It is very reckless to plan your strategy basing on tells only. You should perceive each tell as a piece of information. With the help of a complex of such pieces you may build a pretty clear picture of your opponents’ behaviour.
If you really want to use tells effectively, you must not rely on them unconditionally. You need to make your decisions taking into account other important factors, for example, the way an opponent is betting, what type of a player he/she is, what their emotional state is and the history of their plays.
The most popular tells are the following. Pay attention to the details on how you can use them.
Chip Loading
It is when a player has received his cards and then, looks down at his chip stack. If a player does that, he is likely to have a good hand and is going to bet in the nearest time. He is calculating how much it is required to bet in order to gain the most value from his hand.
In most cases after loading a chip, a player always raises the pot. Observing this, you may guess what holdings he has. The only thing you should do is to get to know what his preferences in hands are and narrow down his card possibilities. It is also helpful to look at your opponent’s play on the flop. If you suspect him to have hit a draw, look at him attentively when the dealer turns the card for the turn or river. As the card is turned he might immediately glance down at his chips, as if to bet. If he does so, you can safely fold your hand.
Betting Patterns
Watch how your opponents bet, how fast they do that, and how much they bet. Many players raise their starting hands in different ways. When they show down a hand they had raised pre-flop, always try to remember how much they raised on it.
Look Away
Sometimes during a big hand you may notice that a player looks away, as if he/she were not interested in the hand. These players are rather dangerous to play with. They want you to think they are unprofessional, weak opponents. But in fact it isn’t so at all. If you observe a player avoid looking at you or act timid during a hand, be careful not to get trapped.
Staring at You
If a player stares directly at you, it is nothing else but bluffing. By that, he’s trying to intimidate you into folding. Don’t let yourself be confused by such behaviour. You might want to call if you have a proper hand for this purpose.
Posture
It can tell you many things if you watch carefully when and how your opponents change their sitting positions. When players do not have hands, they usually sit back in their seats. As the situation changes and they get a hand they care about they will immediately sit up in their chair or tap their feet or fingers. Leaned back posture with crossed arms means that a player is not interested in the current hand. When he wants to get out of the pot, he commonly sits up quickly or starts moving around.
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