Can you tell poker tells?

Poker tells, are they useful? Watch Maverick and you will get a yes for an answer. In one of the poker games there, Maverick used the first hour of the game to observe the tells of his opponents. He even promised not to win for an hour; his opponents did not realize that he was studying them and their poker tells. He was able to associate their mannerisms with the cards they draw. Consequently, after an hour, Maverick wins most of the pots.

Poker tells are the behavioral signs of players during a game. Some poker players have behavioral patterns that they may not be aware of. Some hold their breath when they get poor cards, while others scratch their nose when they were dealt with pocket aces or other high cards. These are mistakes committed by poker players who are more transparent with their feelings, excitement and frustrations. It is almost imperative that a poker player who wants to win on a regular basis should not have tells, or others will know when they are bluffing. Hence the term poker face which refers to a straight, expressionless face.

Players use the poker face to hide their true emotions. It is dangerous for a player to change his expression, because then, others will know what kind of cards he/she has in his/her hand. This is not good when you have good cards, because you will not be able to bait anybody. This is not also good if you have bad cards because nobody will fold on your bluff.

Though it is useful, it is sometimes hard to spot tells. You have to play a lot of poker games with the same set of players to be able to know their tells. Even so, it is dangerous to rely on these tells, because you can easily be mistaken. They can even use your knowledge of their tells by doing the opposite tell for a certain hand. For example, a player whose eyes widen when he/she gets suited cards at pre-flop may still widen his/her eyes when he/she gets low non-suited cards just to deceive you. This players does this because he/she has already established a tell for a certain hand, and may now use the tell against you.

Online poker has eliminated the use for tells. Because you do not play face-to-face, online poker players concentrate more on the hand strategy of others. They do not have the advantages and disadvantages of body language in poker.