Tells

[Mr. Wishbone]

(Online)
The infamous limp-reraise all-in pf while writing in the chat something like "I hate raisers...". Of course that is AA or KK.

[yabastid]

[ QUOTE ]
(Online)
The infamous limp-reraise all-in pf while writing in the chat something like "I hate raisers...". Of course that is AA or KK.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or he/she types- "it's late, I gotta go to bed" = AA!

[yabastid]

[ QUOTE ]
One tell that I see a surprising amount with amateur players is when on a draw, you can literally see them nod their eyes or head in a counting manner, counting whether they have a straight.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is hysterical.

[ticks]

Timing.
Sometimes I can tell what people have just by the time they use.
One friend I play with always takes his time with a draw,
but strong hands are played quickly.

[ticks]

An online tell if you play against me:
I luuuv taking my time when an aggressive donk bets into me strongly,
and I hold the nuts.
Invariably, this makes the donk think:
"OMG!!1!! I CAN PUSH HIM OFF HIS HAND!!"
I can virtually feel his blood go cold when i call his all-in.

[WoolyHat]

[ QUOTE ]
How do you mask your own tells?

[/ QUOTE ]

Beer. Lot's of it. If you even you don't know what you're doing, there's no way in hell your opponents are gonna figure it out.

[subzero]

1) What tells do you use regularly?
Caro's Book of Tells. It's all in there. Watch their hands. People can control a lot of things (e.g. facial expressions), but they don't know what to do with their hands. My favorite tell is observing what cards my opponents are playing and how they're playing them.

2) How do you mask your own tells? (i.e. neck pulse, nervousness)
I try to consistently be myself and act naturally, no matter what cards I'm holding.

3) What kinds of tells have you found online?
Nothing is 100%, but here are some things I look for:

- a player who continues to rant in the chat box after someone lays a bad beat on him is someone you can take advantage of. solid players know that this is a part of the game and don't let it affect their play.

- if I'm on the button and it's checked to me twice, I auto bet regardless of what I have. pick and choose your spots, but it works a high percentage of the time.

- solid players reload if stacks get low. a player who starts with a full stack but doesn't reload when he's down to 25BB is probably not good.

- limp-reraise from a solid player UTG is probably KK or AA

- 500+ PokerTracker hands on someone is a clue as to what type of player they are

- observe what hands people are playing and from what positions. someone who open limps with K7s from UTG is not as good as someone who raises with 66 in the cutoff when folded to him.

[4_2_it]

Sorry to rain on the parade, but tells, for the most part are overrated, especially at home games. In my home game there is a guy who grabs a 'cheat sheet' every time he has a full house because he can't remember if it beats flush.

Short of this, most of the guys I play with don't have any idea how strong their hand really is. One guy will call down with middle pair like it's the stone cold nuts. Of course, he doesn't realize he's toast, but his body language suggests he has a monster.

Caro's tells are fine, but they only work on maybe 75% of the population. The other 25% either have the opposite tell or the tell means nothing (he mentions that in his book). I agree that the hand shake usually means a monster (everyone also knows it) so guess what, I develop Parkinson's everytime I bluff if I think someone is paying attention.

Just stay alert and observe their behavior when they win a pot and try to see what they do. The easiest tells are when a player behind you plans to fold, but that really doesn't help you all that much. You need hours and hours of live experience before you can be confident of a subtle tell.

[BukNaked36]

The only home game ones I've effectively used are what Garon mentioned:

Some of the more obvious ones ... staring at the flop means they missed it. Quickly looking away means they hit it. Glancing down at either their chips or your chips means they hit it good and plan on betting.

I have a couple of buddies who are consistently guilty of this.

[4_2_it]

[ QUOTE ]
Glancing down at either their chips or your chips means they hit it good and plan on betting.


[/ QUOTE ]

I always stare at my opponents chips when I bet in a live casino game (regardless of my holding). It has been +EV so far.