With the increase in the popularity of the game of poker both online( with websites like buktiqq) and at physical casinos, everyone is trying to find a way to get an advantage on their opponents. On television, during broadcasts of poker tournaments and the World Series Of Poker, you will see opponents talking to each other. They are trying various ways to read their opponents. It’s not always the person that has the best hand that wins at a poker table. It’s the person who can read their opponents and has a hand that is just good enough to defeat the players that are left in the hand. At other times the key to winning is being able to know that even though you have a great hand that it just isn’t quite good enough. If you can do this, you will save yourself a lot of chips in a poker tournament. The best way to do this is by learning the “tells” of your opponents.
I have been a card player for almost twenty years now. Not all of it has been playing poker. I also play a card game called a bridge. Some view this as the game just played by old ladies. In the end, though, it helps you learn card to play which can help you learn the tells of your opponents in poker. I’ve been playing poker now in home games for five years, and feel I have become very good, if not an expert at reading the tells of my opponents. This comes from developing a strong card sense, and by knowing your opposition. Here are some tips to help players when dealing with many of the basic tells at a poker table.
Study Your Opponents- This is the tip I will give you that you must learn if you want to be successful. If you are at a tournament you won’t have a lot of time to study them ahead of time, because you won’t have time to observe the table before you are seated. Of course, if you have played any of your opponents in the past, try to remember what you know about them. Otherwise, study their betting styles and mannerisms. This means even if you are out of a hand, play close attention to what is going on at the table. Notice what types of hands they talk with, and how they bet holding certain hands. Poker players tend to develop a style and have trouble pulling themselves away from it. If you can discover the styles of your opponents at the table while watching a hand after you have folded you can use that to your advantage. Keep in mind that many skillful players will alter their styles once in a while to throw you off, but if you watch closely you will be able to determine when they are doing this as well. Of course, if you are playing in a money game at a casino, my strongest advice is to watch the table before joining so you have an idea of what styles the players at the table have.
The home game can be an interesting challenge for studying styles. Many players will concentrate on throwing their opponents off, by making unusual bets and plays that differ from their normal style. This is because they play with the same people so often they realize it’s easier for their opponents to learn their style. Regardless of how hard they try to disguise it though, if you watch them closely they will fall into a certain style of play the majority of the time.
Signs of strong hands- There are several tells that are pretty standard that can clue you into the fact that your opponent has a strong hand. If when placing a bet their hand is shaking this is a good indicator of some anxiety. The most common cause of anxiety is having a good hand that they are playing. Another sign of a good hand is if they start counting their chips after being dealt their hand. They are determining how much they have to push the bettering against their opponents. With a weaker hand, the number of chips they have usually won’t matter because they won’t stay very long. A final clue that might tip you off about your opponent having a strong hand is they will look very disinterested. Believe me, just because they only look at their hand once doesn’t mean they don’t know what they have. Odds are it’s a good enough hand it’s easily memorized and they don’t need to see it again to remember it. Especially if they stop looking after the flop or turn, there is a good chance they have flopped the nut hand and are hoping you underestimate their lack of concentration.
Signs Of Weak Hands- Of course there are also signs of weak hands when your opponent is trying to bluff to steal the hand. These are valuable to know because if you can catch them in a bluff you can win big with a moderate hand. Yet, if you are wrong you will lose big. The first tip is fast play quite often indicates a weaker hand. They are trying to indicate a position of strength to chase opponents out. This happens quite often when they are one of the first to bet on a hand. They will quite often become less talkative at the table as well. They don’t want to let you pick up anything from the inflection of their voice. It’s more common for nervousness to show in a voice than confidence, which is why people are less likely to talk with weak hands and more likely with strong hands. The final sign of a weak hand is constantly looking at their hand. They probably are on a draw and are trying to calculate pot odds while determining their number of outs.
Of course, poker isn’t an exact science. The truly skillful players are also aware of all these tells and will reverse them and change their styles several times a game. That is why the first tip is so important. If you know your opponent, then you know their tendencies. Remember, no system is foolproof in poker, but these tips are a good guideline for helping you as a beginning player to learn the common tells that you will see from your opponents at a poker table. I’ve played a lot of hands of poker, and I’ll be the first to admit I’m not always right. The key is to be right more often than you are wrong and you will be well on your way towards becoming an advanced poker player.
