Body language while giving a presentation – good eye contact is a must. (Photo by Alexandre Croussette on Unsplash). If anyone’s brave enough to look back at you (some people may look down at their laps the moment you look at them), then hold their gaze for a second or two. In real poker games, you should not do this if you cannot control your body language. There is a reason why pro players wear glasses or try to hide most of their faces. IN World Series Of Poker, however, there is no reason to “hide” body language: Even if you start shivering after bluffing and can’t control this reaction, it’s okay: The. Depending on the situation, you may need to put on your Lady Gaga-style poker face. Body language is just that—the language of the body. You may think that you only show your emotions through your. Body language, in the form of poker tells,is a great way to get information on an opponent’s strength/weakness. Find out how to use it to your benefit. Body Language in Poker: 7 Poker Tells You Need to Know.

Body language is one of the two ways that you are going to
pick up on the majority of tells in live poker. You can learn a
lot from hearing someone talk, but many players won’t talk much
if at all when they are in a hand. Because of this you need to
learn how to gain information from other, more subtle clues that
are available.

Unlike talking, body language is much more
difficult to provoke. You’ll undoubtedly get someone to
shift around when speaking to them, but you can’t read directly
into these actions in the same way that you would with something
spoken. Body language is the type of thing that you’ll get
infinitely better at reading as time goes on. This could be said
about most any skill in poker, but picking up on tells is truly
something that requires actual game play experience to learn and
improve upon.

Body language comes, to me, in two different varieties. First
there are the standard actions that occur well before a hand
gets overly involved. This would include pre-flop play and the
first street or post-flop action. The next type of body
language is demonstrated when someone is involved in a more
significant pot. A player might place a river all in bet or be
facing a decision when they start to really squirm around. Of
course, if they are acting last, their body language is
irrelevant to the outcome of a hand. If, however, you are
deciding whether to call a player’s bet, you can make an
educated guess based largely on how they are acting. Using these
two defined types of body language, we are going to take a
closer look at what you should be keeping an eye out for.

Pre-Flop, Basic Body Language

Pre-flop body language is generally going to be tame and even
mundane, but it can come into play later on in a hand. If you
think that a player is acting particularly strong pre-flop, you
could factor this into your decision making if there’s a bet on
the flop, turn or river. Your goal as a player is to always be
piecing together the most believable story. If a player seemed
passive or weak pre-flop but is now trying to pretend like they
have a big pocket pair, you should be able to pick up on this
sort of irregularity.

Players who tense up and start looking onto the action with a
very intent demeanor should worry you the most. This is often
times a tell that a player is strong and is ready to get down to
business. When this same player has a smaller hand, they are
more inclined to play passively and/or without as much
intensity. If you think about it, there’s a good chance that
you are doing the same exact thing.

An example of a player who is very interested in their hand
will be someone who has their eyes darting from player to player
while they remain quiet. This same player will also make sure
their cards are in a safe place and may even place a card
protector on them. Another way to spot weakness is when a player
looks nervous but is actually trying to act as if they are very
calm. A reverse tell is huge in poker. Players will only be able
to hide their actual feelings to a certain extent. If someone
seems like they are ready to explode with pent up anxiety and
are
trying to shuffle their chips anyway, be careful when you get
involved with them.

The obvious body language moves are also the most common. For
example, players with small hands will usually toss their chips
into the pot playfully. They won’t take the time to count out
chips neatly and precisely because deep down they aren’t overly
concerned with the pot at hand. A player who seems generally
disinterested will usually be just as disinterested as they
seem. For the most part, body language in pre-flop play will
coordinate with the types of hand strengths that you would
expect. It isn’t until post-flop play that most players start to
really hide their true emotions.

Post-Flop, Intense Body Language

Poker Body Language Tips For Beginners

Post-flop is when the bigger amounts of money tend to get
involved. Players don’t want to give away any valuable
information and will be making every effort possible to ensure
that their hand strength is kept as secretive as possible.
Though some players have come close to mastering the art of
deception through body language, the majority of your opponents
will end up giving away a few tells that can be used to your
advantage.

The player who sits back in their chair after making a big
bet isn’t someone you should take lightly. While sometimes this
player is in fact weak, they are usually making a big bet and
trying to act as nonchalant as possible. They will often times
cross their arms and make it seem like they are just waiting for
you to call so that they can muck. If a player is putting this
much effort into trying to appear as if he is relaxed, you can
make a safe guess that he is really on pins and needles hoping
you call. This is one way that players try to keep their
emotions at bay whilst giving off vibes of weakness despite
actually being strong.

