How To Pick Up Tells - The Basics
In the 1998 movie Rounders, the main character picks up a tell on the antagonist in a heart-pounding, “for all the marbles” poker game. The tell, as most poker fans know, is that KGB, the opposing poker player, enjoys an Oreo cookie in a different way than usual when he holds a good hand. This revelation allows the main hero, Matt Damon, to prevail and win all the money.
Real life tells, however, are not nearly as easy to pick up. In the movie Rounders, KGB’s tell was easy to see because the camera focused in on what he was doing when he held a good hand and basically screamed at viewers, “THIS is his tell!!!” In a casino poker game, professionals usually have an idea what their tells are from studying video and do their best to conceal them. And on most occasions, tells are subtle movements or actions which only a trained eye can see.
Tells, for the most part, require hours of play to pick-up. One person has to watch another player play similar hands and try to pick up patterns in his movement during the hand. Does he stop fiddling with chips when he has a monster hand or when he is trying to bluff? Does the amount of time he spends talking to his opponent matter at all? If one gets lucky, a tell will reveal itself. But finding this advantage takes more time and careful analysis than most novices thinks it will.
If you tend to play poker against the same couple of drinking buddies every week, chances are there are tells to be found. But if your plan is to go to a casino and make money by reading other people, you better have time to spare and experience to back you up. Look for patterns that are broken and what hands they relate to and maybe you’ll get lucky. But don’t depend on tells to win at poker, at least not at first.
