Last night I was playing at Imperial Palace. I only recognized one other player as somebody that I've dealt with before, and I mainly remembered him because of The Stare.
First, a bit of background about one of the best-known poker "tells" (i.e., things that players do that give away information about the strength of their cards). When the flop comes, if it has helped a player, he'll often reflexively look down at his chips. He has made a snap decision to bet, and he's looking at how much he has left to start trying to figure out the amount. Conversely, if the flop doesn't help him, he'll often keep gazing at it longer than his usual practice. Again, this is a subconscious behavior. He keeps trying to see if there is something, anything, there that can help him. It's easy to imagine the train of thought: "Is there a pair for me? No. How about a flush draw? No. Maybe a straight draw? No." This sequence of analysis takes time--not an eternity, but noticeably longer than if he instantly saw something he could use.
For inexperienced players, this is one of the most common and reliable tells. Advice books routinely advise that you not look at the cards the dealer is putting out; instead, they say, watch your opponent's eyes so that you can gauge whether he likes the flop or not. The cards will still be there for you to analyze a few seconds later, but you only have a very brief window of time to catch the opponent's reaction to the flop.
Well, there's nothing especially wrong with that advice, per se, if the opponent in question is very new to live poker. I've profited from it many times myself. But after you've played for a while, and especially after you've read about this tell and caught it in other players, it's one that's trivially easy to conceal in yourself. You just have to develop a habit of moving your eyes in the same way on every flop. My practice is to glance briefly at the cards, then move my eyes immediately to the hands of the first player to act (because I think that hands give away at least as much information as the face does).
But once in a while, I become aware that a player is taking the "watch your opponent's eyes" advice a little too seriously. That's the case with the player I was with last night. He's just staring right at me every time the dealer puts out the flop, turn, or river, if I'm in the pot with him.
(Sometimes this becomes almost comical, when two players, both having diligently read the advice, just glare into each other's eyes, neither one wanting to be the first to break off and look down at the cards--kind of a weird poker version of "chicken.")
It's creepy to be stared at like that. I don't like it. But I'm sure not going to tell him that I don't like it. No, it's far better not to look back at him, once I've determined that he's doing this routinely. Instead, I'll pretend like I have no idea why he's watching me, and do a little reverse-tell thing on him. The flop hits me perfectly? OK, I'm going to keep staring at those cards, maybe make a miniscule wince or grimace (not too much--don't want to oversell the effect) to convince him that the continuation bet I'm about to make is a bluff, and let him come over the top, confident that he's got me.
Conversely, if I whiff on the flop, I zap my eyes downward to my chips as fast as I can. Then I can take a bit of time to decide whether to bet as a continuied feign of strength, or check, and let him think that I'm trapping him, and maybe peel off a free card.
Of course, I won't do either one of these consistently; over time, I'll more or less randomize it, lest he figure out that I'm reverse-telling on him and be able to use that information to his benefit.
The point is, this tell only works with that subset of players who aren't aware of it. This guy last night? He was risking eyestrain with no benefit. He picked the wrong target for his radar, because I can throw chaff at his instrumentation with less effort than he is expending to try to read me. Apparently he didn't read or remember the part of the advice book that said that tells always appear in a context, and the context can completely change the interpretation. If you have an opponent with any degree of sophistication to his play, he's not going to be just giving away reliable, consistent information for free.
Go stare at somebody else next time, pal.
(Very cool bit of art above borrowed without permission from http://ellikay.deviantart.com/.)
First, a bit of background about one of the best-known poker "tells" (i.e., things that players do that give away information about the strength of their cards). When the flop comes, if it has helped a player, he'll often reflexively look down at his chips. He has made a snap decision to bet, and he's looking at how much he has left to start trying to figure out the amount. Conversely, if the flop doesn't help him, he'll often keep gazing at it longer than his usual practice. Again, this is a subconscious behavior. He keeps trying to see if there is something, anything, there that can help him. It's easy to imagine the train of thought: "Is there a pair for me? No. How about a flush draw? No. Maybe a straight draw? No." This sequence of analysis takes time--not an eternity, but noticeably longer than if he instantly saw something he could use.
For inexperienced players, this is one of the most common and reliable tells. Advice books routinely advise that you not look at the cards the dealer is putting out; instead, they say, watch your opponent's eyes so that you can gauge whether he likes the flop or not. The cards will still be there for you to analyze a few seconds later, but you only have a very brief window of time to catch the opponent's reaction to the flop.
Well, there's nothing especially wrong with that advice, per se, if the opponent in question is very new to live poker. I've profited from it many times myself. But after you've played for a while, and especially after you've read about this tell and caught it in other players, it's one that's trivially easy to conceal in yourself. You just have to develop a habit of moving your eyes in the same way on every flop. My practice is to glance briefly at the cards, then move my eyes immediately to the hands of the first player to act (because I think that hands give away at least as much information as the face does).
But once in a while, I become aware that a player is taking the "watch your opponent's eyes" advice a little too seriously. That's the case with the player I was with last night. He's just staring right at me every time the dealer puts out the flop, turn, or river, if I'm in the pot with him.
(Sometimes this becomes almost comical, when two players, both having diligently read the advice, just glare into each other's eyes, neither one wanting to be the first to break off and look down at the cards--kind of a weird poker version of "chicken.")
It's creepy to be stared at like that. I don't like it. But I'm sure not going to tell him that I don't like it. No, it's far better not to look back at him, once I've determined that he's doing this routinely. Instead, I'll pretend like I have no idea why he's watching me, and do a little reverse-tell thing on him. The flop hits me perfectly? OK, I'm going to keep staring at those cards, maybe make a miniscule wince or grimace (not too much--don't want to oversell the effect) to convince him that the continuation bet I'm about to make is a bluff, and let him come over the top, confident that he's got me.
Conversely, if I whiff on the flop, I zap my eyes downward to my chips as fast as I can. Then I can take a bit of time to decide whether to bet as a continuied feign of strength, or check, and let him think that I'm trapping him, and maybe peel off a free card.
Of course, I won't do either one of these consistently; over time, I'll more or less randomize it, lest he figure out that I'm reverse-telling on him and be able to use that information to his benefit.
The point is, this tell only works with that subset of players who aren't aware of it. This guy last night? He was risking eyestrain with no benefit. He picked the wrong target for his radar, because I can throw chaff at his instrumentation with less effort than he is expending to try to read me. Apparently he didn't read or remember the part of the advice book that said that tells always appear in a context, and the context can completely change the interpretation. If you have an opponent with any degree of sophistication to his play, he's not going to be just giving away reliable, consistent information for free.
Go stare at somebody else next time, pal.
(Very cool bit of art above borrowed without permission from http://ellikay.deviantart.com/.)
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