Poker Tells

Three Situational Categories:

1. Waiting for action tells
2. During action tells
3. Post bet tells
Psychology
Tells is poker are largely based on identifying the presence or absence of fear. In general, tells are more
valuable in multi-way situations, as players tend to pay more attention to their actions when it’s heads-up.
These are all general population reads; it is best to utilize them in low-stake situations to identify if they
apply to your opponents.
General indicators of relaxation and anxiety:
1. Movement and stillness – people who are anxious are more physically tense and do not move as much
as people who are relaxed
2. Silence and talking – anxious people are less likely to talk freely than people who are relaxed
3. Eye exposure – when someone is anxious, their eyes tend to be more open; their eye whites will be
more visible
4. Eye contact –
a) Waiting for action eye contact – a person who is afraid of someone will tend to watch that
person carefully, while a relaxed person will have a more unconcerned and free-moving gaze
b) Post bet eye contact – bluffers tend to make eye contact less than people who are relaxed,
while players will strong hands aren’t concerned with avoiding eye contact
Waiting for Action Tells
1. Looking at you - When it is your turn to act, some opponents may look at you more when their hands
are weak. With strong hands, they will tend to look at you very little and their eyes may even glance
around the room.
2. Grabbing chips defensively – A player who acts as if he is going to call you is probably weak. Less
subtle versions of this tell involve grabbing the chips and moving the forward, while more subtle versions
involve hovering over the chip stack, counting out the chips.
This tell almost always indicates that the player will not be raising – they will decide between calling and
folding.
3. Indicating a Fold – Players will often show their honest intention to fold pre-flop and in multi-way
pots – watch what players after you are doing with their cards. Some common patterns:
- letting their cards sit out far in front of them or holding their cards out
- reaching for chips typically indicates a calling hand
4. Staring at bad board cards – Players will often stare at newly arrived cards when these cards do not
help their hand; those that have strong hands typically glance away from the board quickly (though they
might move back to staring).
5. Defensive Expressions and Postures – A waiting opponent who has assumed a defensive posture or
expression is often weak (angry face, sitting up straighter, leaning toward you)
6. Shuffling Cards – A player who does a one-handed shuffle with his cards against the table is probably
weak.
7. Exclamations about bad cards – A player who makes a statement about board cards is very unlikely
to have connected with those board cards.
During Action Tells
1. Bet-Timing – In general, this can vary greatly and isn’t too reliable, though there are some notable
exceptions.
Speed of Calling – calling large bets quickly is usually indicative of middle strength hands, as
that player has ruled out a raise immediately
Taking a long time to bet or raise – usually not a bluff.
Immediate bets/raises – could go either way. You can potentially narrow an opponent’s range by
analyzing how fast they are betting based on how hard the board would be to read, ex. A player who has
been betting his flush draw and makes it on the river doesn’t have to think too much, while a player who
has been betting an over-pair, but a four-way straight comes on the river will have to think.
Post Bet Tells
1. Stillness – Some players will be more still than usual after a bluff.
2. Avoiding Eye Contact – People who are bluffing will often not be able to meet your gaze and will
avoid looking in your general direction.
3. Looking down – Players that glance down during/after betting tend to be bluffing.
3 Tips on Hero Calling
1. Loose cannons/spazzy opponents – analyze random shoves with the action throughout the hand.
Remember that these players tend not to slow-play hands and typically bet draws aggressively prior to the
river. Be willing to call large river over-bets against these players – they tend to bluff way too much.
2. Unblocking the bluff range – in spots where there are tons of bluffs, ex. 7d10s2d 4c Ah, you want to
call with hands that unblock your opponents bluffing range. Here, 68, 9J, diamonds comprise a large
amount of the bluff range; a hand like Ks10c is a perfect bluff catcher.
3. Blocking the value range – having cards in your hand that block the value range, especially in
situations where ranges are very narrow (like 4 bets preflop) can be enough to justify a call. Ex.
6d3sJh8h5c on a 4 bet preflop. Value range is AA, KK, QQ, possibly JJs depending on the player. AK
blocks a large portion of the value range and is a much better bluff catcher than a hand like TT or 99.