Making the most of some time off, last night a group of us paid our third visit of the last week to The Big Slick poker club in Purley. The tournament was an ‘El Nino’ deep stack Saturday special. The entry was £50, and for that you gain 25,000 chips with twenty minute levels. It’s a fantastic structure and makes for good, if frequently aggressive, poker.

Two of us ran deep, both cashing and breaking our Christmas ducks (after an epic seven hours of play). Having played three times in just a week I’ve found that my reads have definitely improved. It’s a bit like riding a bike. You never forget how, but if you don’t practice regularly you’re not going to do very well on the hills. Here are some key hands from last night’s tourney, in each of which body language, reads and poker tells played a big part.

1. BODY LANGUAGE FOR POKER PLAYERS: SPOTTING TELLS Tonya Reiman. BODY LANGUAGE FOR POKER PLAYERS: SPOTTING TELLS It's one of the most talked about parts of poker: the tells. Whether or not you are at a multi-table tournament or a cash game, poker tells are always there. The pro's learn to hide them, the amateurs die by them.
2. Body Language at the Poker Table: in this video, I'm gonna show you 13 and most common poker tells. So you're going to learn the specific things that people do at the table, not tell you about the strength of their hands. Please pay special attention to this one because sometimes reading body language can bring you more profit than playing well.

In a live poker game, we have the advantage of seeing how our opponent behaves right in front of us. A lot of opponents give off information unconsciously that we can use to our advantage to plan against them. We can also use our own body language to throw off opponents into making mistakes against us.

Hand 1: Weak equals strong

The first big hand of the evening developed after about half an hour, when we were two hundred and fifty blinds deep. After an early position raise from a guy with headphones, four players saw the flop. The flop was an unremarkable 27Q rainbow. Headphones made a continuation bet, and got just one call, from a guy in a woolly hat. Headphones then bet a blank turn, and this time Woolly Hat made a sizeable raise. Headphones called, and checked on a blank river. Woolly Hat promptly put all his chips in the middle of the table, declaring ‘All In.’

Headphones now went into a deep think. He had been playing tightly so far, and it was clear he had a strong hand – I assumed top pair or better – but not strong enough to feel comfortable stacking off with. While Headphones was thinking, I took the opportunity to study Woolly Hat. His expression was nervous, his breathing was heavy, and he was doing his best to avoid all eye contact with Headphones. Remembering back to the classic Mike Caro’s Book of Poker Tells I assumed that this weak looking body language meant that Woolly Hat had a very strong hand. However, many players now know Caro’s book, and will employ reverse tells to put opponents off the scent, so I wasn’t certain.

Headphones eventually came to the same conclusion as me, open folding pocket Kings. Woolly Hat proudly turned over a set of twos. I congratulated myself on my read.

Hand 2: Weak equals strong. Or does it?

Ten minutes later, Woolly Hat was involved in another large pot, this time against a guy with shades. The hand followed a similar pattern to the previous one. Shades raised pre flop and bet the flop. Woolly Hat called the flop, raised the turn, and shoved the river. Shades went into deep thought on the river, and I again studied Woolly Hat. The board was flushing and straightening, and Woolly Hat had the same expression and body language as in the previous hand. A nervous expression, heavy breathing, looking away from the table.

Shades eventually folded and Woolly Hat proudly turned over…. a complete bluff. So on this occasion, weak equaled weak. Not such an easy game after all.

Hand 3: Strong equals weak. Hopefully.

The third big hand involving Woolly Hat took place about half an hour later, just before the first break, and was my first opportunity to put what I’d seen into practice. Blinds were at 100/200, and I had just over 20,000 chips. Woolly Hat had around 15,000 chips. I raised in early position with AJ of diamonds, and Woolly Hat called from the small blind. The big blind, a very loose player, also called. The flop came down A93, with two clubs.

Reading Body Language Poker

Woolly Hat now surprised me by leading out with a so called ‘donk’ bet (a bet into the raiser). Previously I’d only seen him call or check raise to pre flop raisers. The big blind called and I also called, awaiting developments.

The turn was the 4 of clubs, putting a possible flush on board. Woolly Hat now made a huge overbet into the pot, placing himself all in. The big blind quickly folded and I was placed with a decision. To call most of my chips with top pair, average kicker, or to play safe and fold. As I pondered, I looked across at Woolly Hat. He glared back at me menacingly.

There were two factors which I think made this an easy call:

– Woolly Hat had previously check raised his strongest hand. If he had a made flush, I wasn’t sure he would be going all in so readily.

– Woolly Hat’s evil eye: Going back to Caro, and strong equals weak, I didn’t believe his bet.

I called, Woolly Hat turned over a bluff (admittedly with a low club redrawing to a flush). I faded the river and a nice pot was mine. Two successful reads out of three. It’s nice when it works out.

Hand 4: Will you show if I fold?

A final hand to mention from last night. A young aggressive player bet the flop and turn before being re-raised all in by his opponent on the river. He pondered for a long time, staring at his opponent – a guy in a hoody – to try and gain a read. Clearly he was facing a close decision. Eventually, Young Gun came out with the immortal question ‘Will you show if I fold?”

Body Language Poker Player

I guarantee you will hear this phrase at least twice during an evening’s play. If you are asked, then beware. Unfortunately, Hoody fell for it. “Yes, sure,” he replied, pleasantly.

Young Gun needed no further information. He read Hoody’s answer as a clear sign of weakness. “In that case,” he said, “I call.” Hoody turned over a bluff and Young Gun won with second pair. A great read.

Interested in learning more?

