Reading Poker Tells – A Tale Of A Tell
I thought I would relate one of my Poker Stories – A Tale Of A Tell. It’s a great example of how tells can change throughout the course of a hand, based to how the player is now perceiving their hand strength.
I hope you enjoy it and perhaps, even learn something.
A Poker Tell Example – Looking At Board Cards
I was playing in a $1/$3 game at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma several months ago. At the time I was living in Dallas, and played two or three times a week at the Winstar, so I was familiar with a number of the regular’s style of play. A player that I seemed to have at my table, more than my share of the time, was in Seat 7 and I was in Seat 1. I’ll call him Tony, not his real name. Needless to say, I didn’t particularly like Tony, nor him me. We had history.
Tony has a “habit” (tell) of looking across the table when he has a strong hand, not necessarily at a particular opponent, but observing the table in its entirety, as well as individually. However, when he is mediocre or weak, he tends not to have as much player engagement.
In this hand, his head is held high as he watches every player. Tony is third to act and raises, pre-flop to $18. Seat 8 folds, 9 calls, I call, seat 3 calls, everyone else folds. This leaves Tony first to act. Flop comes 7,9,3 – two hearts. Tony bets $60 into the $72 pot. Seat 9 folds, and I pause for a second. I am watching Tony. He is not watching the players, only glancing up from looking at the board cards. Having played many times with Tony, this leads me to believe that Tony has missed his hand. I call, seat 3 folds We are heads up.
The Turn & River – Critical Times To Watch For Tells
The pot is now $192 and I have about $400 left. Tony has me covered. Turn card is a 2d, and Tony never raises his head. He bets $175, making the pot $367. I am getting a little better than 2 to 1 pot odds, on a little worse than 22 to 1 draw. I have 4,4. Logically, I should fold, I should have folded on the flop. However, I am totally convinced he has two big cards, so I call. He sits back in his seat, not liking the call, head down, staring at his chips.
The river card is a 9s and Tony immediately pushes all in. I think for only a few seconds and call. Tony throws his hand face down. Only because I didn’t care for Tony, I turned over the four’s, after his hand was in the muck. He said “How did you call me all the way down with that? “, I just shrugged.
Tells Can Change As The Hand Progresses
Note how Tony’s demeanor changed as the hand progressed. With his AK, or whatever it was, he was relaxed and watched the players closely. After he missed the flop, his engagement diminished, and by the time the river came out, he never looked up, just bet. Pay attention. This is something that can be observed in players that have this type of tendency.
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