Read About Common Poker Tells (#1): Body Language

Common Poker Tells (#1): Body Language

No we are not saying that body language is the most important nor the most common tell in poker. In fact, the truth is that the best tell is probably the one you read the best. If you see it and use it, that is a good tell.

Body language is the tell most recognized because it incorporates so many aspects of expression that players naturally give off. Unless you are a frozen sculpture, you will move after you see your cards or after that big turn card hits the board. The trick, of course, is to not do the same gesture each time you have good cards or not flinch every time the flop misses you. As with any tell, you are seeking to find a pattern in what your opponent does.

Some players will look away from the flop quickly when it hits them; this is a normal even sub-conscious attempt to give a false clue. They want to appear to be “unconnected” to the flop, when exactly the opposite is true. Moving toward the table in your chair or slouching back away from the table are common tells. “Usually” you move toward what you like and away from what you dislike but be careful, good players often do the opposite to give a false tell. Remember it is the pattern you are looking for. If a player time and time again stares at the flop and then folds-you have a pattern you can use.

Some players change their body language and posture based on the strength of their hands. If they fall into a pattern, you have a perfect tell. Now some opponents may become more attentive when they have a hand, others will act disinterested; what they do is not as important as if they do it consistently. In other words, a “strong” tell for one player might be a “weak” tell for another.

One more observation about body language. There is a difference when a player moves towards the table or cards as opposed to moving towards or away from you. The cards or the pot may well be an attraction but you are an opponent. Movement towards you is meant to intimidate and seldom does a player with a good hand need intimidation. Movement in your direction, no matter how subtle, is a very good sign of a bluff.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Forum Post #102