For some good instructional material have a look at Pokerology, which includes videos and top tips on reading your opponents. Former FBI agent Joe Navarro has also produced a number of excellent books on body language and tells. Finally as with so many things poker related, you could also do worse than turn to Dan Harrington.

“All serious poker players try to minimize their tells, obviously. There are a couple ways to go about this. One is the robotic approach: where your face becomes a mask and your voice a monotone, at least while the hand is being played. . . . The other is the manic method, where you affect a whole bunch of tics, twitches, and expressions, and mix them up with a river of insane babble. The idea is to overwhelm your opponents with clues, so they can’t sort out what’s going on. This approach can be effective, but for normal people it’s hard to pull off. (If you’ve spent part of your life in an institution, this method may come naturally).”

Good luck at the tables,

Poker is a game of subtleties. While the luck of the draw obviously has some bearing, much of it actually has to do with deceiving opponents, figuring out people’s tendencies and reading their tells. And as you probably guessed, a lot of that has to do with understanding their body language.
Body language, for the most part, is the best indicator of what kind of cards your opponents have and what strategy they have in mind. This is especially true for advanced players, who have learned to manage their betting patterns and strategic tells. In these cases, reading and figuring out their body language can frequently make the difference between making a good or bad play. Read it right and you can make the correct decision. Read it wrong and you’re setting yourself up for a big loss.

Online Poker

Of course, body language is completely out of the equation during online poker. If you play primarily on a computer, you can probably skip this story — it won’t really matter in your results. If you do intend to play live poker, though, being well-versed in body language will get you tremendous results.

Body Language Poker

Reading People

1. Size your competition. When you first sit down (before cards are dealt), look at your competitors and get a quick read, making note of who looks aggressive, who looks passive and which ones don’t seem to care what’s going on. These are first impressions and could change during the course of the game, but they’re good for establishing a baseline with each player. Aggressive players tend to act loud and boisterous naturally. Passive ones are more laid back and relaxed. Those who seem to be in a drinking and partying mode are the ones just throwing money away.
2. Fake disinterest. Less experienced players will fake disinterest or disappointment when dealt a good hand. Any time this happens, their lying body language is almost always too obvious to mask. If you know you’re going up against an inexperienced opponent, this is the likely quickest tell to grasp. Aggressive but inexperienced players will likely be cursing loudly and overacting, too, so be aware of that. If you’re going up against season pros, though, they’re usually very disinterested during starts of games, so give it no meaning.
3. Too aggressive. When players get too aggressive in their body language, it’s always good to bet that they’re bluffing. While it’s not 100% guaranteed, extra-aggressive stances, like staring down other players, slamming cards or throwing chips, are a dead giveaway that they’re trying to cover up a bad hand.
4. Check breathing. Rapid breathing means a player is excited, which usually equates to having a good hand. This is especially true when you notice their breathing change suddenly after they check their cards.
5. Check speech. Did someone just start a conversation totally unrelated to the game at hand? While we usually equate that with disinterest, it’s misplaced: he or she sat down at a poker game, so we all know where the interest lies. Chances are, they have a strong hand and are trying to distract from it.
6. Eyes on the chips. When a player looks at their cards then glances involuntarily at the chips, that usually denotes a good hand. Subconsciously, they peeked at the chips so they can get an idea of how much they will win, which only happens when they get good card combinations.
7. Talks to themselves. Some players do talk to themselves. If someone who doesn’t suddenly mutters something during a flop, that usually indicates they got a strong hand from the dealt cards.
8. Repeatedly peeking at cards. When a player repeatedly checks his cards after new cards are dealt on the board, they’re likely making sure they have strong drawn hands. You can sometimes deduct what kind of hand they have from this, so be very alert during these times, as you’ll need to make calculations on your feet (or on your ass, most likely).
9. Sitting upright. When a player changes posture to sit upright, it’s usually a big tell that they’ve got a good hand and are ready to play. Doing this allows them to get a clearer view of the table and the other competitors. If you don’t have a good hand, you may want to pass as soon as you recognize this.
10. Talks to you too much. Players who talk to you too much are trying to mine you for tells — it’s that simple. Hopefully, you have developed a strategy for deadpanning them or you’re screwed. Alternatively, you can also have a premade aggressive spiel to just insult people needlessly — that usually works well for these types.
11. Calling or betting too quick. This usually means a player has a good drawn hand, as opposed to a good dealt hand. You can make a decision from here based on how strong your cards are.
12. Calling or betting too long. When a player is sure they have you beat via a very strong hand, they will almost always bleed the process of betting, wasting time to better draw you in. If your hand isn’t too sweet, you might want to pass on this.

Controlling Your Tells

Poker Body Language Book

You can read other players all you want, but if you don’t control your own body language, there’s a good chance the other players will just read you like a newspaper. So, how exactly do you cover up your own tells?

1. Wear sunglasses. Covering the eyes is a great step to keep people from seeing your eye movement. This is especially useful if your eyes often give you away.
2. Calm yourself. The more calm you are, the less you’ll succumb to sudden excitement or sudden disappointment. That means, you’ll have less visible emotion to read.
3. Sit upright. Try to sit one way throughout the game. If you sit upright regardless of your hand, it will become a lot harder to tell what you’ve got from posture alone.
4. Always pause before acting. Regardless of what hand you’ve got, count to five (or ten or fifteen) before taking any action. This keeps you from rushing into actions, which can be a tell in itself.
5. Avoid conversation. Unless you can use your conversation skills aggressively, just shut up and say as little as necessary. Good players can literally get a goldmine from the things people say around the table, so the less you share, the better.
6. Act selectively. Minimize acting at first and focus on keeping your actions under control. Acting is a tough road to follow in poker and very few people are able to pull it off really well on a consistent basis.