Tell

Quick facts by PokerStrategy

• A tell in poker is any pattern given off by an opponent that can give an indication of their hand strength.
• Poker tells can be physical, verbal, behavioural or come from betting patterns and timings.
• Poker tells are not often a reliable measure of hand strength, but can be used alongside other factors to make your decisions.

What Is a Tell in Poker?

A tell in poker is any behaviour or pattern that can give you an indication of the strength or weakness of another player’s hand. Common poker tells can be physical, verbal, based on timing, or on betting patterns and bet sizings.

Poker tells can vary greatly by context, and like physical cues, are not always accurate.

Different Types of Poker Tells

There are many different types of tells in poker, ranging from subtle physical cues to more obvious signs, such as betting patterns. Here’s a rundown of the most common poker tells and other poker tell signs you might spot at the tables.

Physical Tells

Physical poker tells are the most well-known type and the one that comes to mind first. A physical tell is any information that other players give away from their facial expressions or body language, and is naturally only applicable to live games.

Here are some examples of physical poker tells:

• Shaky hands – Inexperienced players who feel excited or scared about being in a big pot may exhibit shaky hands, which you’ll notice when they place chips in the pot.
• Eye contact – A common tell in poker is when players stare across and maintain heavy eye contact when bluffing to try to intimidate their opponents. Avoiding eye contact can also be a tell.
• Eyeing chips – Looking at their own stack may mean they’re planning a bet; looking at their opponent’s stack may mean they’re sizing up a bluff or call.
• Breathing and pulse – If you are sitting close to your opponent, you might notice their breathing getting heavy or even a pulse in their neck, indicating an increase in heart rate.
• Chip handling – A common physical poker tell is when players splash or throw chips into the pot aggressively, which can be an intimidation tactic used when bluffing. Gently placing chips could be a sign of composure and confidence.

Verbal Tells

Many poker players remain quiet at the tables and avoid engaging in table talk. A select few pros try to use table talk to their advantage, needling opponents or asking probing questions to gain information.

Verbal cues can also be subtle, such as when someone acts confidently and talks more when they are strong, or projects overconfidence when they are bluffing. Even changes in tone and dialogue can give hints as to a player’s hand strength.

Behavioral Tells

Along with verbal tells, look out for how players act during the game, particularly whether they are paying attention. If they are usually distracted, then suddenly take an interest in a hand, they could be strong. If someone normally acts one way, but suddenly shifts behavior in a big hand, it may signal strength or weakness.

Timing Tells

Known as timing poker tells, the speed at which players act can give away information about the strength of their hand. For example:

• Quick checks on the flop and turn may be a sign that a player is not interested in the hand, especially if they came along from the blinds with a range that isn’t likely to want to continue.
• Instant calls on the flop could reflect a medium strength hand or draw by a player who is trying to act strong to encourage a check on the turn.
• If an opponent takes a while and then makes a big bet, they could be acting like they have a huge decision to make, when they actually have a monster hand.
• If someone takes a long pause after getting raised or re-raised, their original bet may have been a bluff, and they are again pretending to have a decision to make.

Betting Pattern Tells

Betting patterns sit on the line between being poker tells and a part of standard hand reading, or simply spotting something very obvious that an opponent is clearly frustrated and on tilt.

You should always be reading betting lines to narrow down hand ranges. Specifically, though, betting patterns are bets that players make with such consistency that they become tells.

For example:

• Player A only ever limps with suited connectors before the flop.
• Player B continuation bets 100 percent of flops.
• Player C always bluffs when someone checks.
• Player D always makes a large bet with top pair and a small bet with weaker hands.

Betting pattern tells are highly individual, so you’ll need to take note of how each player bets in certain situations. If you see the same bet multiple times in the same context, you have a betting pattern tell, which is one of the more reliable types of tell in poker.

How to Spot Poker Tells

The first rule is to consistently observe your opponents. Even when you’re not involved in the hand, in live poker, you need to be watching other players so that you can pick up on any tells they might have.

Poker tells are highly individual. If a player is a fidgety person or their hand shakes every time they are in a pot, this is hardly going to be a reliable indicator of hand strength.

To get a sense for a player’s tells, you’ll need to study their baseline state when they are not in a pot, or when they are in a very small pot, and see how this compares to their body language and actions when they are in a sweaty spot.

You’ll need to look for patterns that play out time and time again. If a player consistently gives off the same signals, you may have found yourself a somewhat reliable poker tell.

Online Poker Tells

It’s a common misconception that poker tells are a concept only relevant to live poker. Although it’s clear that you can’t read body language or facial expressions, online poker tells exist, especially in real money poker apps, where timing and bet sizing patterns are noticeable.

