How to Use Poker Tells, the Eyes Have It
So many poker players wear sunglasses or a hat with a visor to cover their eyes that you might think the game is being played on a beach. Obviously, it is so you can't see their eyes. Other players, even top players like Dan Harrington, will simply sit and look you in the eye. He is known for playing his cards straight, if he bets, look out, but don't think he doesn't wear eye covering because he isn't hiding anything. It is actually because he is good and dares you to read his face.
Dan started out as a lawyer but his love of games led to a career as a poker pro. Leave it to a lawyer, someone who has to be able to read faces for the truth, to be able to coolly sit and let you try to figure out what he is holding.
The thing about poker tells, and eye tells in particular, is that they don't always mean the same thing. There are a few standard rules that seem to apply, for instance, if a player spends a little extra time looking at his or her cards it means a good hand, and if a player checks his or her hole cards after the flop, then they are checking a pair to make sure it really is a pair. But there are better and more subtle tells that you can read with experience and practice.
One of the most consistent tells is also used by law enforcement. It is the dilation of the pupils and it indicates a lie. Another common eye tell is if a person looks to the upper left corner of the eye they are probably lying and if they look to the upper right side they are probably telling the truth. These tells, however are still hard to read when sitting at a table especially if the player is trying to trick you by using a tell on purpose to misdirect you.
Good tells are the ones that you discover yourself and it takes a little time. One of the most important traits you can develop as a card player is to be a people watcher. Look around the table and watch the other player's when they first look at their cards. See if you can notice anything about their body posture or mannerisms. Then as they play the hand, if their cards are eventually revealed, try to match the body language with the cards. It will take a while to do this so you may have to soft play for a while until you know the other players tells, but while they immediately jump in and start banging away at each other, you will be gaining valuable information about them so that when you finally get ready to play in a pot, you will be able to play them, not the cards, and in poker, that is the name of the game.
Some people are better than others at reading tells and some even train themselves to do it subconsciously so that don't have to consciously think about it or work at it. They have what are called Poker Instincts and just seem to naturally know how the other player is playing his or her cards. Don't be fooled, many of them weren't born that way, they had to develop the skill, but it is certainly a valuable one to have because in poker, you really play the people, the cards are just props.
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