How Important are Tells in Poker: Basic Tells (part 2 of 4)

Basic tells are things everyone can see, but very few people will be able to gain any solid information from. Not because they can’t interpret what these tells mean; most players simply choose to overlook them, or pay little credence to these telltale signs. An astute person can learn a lot about a player just by making a casual observation of their behavior at the felt. You’re not going to know how the person plays, or what they are holding, but you will be able to gage their experience level, and therefore a very general idea of their skill level and abilities.

When you have nothing else to go on this information can be crucial to your success, until you have more concrete information at your disposal.

Oddly, the two biggest culprits of basic tells are experienced players, and new players: someone who plays sporadically will be very neutral in these areas, and hard to place; since they might exhibit traits of an experienced player and a new player.

Here are a few examples of some basic tells an experienced player might exhibit:

• Neatly stacked, and organized chips

Experienced players know that the old adage, “Never count your chips at a poker table” is absolute nonsense. Good players want to know exactly how much they are up or down. Experienced players also tend to keep their chips in stacks of 20’s (the way they are racked), keep the higher denominations on the bottom of a stack, and keep their chips in a symmetrical shape.

• Deftly handles poker chips and cards

Players who seem at ease stacking and cutting chips, can do chip tricks, smoothly look at their cards and flick them into the muck are likely to have spent a lot of time at the poker tables.

• Protects their hand

This shows a player who is not only cognizant of the “Protect your hand” rule, but if they have a card-protector they came prepared to play poker, and didn’t just stumble into the Poker Room from another area of the casino.

• Acts in a timely manner

Solid, experienced players know that acting in a timely fashion is an unwritten poker rule. It also shows a player who is focused on the game, and not distracted by something else going on. By acting in a timely fashion you keep the game going, and every good player knows that the more hands you play, the more money you win

• Wait for the blind or the button when they post

Most experienced players wait for the Big Blind, or will post in late position. A few players like to post from Under the Gun, and then straddle in an effort to appear as a loose wild-card.

Conversely, a new player will exhibit the following traits:

• Disorganized chips, or haphazardly stacked chip stacks
• Fumble their chips and cards
• Do not protect their hand
• Often need to be reminded the action is on them, or what their options are
• Will post from anywhere just to get in the game

Someone who plays poker sporadically will tend to display the habits of an experienced player, but might have a few habits of a new player mixed in. One word of caution; some players may seem recreational because they play mostly online. These players may fumble their chips, be awkward with their actions, and seem relatively clueless, but they could be very strong players, who honed their skills online, and are now making a transition to live poker.