The tells are based on what you can pick up through the screen, such as timing and betting patterns.

Look for patterns in the way players use bets and the sizes they use. Pros will balance their ranges to make betting patterns very difficult, but recreational and inexperienced players will definitely have betting tells to pick up on.

Chatbox/emojis exist, but they are rarely reliable tells.

Using Tells in Poker Strategy

If you can find a semi-reliable poker tell, then this is a valid way to gain additional information that can be used as part of your decision-making process.

If a tell completely contradicts the hand ranges and math of the situation, then go with the math. Tells are less reliable than a solid strategy.

However, if you are sitting on the fence with a marginal decision to make, such as weighing up a big call, a poker tell can be enough to swing the decision one way or another.

When used as a secondary tool along with hand reading tells in poker can help to:

• Narrow down your opponent’s ranges
• Reinforce decisions
• Spot when players are likely to be bluffing
• Decide whether to call or fold marginal hands

Limits of Poker Tells

Poker tells are not reliable enough to be used by themselves. You should only use them as secondary tools to reinforce your decisions.

The reason for this is that you’ll rarely get a poker tell, especially a physical poker tell, that is reliable and accurate. A person’s hands may shake due to overall nervousness. Thoughts, feelings, and facial expressions can be completely unrelated to the pot. Poker tells should only be used in conjunction with betting patterns and ranges as a minor component of your decision-making process.

How to Avoid Giving Away Tells

Other players can and should also be watching you at the tables to see if they can pick up on any tells. To counter this, you’ll want to make an effort not to give anything away, especially when it comes to live poker tells.

One approach is to use “false tells” by deliberately acting in a way that is opposite to how you are expected to behave. However, this is generally not a great idea and can be very hard to use well, as these false tells can, in themselves, become real tells if other players catch on to what they mean.

Instead, adopt a stoic approach, maintaining your body language, facial expressions, and overall mannerisms, while ensuring your betting timings and patterns are consistent. This is where the term “poker face” comes from.

Some pros will go to extreme lengths to project this stillness, wearing hoodies, glasses, and hats to cover their face and eyes, while remaining completely silent at the tables.

Here are some tips to avoid giving away tells:

• Keep a poker face and don’t display excessive emotion
• Avoid table talk, especially anything related to the hand
• Maintain consistent posture and chip movement
• Keep your eyes down
• Standardize your bet timings

Common Misconceptions About Poker Tells

Here are some of the most common misleading ways to think about poker tells:

• Tells are reliable – Many people, including players, believe that tells are concrete and dependable. They are actually highly situational, ambiguous, and rarely reliable.
• Strong means weak – A common poker tell is when players act strong when they are actually weak, or act weak when they are strong. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes it’s not an act.
• No tells online – It’s a misconception that only live poker tells exist. There are many ways you can find online poker tells, such as a player’s bet sizing and timing.

Poker Tells: Examples from Poker History

Although poker tells are not always reliable, there’s no denying that some of the best players ever to grace the felt have used tells to their advantage.

Daniel Negreanu has long been known for his speech play tactics, and he says he uses them to test his opponent’s responses and gauge their level of thinking. Negreanu has also used body language as a tell, such as the look of someone’s eyes or how they spin chips when bluffing.

The legendary Doyle Brunson spoke about reading the pulse of his opponent’s neck during high-stakes games and credits the tell with saving him from a lot of dangerous spots. Brunson may have had a tell of his own, though. Players have said that Brunson used to freeze whenever he had a huge hand!

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every poker player have a tell?

Not every player has a tell, and not every tell can be used with every player. Experienced players often have a stoic “poker face” and may go to extreme lengths to conceal physical poker tells.

How to read tells in poker?

You can read tells in poker by studying other players’ baseline states and how this changes in particular situations, such as when they are under pressure or when they are bluffing.

How to avoid giving tells in poker?

To avoid giving away tells in poker, maintain consistent facial expressions, body language, and movements. Try to avoid overt expressions of emotion or tension.

Are tells more important in live poker than online?

Tells are important in both online poker and live poker. In live poker, you can make physical reads of your opponents based on their body language, movement, and speech. In online poker, you have to rely on betting patterns and timings.

How accurate are poker tells?

Tells in poker are not often very accurate, so you shouldn’t rely on them entirely to make your decisions. Ranges and betting actions are more reliable indicators of hand strength. However, poker tells can be used as additional information to support a decision or decide on a marginal spot.

Is relying on tells better than using poker math?

Overrelying on poker tells can be a costly mistake. Unless you have a very specific read on someone’s body language, which is very unlikely, math should be the main factor in your decision-making process.