How Important are Tells in Poker (part 1 of 4)

Most players think of a ‘tell’ as though it’s one of those eureka moments: where their opponent does something so pronounced or drastic that their cover is blown, or the jig is up to use another euphemism. The reality of the situation is that in the poker world, the word ‘tell’ is an all encompassing definition used to describe any physical movement or trait that gives away any information about a player’s hand.

The problem many players have is they either disregard tells, or rely too heavily on them! People are either unwilling to act on a tell they have noticed, or they disregard more concrete information in favor a perceived tell. Either way, you can start to see how contradictory and abstract the use of tells can be at a poker table.

There are four aspects to tells: Tells range in their perceptibility, frequency, meaning, and most importantly accuracy, which makes utilizing the information gained through a tell one of the most difficult aspects of poker: And everyone knows that the harder something is, the more likely people will quit doing it!

• Perceptibility - The perceptibility of a tell is how difficult it is to notice. Certain tells like shaking hands are obvious, but something like a quick glance at a player’s chips is harder to spot.
• Frequency - The frequency of tells relates to how often you can expect to notice a particular tell. A player who holds their cards a certain way whenever they intend to fold has a very frequent tell (it will occur almost every hand).
• Meaning - Tells can mean different things from different players. One player may lean back whenever they have the nuts, while a different player may lean back when they are bluffing.
• Accuracy - The accuracy of a tell will clue you in to how reliable the information you are receiving is: Unfortunately, this not only varies by the type of tell, but also the person giving off the tell.

Many professional players tell new players to disregard the importance of tells; instead trying to focus players on correct strategic thinking before exploring the psychological aspects of the game. But even the pros who are downplaying the role of tells know that strategy will only get you so far in the poker world, and the players who rely solely on strategies will leave a lot of money on the table.

Tells by themselves should rarely be the main determinate in your decision, but when added to all the other information at your disposal tells can often be the proverbial final nail in the coffin. The problem with using tells as your sole reason for making a decision has to do with the final two aspects: Meaning and accuracy. Basically, you are not privy to the player’s way of thinking and therefore a tell can be perceived as meaning almost anything you want it to! It’s sort of like a horoscope in this respect.

For instance, if you pick up a ’strong’ tell from a player you may fold top pair to his raise; but you really don’t know what this player considers a strong hand. In your mind a strong hand is top two, or a set; other players may think middle pair, two over-cards, or top pair bad kicker is the stone cold nuts!

When dealing with tells in general you want to use the strong means weak, and weak means strong philosophy first described by Mike Caro. This is a good rule of thumb to use until you have something more absolute to go on. However, players with experience also know what you are looking for, and will often ‘give off’ false-tells in the hopes you are looking for them. In addition to the tells that can mean numerous things depending on the player. All-in-all, tells are an extremely tricky nut to crack, which is why many players simply discount them entirely.