"Tell" you what

Reading tells are a major part of a successful multiplayer poker player's arsenal. If you're not utilizing them, you should. Some of your opponents are!

I'm sure you've played against some young guys hiding behind their sunglasses. These guys remind me of the Adam Sandler movie, "Big Daddy". In the movie, Adam gives this little boy his sunglasses for protection. When the boy wears them he thinks he's invisible.

Those guys wearing sunglasses think the same thing!

Don't get me wrong. Although the sunglasses don't make a player "invisible" they do prevent a couple of tells from being read, but not all them.

The sunglasses block two easy tells; Glancing and Blinking.

Glancing: A player looks down at his cards, then he looks up and glances at his opponents stack. He's got himself a good hand and is sizing up his competition and determining his bet. This guy has a good hand. The glancing tells me that. The eyes automatically do this in reaction to a good hand. Watch for it in your next live game. Oh and, um, fold.

Blinking: People blink alot when they're lying or being deceitful. Well most people! Very Josie hardly blinks at all - it must be my honest nature! Anyway, if you want to use the Blink Tell - you need a base reading for each player, which is very easy to get.

When I play a tournament, I'm usually fairly quiet in the beginning. (it's true!) That's because I'm counting blinking patterns. It's easy to do! For 30 seconds, check out the guy to your left and count how many times he blinks. If it's 5 times in 30 seconds - in my mind, his name is 5. I'll keep doing this until I have a number for everyone. (or as many as you can retain....start with only one or two guys)

If "5" and I are in a pot together and he makes a big bet.....well I'll stare at him - common enough when you're in a big hand with someone....and if he blinks 10 or 20 times, the man's uncomfortable and being deceitful to Very Josie! If I have a decent hand, I'm calling. And when I win I'll hear "How could she make that call?"

It's hard to put your trust and money behind an instinctive call like that. You should try counting the blinking - even if it's only two guys at the table - and see how much they blink when they're in a hand. It'll be enlightening. And it'll help you put your faith in the tell when it counts.

Those aren't my favorite tells but they are easy to see and a good place to start.

More tells to come, but it's time for my second cup of coffee. I have priorities you know...

Stay tuned for part two: Tells and Don't Tells

Play Smart.

Josie

Comments

crafty said…
"Jewish man, 41, goes blind suddenly after not blinking for three hours."
Josie said…
Ha, THAT isn't what made you go blind. Didn't your momma tell you what makes guys go blind?

LOLLLL
crafty said…
Can you imagine if doing the hand jive really did what they said it did? Every male on this planet would be four foot three - and would have one hairy palm which was clutching the leash of a guide dog.
OES said…
My voice still squeaks if im bluffing or strong. Try to peg meeee.
Josie said…
College Boy,

Boys' voices do squeak during puberty, right?

Besides, your hands only tremble when you have a GOOD hand....which is a preview of my NEXT post.

Thanks for commenting! You MUST comment on the next round of tells - lemme know what you think.
dbcooper said…
The lean into the table is another one. Look for it right after they look at their cards. Don't look at yours watch them look much more interesting and profitable. Haven't tried the eye thing but then again some guys might wonder why I am eye balling them. AS for the ladies well thats another thing.
Josie said…
Ooooo Thank you DB! I'll be looking for "the lean" tomorrow night.
John said…
I LOVE this blog. Easily the BEST poker blog I have read in a while. Keep up the good work!
John said…
I LOVE this site. Easily the BEST poker blog I have read in ages. Keep up the good work!

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