Hearing Tells

In the last column I discussed spotting tells. I stated that when it comes to spotting tells, poker players and authors fall into three categories, skeptics, believers, and subconscious utilizers. The skeptics state firmly that tells are relatively unimportant. They are difficult to spot, since there are so many opponents and so much going on. Even when spotted, you have to correctly diagnose what they mean. And when you spot a tell and correctly read its meaning, it is still useless unless it leads to your achieving a better result than you would have gotten otherwise. In order to continue my refutation of the skeptics, I want to present one more piece of evidence of the importance of spotting tells.

I presume virtually everyone has seen the movie Rounders. It includes a real film clip from the 1988 World Series of Poker battle between Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel. To briefly recap the hand, Johnny has flopped the nuts. He bets, Erik raises and he calls. Both check when a blank falls on fourth street. Another blank falls on the river. Johnny glances up as if he can’t win and has lost interest. Erik moves all in and Johnny snap calls. Clearly, Johnny played the hand in a clever, tricky fashion, but had Erik been as good at spotting tells then as he is now, he would never have fallen into the trap.

This video also illustrates another good way to learn to spot tells. Watch recorded poker. There are many hands from the WSOP, the WPT, Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and so forth available online. Watch some of them on YouTube. When you come to a hand where something interesting happens, replay it multiple times. See if you can figure out any changes that happen when someone makes a big hand or when they’re bluffing. You’d be amazed how often you will end up noticing some behavior that gives away their holding. Obviously in real life, you can’t avail yourself of multiple replays, but if you manage to correlate one behavior by one of the regular players in your game with the type of hand that he holds, you’ll make the right decision whenever that situation occurs.

The main topic of this column is hearing tells. Your opponents are continually talking. They talk when they are out of a hand and when they are in one. The announce bets, calls, and raises. They will generally respond to questions. There are questions relating to the game like: “How much did you bet?” “How much do you have left?” “Is it up to me?” There are questions about other things: “Did Golden State just tie the game?” “Where is the closest bathroom?” “You look tired, did you work all day?” In some cases their specific answer may provide a clue to what they’re holding. In other cases, refusal to answer may provide the clue. Remember they always chose whether to answer, and what answer to give. This makes it more likely that they will try to lead you astray. Unless you can specifically correlate one type of answer with their good hands and another with bad hands, you won’t learn much.

There are several elements of their talk, which they seldom consciously control. Their voice will have a certain tone, pitch, volume, and tempo. They may use different intonations. Sometimes they will make a statement that sounds like a question in that their voice rises at the end of the sentence. I wish I had a simple formula that explained what differences meant. Something like a deep voice is always a good hand or a happy tone is always a bluff. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have one. And in all honesty, I must admit that if I did have one, I wouldn’t give it away in a Card Player column. As with all visual tells, you have to pay attention. Whenever you hear something unusual, correlate it with their hand. This is a slow, difficult process, but I can’t state often enough that becoming aware of a tell is extremely valuable.

Your opponents also make sounds. Mike Caro referred to one as “poker clack.” Others include sighs, laughs, coughs, and moans. When you are out of a hand, occasionally shut your eyes and listen as intently as you can to everything you hear. If you hear something that seems strange or out of character, hope the hand is shown so you can put that sound together with the hand type.

In summary, make sure you don’t look without seeing or listen without hearing. Pay close attention. Try to break each behavior, statement or vocal pattern into as many small components as possible. In live poker, there is no way to make consistent correct decisions, except by picking up tells, either consciously or subconsciously, and letting them influence your play. ♠

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow aka Zebra is a very successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 40 years. With two WSOP bracelets, over 50 cashes, and a few million in tournament cashes, he is easing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his Vegas gaming time to poker, and can be found in cash games at Bellagio and at tournaments during the WSOP. When escaping from poker, he spends the spring and the fall in New York City where he hangs out at his bars: Doc Holliday’s, The Library and DBA.