I want to cover some very basic and very practical information on tells. I wanted to talk about three of the most common misconceptions about poker tells. First off, let's start with the much-repeated but not-well-understood adage from Mike Caro that almost everyone knows: Strong means Weak, Weak means Strong. This idea, that people who act strong are holding a weak hand, and people who act ...
Staying friendly with someone you’re bluffing
I usually try to act friendly/devil-may-care when playing poker. Most of the time I'm just acting that way to give the impression I don't care about the money and I'm there to have a good time. Also, it is often to my benefit to get friendly with people, since they're more likely to give you credit for a hand when you bet against them - "He wouldn't bluff me, we're friends" kind of thoughts ...
Leg shaking at the poker table
Did well again this week in the $100 multi-table tournament I play in occasionally. Split it 3 ways even between myself and two women who play pretty well. One specific read played a big part in one of the plays I made. The first important pot I got into was when the blinds were 200-400. I've got about 20,000, and I'm 2nd chip leader at our table. This young guy who introduces himself to people as ...