Asking people questions

[Gene Fish]

Can someone please explain when people ask "How much do you have left?" or "Do you want a call" or engage in some sort of conversation to get a read on a player...what is it exactly that they are looking for. I understand they are trying to get a "feeling" but I don't even know what to really look for. Thanks!

[PantsOnFire]

The general thing you are looking for is a sign of strength or weakness. Mostly, player show strength when weak and weakness when strong. This is a natural human instinct.

So the strength could be in the tone of the voice or the quickness of the response. As well, a confrontational attitude to your question might be present which again is a strength signal.

Most people probably outthink themselves trying to do this. It's takes a lot of experience to not only find what you are looking for but also to apply in correctly. When I'm at the table, I try to notice how players react and then what cards they show before I start applying these types of tells.

[SellingtheDrama]

With any physical tell, you're looking for changes in demeanor - everyone acts a certain way normally, and you're looking for them to not.

From my experience - the people who ask 'how much do you have left' are pretty sure they are behind in the hand, but are trying to talk themselves into calling because of the odds. I will ask this question for this reason.

People that ask "do you want a call" are just stalling and slowing up the game.

[omaha]

[ QUOTE ]
Can someone please explain when people ask "How much do you have left?" or "Do you want a call" or engage in some sort of conversation to get a read on a player...what is it exactly that they are looking for. I understand they are trying to get a "feeling" but I don't even know what to really look for. Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting, the 'how much do you have left' question.

I read once that one pro continually asks it, and it is really for its unsettling value.

I tried it, it works a treat.

1) It signifies aggression, both actual and implied. "I AM SERIOUSLY THINKING OF RAISING OR SHOVING".
2) It shows that you are thinking beyond the pot.
3) people dont seem to bet at you as much, since they know you are likely to come over the top.

4) Tells. Not sure why, but it is a massive enligtenment of tellls. You can just tell by the way someone answers the question, the way their voice sounds, just that intuition thing. I tend to believe how I think a person is feeling when they are asked that (seemingly) innocent question.

As for the 'do you want a call', I think that it just doesnt work for me, and you seem like a waanker if you ask it more than once or twice.

However, asking how much someone has (even when you pretty much know how much they have just by opening your eyes) is so revealing in many cases

[HOWMANY]

When I ask how much someone has left I usually just want to know how much they have left.

[PantsOnFire]

[ QUOTE ]
When I ask how much someone has left I usually just want to know how much they have left.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have noticed that some players do this pf to see if they have implied odds to call a raise with a med pp or suited connectors.

I have also noticed that in NL tourneys, big stacks will do this to smaller stacks so they can size their bet to achieve a particular result, like bet 45% of his stack.

Most of the time, however, when this is done pf and then the player just calls, it usually means they want to cool the action down and hopefully induce a scared check on the flop.

Just as a side note, whenever somebody asks me if I want a call, I say "no" every single time.