Archive | August, 2011
Reading Tells and Paying Attention

Reading Tells and Paying Attention

Poker is a casino game based mainly on skills and strategies. With the right set of skills and top poker strategy in hand, you will find staying profitable and making a lot of money very easy to do. One of the most important skills you should have is the ability to pay close attention; you should be able to read tells easily when you pay close attention to your opponents.

When the round starts, take your time and observe how other players are betting before placing your own big blind. Since you have all the required information – in poker case, tells – needed to assess the relative strength of your hand before deciding the best move to make.

Paying close attention to your opponent’s behavior and betting pattern can also help you execute bluffs perfectly. For example, if you see most of your opponents limping and showing hesitations, you can bluff them off the round by raising the bet substantially; refer to the size of pot to determine the right amount of bet to place. Make sure you have a strong hand to play before you raise the bet, or you will find yourself in a tough position when your bluff is called.

One last thing: do pay attention to your opponents’ hands during showdown. The knowledge can be used to determine the opponents’ playing styles and can help you react better to their moves in the future. This is probably the best tell to read when you are playing poker, and it can help you understand opponents even faster.