As a rule of thumb, a player who is putting forth an obvious
effort to appear strong isn’t necessarily strong. Think about
it, what kind of player would want everyone else at the table to
have an idea of just how valuable their hand is? Players who act
like they have a big hand do so because they need to convince
their opponents that they are beat. They figure, and sometimes
rightfully so, that an aggressive and intimidating image will be
enough to force a fold. You need to be able to see past this
façade and determine whether it is at all honest.

In the end, poker is a game of deception and trickery. If you
assume that someone’s outward emotions are true indicators of
how they are feeling, you are likely to get burned time and time
again. Instead, look at what makes sense, see if you can really
get a feeling for where they stand, and put together a
believable story. If everything adds up, chances are that you
are on the right path.

BODY LANGUAGE FOR POKER PLAYERS: SPOTTING TELLS It's one of the most talked about parts of poker: the tells. Whether or not you are at a multi-table tournament or a cash game, poker tells are always there. The pro's learn to hide them, the amateurs die by them. No matter your skill level, you too can learn to profit from spotting, and using, tells.

Spotting a tell is often difficult for new players or players who are not used to looking for them. Each player is different, and what may mean one thing for one player may mean something else for another. The easiest way to get into the habit of spotting tells is to start small: watch one person at a time. Watch how they act when they fold without betting, how they act when they have a good hand, how they act when they are bluffing, etc. Once you are confident in your ability to read one player, start studying others and see if the tells appear with them as well. More often then not, you will start learning what tells happen most often, and how to spot them.

Tells are often very subtle, but one you learn to spot them it will be much easier to pick up the clues. Remember the basic truism: in poker, showing strength means you are weak, while showing weakness means you are strong. It's a game of perception, and you need to be perceptive to spot the tells Here is a list of some of the most commonly encountered tells in poker:

? The Lean Back: A player is often conscious of the other people at the table, and if they know you are looking at them, they may sometimes do one of the classic tells: the lean-back. A player who has a strong hand will often lean back from the table, crossing their arms in front of them. This is an unconscious showing of their desire to seem nonthreatening. If you see this, the player is probably sitting on a good hand.

? The Easy Smile: The stare-down is a commonly used tactic at the poker table. If the hand is down to you and one other player, and you want to know what that player has, try staring them down. If they look back at you and they are sitting on a good hand, they will often offer a smile slightly after making eye-contact. But be careful. A true smile will bring the corners of the eyes back as well as the corners of the mouth. A fake smile where only the mouth smiles is usually an indicator of weakness. You'll need to be sure you are able to tell the difference between a genuine and fake smile.

Poker Body Language

? It's in the Eyes: When a player is dealt a great starting hand, such as a pair of kings in hold 'em or A-2-A-4 in Omaha, their eyes tend to get bigger. What you need to look for is someone who looks like they just saw something they like very much. The muscles around their eyes will unconsciously retract the eyelids and their pupils may even dilate. If you see this happen, you can be sure that players has a strong hand.

? The Repeat: There are verbal tells just that are just as valuable as physical tells. For instance, if you ask a player 'Did you hit your three of a kind?' and they repeat the question back to you, as in 'You think I hit three of a kind?' the answer is almost always yes. This fishing for information can be very useful if you do it correctly and know what to look for. If someone repeats your question back to you, this is usually a sign they are trying to avoid lying, and thus have a good hand.

Poker Body Language Tips Examples

? The Dejected Sigh: You've probably seen this a hundred times, and may have even done it yourself. As soon as a player looks at their cards or sees the flop, they almost immediately say something like 'Dammit,' or sigh in frustration. This is their attempt to try to convince you they are weak. But remember what we said earlier? Someone who is projecting weakness is usually strong, and when you see someone try so blatantly to project weakness, they are strong.

Poker Body Language Tips Tricks

? The Look Away: When the flop comes and a player quickly looks away, this is a clear sign the cards have hit them with something good. For example, if a pair of 7's comes off on the flop and you see a player look down at their chips or quickly turn their attention to another player, that person probably has hit their set of 7's. In this situation, you'll often see these players check the bet and wait for someone else to put some money in the pot. At that time, don't be surprised if you see a big check-raise from the person who was so quick to look away from the flop.