In the game of poker, it is important to master the art of poker tells. Being skilled in reading poker tells helps you to not only observe and read the behavior of your opponents, but also drives you to control your own behavior so that you don’t give out any clues even while playing online poker. Thus, poker tell is the manner in which poker player reacts when he/she is playing the hand. Such tells can be verbal like when chatting or non-verbal like the pause in decision making, and are made without any intentions, and sometimes out of purpose. So, while playing online poker games or live poker, many poker players hardly concentrate on the table. To play winning poker, you should observe and analyze your opponent’s play on the table.
Following are some ground rules that can help you in reading poker tells in both live or online tables:
- While playing poker if a player seems strong then he/she is possibly holding a weak hand and if a player seems weak, he/she is apparently holding a strong one. So keep a constant watch on the players who show off when making bets.
- Involuntary physical implications related to heart rate and Adrenalin also make for the poker tells. Physical tells like shaking of hands and rapid heartbeat in throat states that a player is nervous about the high hand.
- In case a player suddenly sits upright or wears his sunglasses or abruptly ends the chat, he/she is presumably holding a good hand.
- You will find some players on the poker table who will aggressively throw chips in your direction or keep calling raises in order to intimidate and force you to fold the hands . Such players usually have a weak hand.
- Players who are impatient are most probably holding a strong hand. These players don’t mind folding a hand if it takes time for another game to start. In texas holdem poker game you always need to watch the players action on table.
- If a player stays indifferent, and discloses that he/she is going to call, then the player is actually covering up a big hand.
- Sometimes a player reveals one of his hole cards to the opponent sitting next to them. The player behaves in such a way to convince his opponent that he/she is holding a strong hand. But don’t forget, if he/she had been holding a good hand, then they try to hide it instead if showing it off. On the online platform, mucking amounts to the same thing.
- When holding a winning hand, most of the players stop doing what they were doing like drinking beer, chewing gum, eating food, chatting etc.
- If a player aggressively bets the chips, it means he/she is bluffing. And, if a player bets the chips passively, he/she is holding a good hand.
- Players who rub their face or cover their mouth are usually dealt a weak hand and will undoubtedly fold the cards when their turn arrives.
So, next time you play poker, don’t forget to observe these poker tells and play the game accordingly.
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