Poker Strategy – Table Talk

Poker Strategy & Table Talk. Regardless of how you feel about Poker Table Talk, it can be advantageous in the right situations and be a plus in your overall strategy. I am not talking about berating your opponents for “bad play”, as bad play should be encouraged. We have all seen it, or done it, when a player sucks out on the river, called a bet in spite of getting ridiculously bad pot odds, and hits the seven-high Flush to beat your set. I know how it feels, but just tell them “Nice hand” and move on. If you berate them, they may well start playing better. I can’t speak for you, but that’s not the result I want.

I am saying to use Table Talk to extract information from your opponents. Granted, it will work best on fairly inexperienced and recreational players, but even the good players may respond either verbally or with some form of body language. The bottom line, most players just can’t stop themselves from reacting in some form.

There are several ways that your own table talk can help you solicit information. You may get a verbal response or a shoulder shrug. If you get either, you have more information than you would have had if you did nothing. Sometimes a simple shrug of the shoulders or glancing away from the table can help with deciding to call or not. Everything in poker is situational, so you have to take whatever response, or no response, in context and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. See our page on Reading Poker Tells.

Psychology & Table Talk

Your poker table talk will depend on what you are wanting to happen. If your goal is to goad someone into betting, or calling your bet, then your table talk will be different than if you are trying to decide whether to call or not. The times, that are the best time for talking, are when you have nothing to lose. By that I mean, whether you get a response or don’t, any information that you may gather is better than no information in helping you make your decision.

I have found that the best way to get information is by asking questions most likely to get a reply, be that reply verbal or physical. Did you make the straight? Can you beat a flush? Or you could make a statement. Say there is a flush on the board. You are heads up and your opponent makes a pot size bet. You say “Man, I got two pair, this is a hard decision”. What’s his reaction? This is really non-invasive table talk. In a lot of rooms, when you are heads up, you can even flip your hand over. You may be able to get a read on him, if not, you still lost nothing.

Interpreting Player Responses

A good portion of the time you will get no response. The better players know what is best for them, so they remain stoic and silent. Continuing to talk to them may help, but it’s doubtful. They have learned from experience that the best response is no response. That’s what I do, it’s a rarity that I will break the silence or even move my little finger when questioned by another player.

When that’s the case, you must rely on body language to give you some insight into their hand. Did they change the direction of their gaze, shift in their chair, give a hand gesture, anything at all? If so, now you have to figure out what that means.

You must also take into account a player’s skill level. While age doesn’t necessarily mean skilled, the older players probably have more experience, than a 21-year-old. Reading a new or mediocre player is much simpler than a seasoned player of 55. A weaker player will also give off more tells in general, and is more likely to talk as well.

Another factor, with tells in general, is that a newer player’s tells may be unreliable. He may have a pocket pair of eights and think that’s a great hand. If he believes that, then his tells will be that of strength. A player must have a decent level of poker competence before his tells take on any real meaning.

I hope this article helped with understanding Table Talk a bit more and how it can be used.

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