[JJNJustin]

I have this problem when I play, that I call "willingness to bet" stemming from anxiousness or "unwillingness to bet" stemming from fear that I have been outdrawn.

Players pick up on these tells and use them to their advantage when they want to c/r or want a free card.

For example, I raise four limpers with QQ, the flop comes AK6, and everybody starts making all these false fake-out betting and checking motions to try to illicit whether I will bet, check, c/c, raise, etc. It gets annoying. But they usually are figuring out what I will do before it is my turn to act, and I figure this to be a terrible disadvantage for me.

I am getting better at recognizing if someone has hit the turn or river and is trying to c/r, but still players very often get a read on whether I will bet or not and take appropriate action. Especially players that have played with me before.

Obviously this is a terrible weakness in my game that I am trying to overcome. One thing I have come up with is to close my eyes underneath my sunglasses until my turn to act. This way I, myself, have no idea what I am going to do so players can not get any information from my tells or feelings or whatever.

This, however, can be confusing as I am constantly opening and closing my eyes during each stage of the hand.

I have noticed some players are very good at not giving away what they will do. Is this a beginner problem? What can I do to stop this? Are there exercises?

It sometimes gets to the point where I play more passively so that I wont draw attention to myself. That way I can position raise an EP better, protect my hand, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

-J