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The ability to read opponents’ tells is one of the skills, which differs a good poker player from an amateur. Tells are particular gestures, facial expressions, voice timbre changes and any other peculiarities of people’s behavior expressed unconsciously in a certain situation. But while playing poker, there can be only one thing anyone does care about: the hand and its value is relative to other players’ hands. So in case you want to be a really good poker player you have to learn to distinguish tells.
The most vivid tells are expressed when players look at their cards (or at the cards opened by the dealer) for the first time and when they have to make a decision about the next move. For example when a player gives a quick look at his stack after the flop comes usually means that he has a strong hand and wants to be sure that he has enough chips to raise with. Or if someone protects his mouth with his hand as if he was yawning means that he is trying to hide his smile inspired by a good hand.
You can name a lot of such general tells, usual for amateurs. Still, if one wanted to make a “complete dictionary of tells” he would certainly fail, as there are individual tells for each person. So the idea is not to learn the most typical ones and wait till your opponents express one of those but to observe each movement of each player at the table throughout the game and then compare it with what you used to see at the showdown.
Suppose you see your opponent lighting the cigarette and being caught at a brave bluff at the end of the game. Maybe he needs to take a whiff or two each time he wants to start a bluff. So reraise him and see what happens at the showdown. If you win, be proud of yourself as you have noticed a very useful tell. So try to make the best possible profit of this knowledge. If it turns out that you were wrong don’t get disheartened and proceed observing.
You should remember two more things. The first one is that many players try to use false tells to lead you to their trap. Be careful as these tactics can do a big harm to your bankroll. The second thing is the fact that the first person you should observe is yourself. If you can’t find any tells of your own you are just not observant. But your opponents may be much better at defining tells and they are probably using this knowledge right now.
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