If your opponent is a beginner, just remember: he will not construct complex performances or body language to deceive you with tells. Don't waste too much time studying his betting pattern or rhythm. And don’t pay too much attention to his body language since it is most likely deliberate. Just remember that the most instant and obvious response is often the most accurate.
Since you can't see the real person, what we discussed earlier is hard to apply. But you should know that the betting pattern is always the most reliable of all. Look for abnormal points in the opponent's betting behavior and changes in timing and rhythm. For example, thinking too long before making the call represents a medium-strength hand, and a fast call often represents a drawing hand. However, remember that timing tells are not always reliable. It often requires you to set a "standard" for a specific player based on a lot of observations. At the same time, many other factors interfere: for example, some people play while reading a book or watching a movie.
Spotting tells is not innate to most of us. But when you become more familiar with the game and advance your poker skills, you will slowly develop the instinct for observation and capture the most detailed information hidden in the seemingly happy and peaceful poker gaming atmosphere. How can you improve your game performance after knowing the simple mathematical knowledge of poker? Just read people!
No one can observe all the information of all poker players at the same time. So, try to focus on observing the behaviors of an individual player. Keep your focus and keep analyzing during the game. Then verify your speculations in the showdown, and then constantly modify and adjust your own perceptions. The best time to observe your opponent is when they are still in a hand and you are not there.
Real knowledge comes from practice. It is the absolute truth for spotting poker tells. If you want to become an advanced poker player, practice is the most important thing. You are not served with falsehood and you would not be able to discover all the details right after you finish reading. You have to lower your expectations and set yourself a comparatively long training period. Review our previous post ( LEARN TO READ PLAYERS IN POKER 101) and pick from the poker tell lists to practice with one or two tells every time you play. Adjust and adapt slowly, then move on to the next one after you can find the tells easily.
Every time after you practice recognizing a poker tell, it will become part of your basic interpretation of the game. You don't have to pay special attention to it because it will gradually become your subconscious. Keep practicing and studying. It will make you gradually become proficient and accustomed to spotting tells.
Another training method is to observe one or two players at first, spend about 10 minutes, and then slowly add more players to your observation list, or switch your observation targets. Start with the players closest to your seat, because they are the ones who have the greatest influence on your game strategy. For example, is it more possible for the player on your left to fold or to raise next? When the poker player on your right calls instantly, does he really just want to see a cheap flop or actually hold a strong hand? This will greatly affect how you should act now, right?
Another tip for you: players who hold the cards in their hands after they are dealt, and act as if they will throw the cards back to the dealer when it is their turn, often do mean to fold. If they have such action but still keeps their hole cards and continue to play, it is basically that they are putting on a performance while they actually hold a strong hand. 95% of time, this prediction is accurate.
The best strategy is not to give off tells yourself. But if there are a group of beginners, you get a good hand and you want someone to pay. Have a try. When you get a marginal hand like JT on the button, you can sit up a bit, wiggle a little bit, make a bet, and observe the others. See who is looking at you, and who is starting to pay attention to you. You can find out who cares about the tells on this table and who doesn't care. Focus on the players who pretend that they don't care, but in fact slow down their actions, because they are the ones using their brains.
Many players, especially those in the early years, overestimated the role of the poker tells and spent too much energy on finding those tells. You need to know that almost all players know to restrain their emotions, even non-poker players know this. Experienced employees in many industries or people with a bit of social experience can hide their true emotions. Especially when most players in the early stage of the game are very rational, it is difficult for you to get effective information.
Think long term, observe slowly and classify different players. Start with their style of play to distinguish between tight and aggressive or loose and passive? This information can help you make at least 70% of your game decisions. In poker games, only a small part of the decision is determined by tells. It can only assist your with basic judgment, but cannot be your main decision-making support.
The importance of physical tells is far less important than the learning of the opponent's play style and betting pattern. You should make sure that you have done enough work in these two areas before studying their physical tells. When you really don't have any other information to help you make decisions, and your poker strategy is not sufficient to cope with the situation, then consider taking actions based on the tells you spot.
Poker tells in offline games is a particularly interesting topic. It is also an important factor in making offline games attractive, and if you are well-trained, you can really get a lot of advantages. It is not like mathematical knowledge and advanced strategies that bring you immediate profits, but it will allow you to have fun in the game, maintain emotional stability, and continue to accumulate advantages, which will eventually help you turn profitable in the poker games.
