Poker – What is a Tell?

by Carmelo on December 24th, 2009

Poker is a sport of people participated through the medium of playing cards. A tell is a pattern that shows the relative strength of a competitor’s hand. If you play web poker, common tells are comprised of wagering patterns and time to react. Live poker at the brick and mortar casino offers a greater chance to spot tells. Along with time tells and betting sequences, individuals have body tells. Players commonly telegraph the strength of their cards through actions, movements of their eyes, breathing rates, and the tennor of their voice. Poker is a sport of emotion and a lot of players cannot control their feelings when cash is involved. In order to spot a tell you need to closely pay attention to your opponents on each and every hand. Look for any form of wagering pattern or physical tell that relates to the strength of their hand. If an opponent consistently takes deep breaths when she has a huge hand, that is a tell for absolute strength. If an opponent always wagers his poor hands with a twitch of his wrist, that’s a tell for extreme weakness.

Tells allow you to see beyond your own hand and into your opponent’s brain. Focus on all the things that your opponent does while he bets in a pot and try to link each play to a given strength of their cards. With the ability to acquire tells on your competitor, the playing cards really don’t matter. If your competitor shows you that she is weak, you can raise them with any hand knowing that he’ll drop out. If your opponent shows you that they are strong, you’ll be able to drop out on really strong hands. There is a lot more to poker than just the hand you are dealt. Focus on your competitor’s body language and your earnings will skyrocket.

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