“Tell” Me What You Think

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column in Card Player on “Tells” (June 10, 2015; Volume 28: No 12). I described some basic tells to watch out for preflop and post-flop since most of the action occurs during these two critical stages of the hand. Of course, one can also detect tells on the turn and/or river as well.

With the issue being released during the 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP), I was approached by numerous players about this column. Players asked for advice on how to improve this aspect of their game. Some wanted to know where to focus on their opponents to pick up on tells. Others described specific opponent tells to me, asking for my thoughts.

Overall, I stated a couple of assessments to most of these players.

1) It is easy to discuss tells, but sometimes it is hard to recognize them, especially while you are playing.

2) Don’t only focus on your opponents’ tells. Make sure that you are not giving off tells of your own.

Many players asked me to describe specific tells that I witnessed on my opponents. After describing a few of my most memorable examples, I thought I would share them with you. I was able to utilize unique tells at different points in specific hands: one preflop, another post-flop, and another on the turn/river.

Pre-Flop

About five years ago, I flew down to Quapaw, Oklahoma to play in the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) event at Downstream Casino Resort. During the HPT main event, I couldn’t get anything going, as I was pretty card dead from the outset. Eventually, I became somewhat short stacked and had to go into survival mode. Fortunately, I noticed a consistent preflop tell on the gentleman seated to my direct left.

During every hand, my opponent would look at his cards prior to his turn. Holding them horizontally with both hands, if he squeezed the cards before placing on the table, he was folding. However, if he just placed the cards directly down on the table, he was playing. Originally, I missed the squeeze a couple of times, but being ultra diligent, I consistently watched Mr. Squeeze and knew what his intent would be.

It was a very subtle, but a significant tell that allowed me to steal multiple blinds confidently on this fairly tight table. I would definitely use this tell when it was folded to me in the small blind. Usually, I would also take advantage if I was sitting on the button or cutoff, hoping that the blinds after him did not wake up with a huge hand. Overall, this one tell allowed me to maintain my short stack for the remainder of Day 1, bagging about 15 big blinds.

When we returned back for Day 2, I longed for Mr. Squeeze. Amazingly, after an elimination, he was seated once again to my direct left and I utilized his tell for about an hour. Unfortunately, I was later moved to balance another table. Alas, with about five players remaining before the money bubble, my A-K couldn’t outrace 4-4 and I was eliminated.

Nevertheless, I would never have made it that far in the tournament without recognizing Mr. Squeeze’s tell.

Post-Flop

During the 2013 WSOP, a series of events called Carnivale was brought back (held previously in 1998 thru 2000). The events somewhat mirrored the WSOP Circuit buy-ins and structures. As the series kicked off, I decided to play in the first event since I was not playing a WSOP bracelet event that day.

The event started out great, as I quickly doubled up when I flopped K-J-3 while holding K-J versus my opponent’s A-A. Additionally, midway through the tournament, I was able to decipher a unique tell on a player in Seat 8, while I was in Seat 5.

A few times during the tournament, I noticed that he would stand up after the flop to see the cards. He even asked a couple of times what the cards were. He stated that he had bad eyes and couldn’t see the cards very well. Nevertheless, Mr. Short Sighted did not stand up after every flop. Trying to understand the rationale, I looked at every possible explanation. After a few hours and a little persistence, I finally figured it out.

Almost every time Mr. Short Sighted asked what cards were on the flop, there would be a face card on the board. This action indicated that he had paired the face card and just wanted to confirm it. If he did not ask, he often missed the flop, especially if there was a face card on the board. After carefully observing what cards he revealed after the hand, this unique tell was confirmed and I was ready to utilize it for the remainder of the event.

With about five tables remaining, I twice folded a premium pair after he stood up on the flop: J-J on a Q-9-6 board and Q-Q on a K-8-2 board. After I mucked, he showed me his flopped top pair both times, just confirming his tell.

Later, with about 30 players remaining, I was fully able to take advantage of his tell when I had K-K. After the dealer flopped J-8-3, Mr. Short Sighted stood up and asked what the cards were. Fully confident he had flopped a pair of jacks, I led out, trying to induce a raise. On cue, he raised me. After I pushed all in, he snap-called with the perfect hand for me: K-J. After this elimination, I continued to play aggressively with a healthy stack.

In the end, I finished in third place when my J-J couldn’t hold versus the chip leader’s A-Q.

Turn/River

Ever since my fourth-place finish at its 2008 WSOP Circuit main event, Horseshoe Council Bluffs has become one of my favorite places on tour. Becoming almost a second home, I feel very comfortable there and always return for their WSOP Circuit and RunGoodGear Series.

In April of 2014, during a WSOP preliminary event, I noticed a player, two to my left, whose shirt was shaking during a hand. The motion was due to him bouncing his leg. However, there were other hands that he played where he sat motionless and did not bounce his leg.

Initially, I thought he was nervous and possibly bluffing when he bounced his leg. But after he revealed A-8 on an A-5-7-Q-2 board, I realized that my initial assessment was incorrect. He held a decent, but not great hand with top pair, weaker kicker. During another hand, he seemed calm and slightly withdrawn, as his leg was not bouncing. After being called on the river by another opponent, he sheepishly revealed a missed flush draw.

After witnessing numerous hands that Mr. Bouncer played, I completed my analysis. When he bounced his leg, waving his shirt, he was anxious, concerned whether his top pair hand would hold. When Mr. Bouncer was calm and reserved, he was trying to hide his nervousness and that he was bluffing.

Near the money bubble, I exploited this tell. On the last hand of the level before a break, I raised in late position with A-8 and Mr. Bouncer called from the big blind. After I made a continuation bet on a K-9-8 flop, he check-raised me. I decided to wait to see if his shirt would waver due to his bouncing leg. With no movement and him trying to remain calm, I decided to call. After the dealer turned a deuce, he fired again with no bouncing leg. I confidently called based on his tell. Finally, he fired a third bullet on a river three and I snap-called.

With several people surrounding the table to watch the hand, Mr. Bouncer uttered, “Nice call,” revealing J-10 for a busted straight draw. Many players were shocked that I called so quickly with just third pair. Even Alex Masek, the all-time WSOP Circuit ring leader, asked me after why I snap-called. After I explained the tell, Masek was very impressed and jokingly said that I needed to teach him how to spot tells like this one.

Ultimately, this hand propelled me into the money and I finished in 15th place, when my straight and flush draws holding Q 10 couldn’t catch up to my opponent’s A-K on a K J 5 board.

Overall, recognizing tells takes lots of practice, patience and persistence. Some are obvious, but most are very subtle. Keep working on your observation skills and you will eventually begin to identify them. ♠

Bernard Lee is a poker columnist for ESPN.com, author of “The Final Table, Volume I and II” and radio host of “The Bernard Lee Poker Show,” which can be found on RoundersRadio.com or iTunes. Lee has over $2 million in career earnings, winning six titles. Lee is a team member of RunGoodGear.com, Team Pro for Blue Shark Optics and also spokesperson for specialty travel company, Blaycation. Follow Bernard Lee on Twitter or Instagram: @BernardLeePoker or visit him at www.BernardLeePoker.com