Read About Poker Tells (#3): The Eyes

Poker Tells (#3): The Eyes

We mentioned body language first for the big obvious nervous tells. Then we spoke about the Poker Face or rather the lack of poker face that so many players show. Even more specific and perhaps the hardest tell to control is the eyes. I remember when I went to get my first pair of contact lenses and I was having trouble holding my eye lid open to get that pesky bit of plastic onto my eye; the optometrist said: “Do you really think your eyelid is stronger than your index finger?” The point is that eyes are very hard to control.

I once played against a player blinked at every flop that missed his hand and stared completely wide-eyed at every flop that helped him. He had no idea and I made a lot of money. Watch the eyes.

The most common attempts to control eye tells are just as easy to see. If a player quickly looks away from a flop, it usually helped them; they are attempting to misdirect you with their eyes. If a player stares at a flop, they are trying to figure out if it helped them; if you can’t tell if a flop helped you immediately, it didn’t help.

One final common “eye” tell, when a player looks back at their hole cards they usually don’t need to. The “relook” is a false tell, they are attempting to make you think they are unsure of their hand; don’t fall for it, they have a hand.

By the way, eye tells are exactly why many players wear sunglasses at the table and why many want that practice banned. The eyes are the windows of the soul or at least a reflection of the hole cards.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Forum Post #104