fundoopoker.com

In the movie "Rounders," John Malkovich's character has a very obvious tell in how he handles his Oreo cookies, but don't expect it to be that easy. Most tells are far more subtle, and take a trained eye to catch them, even without trying to keep up with all the action at the table in a live game.


It's a challenge even for the most astute observer, and none are more astute than poker-tells expert and former FBI agent Joe Navarro, author of two books on the subject: "What Every Body is Saying" and "200 Poker Tells." He's coached everyone from Phil Hellmuth to Annie Duke, and if pushed to name the single most important tell, let's just say it's right under your nose.


"One of the most accurate poker tells every player should know involves the nose," says Navarro. "When we crinkle our noses—what we look like when we smell something putrid or we say 'ew'—we are saying to others we don't like what we're observing. Often times players will look at their hole cards and not realize that the second they saw they had a rag hand (low value cards) their noses crinkled. They have done it millions of times, so they are unaware they are transmitting to others, ' I don't have a good hand.'"

Another common tell cited by pros from Dutch Boyd to Mike Caro involves shaky hands. And it's almost always due to a shot of adrenaline from a huge (or "monster") hand. Boyd also cites amongst his favorite tells players who look down at their chips after cards are dealt, even for a brief second. You better be careful, because that player just hit his hand. Likewise, a player who simply stares ahead as the cards are dealt onto the table has missed the card he was hoping for.

And you thought you were being so sneaky, didn't you?

And of course, don't forget the classic axiom, "strong is weak and weak is strong." Basically, players tend to try to act in the opposite manner of whatever kind of hand they're holding. If they have a weak hand, they'll act strong, and vice versa.

That's only a small sample of the kinds of things you should be watching for when playing, but when learning to play live poker, you also have to watch the cards, the bets and not have to be reminded every time your turn comes, lest you annoy your fellow players and dealer. Poker can take multi-tasking to a level any business executive would envy, so how does one manage to juggle all that information?

"Poker is statistics, strategy, and observing others—that is the way it was designed," says Navarro. "So it is a matter of looking at other players and their strategy, style of play (loose or tight), betting patterns, and finally analyzing them for clues that suggest the player views themselves as either weak, marginal or strong. All that information is then taken into account and it will influence your decision. It is not easy, which is why it isn't really a game of chance and why you really have to be smart to play poker."

But always keep in mind that all these great resources on spotting poker tells you're reading? Well, your opponents might be reading them, too. Which is to say they may be intentionally throwing "false tells."

So be watchful if something doesn't feel natural in a player's action, because your gut is probably right.

This article in full can be read at http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ycn-10927740