Poker Tells

Poker tells are are unconscious habits or behaviors that reveal information about your hand (Poker Terms: tells). Being able to spot the poker tells of your opponents while hiding your own is one of the differences between novice poker players and the pros. This page describes common tells you will encounter when playing live poker games in casinos or with friends, along with a list of online poker tells.

For a thorough and excellent analysis of tells, you can read Caro's Book of Poker Tells.

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that experienced poker players know how to read poker tells and will often give off "false positive" signals. Therefore you might have to use reverse logic with the pros; but then again, second guessing them is just as risky. So instead of trying to psychoanalyze the poker pros, you might just want to learn these tells for use with newer players and more importantly, to be aware of your own behavior, nervous mannerisms, and habits.

A Basic Poker Tell: A very basic way of thinking for beginners is that in order to fool other players, you act weak when you have a strong hand and you act strong when you have a weak hand. However, as mentioned above, more experienced players will be able to see right through you, so you probably shouldn't try to bluff them in this manner unless you have a PhD in psychology.

Specific Poker Tells Described

♣ Poker Tells in Live Poker Games

♣ Online Poker Tells (betting speed analysis)

♣ How to Read Internet Poker Tells (by PokerHo)

♣ Manipulating Online Tells (by Hammerhead)

♣ How to Hide Poker Tells (by the Texas Turtle)