Poker Winner Blog

Staring at You

When it’s your turn to act, an opponent conspicuously staring in your direction is likely acting. This usually is a dare, an attempt to prevent your bet through intimidation. The opponent may call but will almost never raise. This means that you can bet any medium-strong hand with impunity, not fearing a raise.

So, instead of being intimidated by an opponent staring you down, simply consider that you can make more borderline bets for profit when you hold marginally strong hands.

Reactions after Looking at Their Cards

When opponents look at their cards, they are usually not acting at this point, because they don’t think they’re being scrutinized. Unless you’ll slow up the game, it’s silly to look at your cards while your opponents are looking at theirs. Your cards will still be there later, and if you look at them now, you’ll miss out on some of the most valuable tells in poker.

See if your opponents quickly glance toward their chips after seeing their next cards. This tell usually means they liked what they saw and are planning to bet. This is especially true if they glance at their chips and then stare conspicuously away as if uninterested. This last part — staring away — is what they do think you’ll see after you get done looking at your cards. Remember, players staring away usually have strong hands.

On the other hand, your opponent may not bother to stare away. It’s the quick glance at the chips here that you’ll miss if you’re not watching. This is an especially powerful tell in Hold’em on the flop. Watch your opponents watch the flop. You don’t need to see it yourself just yet. It won’t go away. Also, watch when your opponents first peek at their starting hands. The longer they look, the more likely it is that the hands are weak and they’re pretending to show interest. Conversely, if the opponent looks and recognizes a big hand, he will usually cover it quickly and then pretend to show no interest in pursuing the pot.

Reaching for Chips

Reaching for chips in anticipation of another person’s bet is often an act. While weak players and beginners who hold strong hands may sometimes reach for their chips before it’s their turn to act, more experienced players don’t do this.

If you’re thinking about betting a borderline hand, see if your opponent reaches for chips as you make a motion toward your stack. If so, there’s a good chance that this was a deliberate act designed to prevent your bet. This means you can comfortably bet many borderline hands that would have been too risky had you not known that your opponent didn’t want you to bet.

A Final Word

Here’s one additional tip about learning to spot tells: Don’t get frustrated. Most tells aren’t 100 percent accurate. You need to use tells to add weight to the final decisions, just as you might take the exposed cards into consideration. Tells are just another factor to consider along with the strategic action that led up to the current decision — a very powerful factor, but just one factor.

Finally, don’t concentrate on too many players at one time. We recommend that you focus on just a single opponent until you become comfortable reading tells. Trying to see everything can be so overwhelming that you end up seeing nothing.

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