldn’t feel obligated to be boisterous in the first place. That’s the thing though; while this doesn’t apply universally, one can generally assume that if a person displays extreme behavior, it’s because they’re

subconsciously trying to hide the truth and overcompensating in the attempt. While experienced poker players will know to protect themselves from this reality by:

a) making sure to hide their behavior through uniformity

Or

b) Taking advantage of an inexperienced player who is looking for tells by sending purposely false tells, understanding this element of human behavior can be especially useful at home games filled with casual players.

It is there where poker players let themselves fall into those patterns that occur so naturally.

One thing this teaches us about live play is this: Be careful to not communicate anything regardless of the strength of your hand; instead, focus on duplicating all of your actions regardless of your strength or weakness. The truth is that very few people have the self-control o avoid over-acting. The trained eye will know when you’re doing so and make you pay the price in pots. While online play doesn’t offer the same body language that live play does, there are still tells that one can look for when playing the computerized game.

If a  player has been silent in the chat box for extended periods of time then finally ‘speaks’ during a hand, it’s usually safe to assume they are attempting to deceive. Also, when playing online, keep an eye on the speed with which players make their moves. The largest opportunity to pick up a read usually comes thanks to the check boxes that allow for speedier play. Most online rooms will allow you to check a box in advance of your turn to act in the case where you know what you’re going to do before you do it. If  a player bets r raises immediately when the action is on them, far more often than not, it means their hand is strong. Likewise, if they check immediately when the action is on them, in all likelihoods, their hand is weak. This would seem to run counter to Caro’s theories until you consider that the desire to deceive is canceled out by people letting their guard down when no eyes are on their person. The online player is a far more honest breed than the live one.

It’s for this reason that you should try to avoid using the check boxes if possible. If we know people do it, so do other players and they’ll be looking for it.

Some classic tells to look for in live play:

When the player is weak:

They will talk with confidence

They will smile

They will move

They will blink rapidly

When the player is strong:

They will stay silent or speak quietly

They will stay still

They will frown

They will complain

They will pretend to not be paying attention

They will pay attention to something other than the hand (their chips, a television)

Their hands will tremble

They will avoid looking at their hands

They will sit up (this is more when they pick up a strong hand pre-flop)

They will avoid eye-contact

They will lose track of what they were saying before discovering their strong hand.

Stay Gold

Rory Gold