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Favorite Posts
- Chris Moneymaker getting a live read on Chris Oliver
- Phil Ivey talks about poker tells
- Reading Poker Tells e-book now available
- I'm interviewed on Badugi Allstars poker podcast
- More poker tells in Rounders (besides KGB's Oreo)
- Trying to influence villain to call or fold (false tells)
- Betting motion behaviors in limit
- Poker tells in limit hold'em: A critique of my book by Philip Newall
- Loose hand movements associated with high hand strength
- 2011 WSOP: Martin Staszko's (Possible) Poker Tells
- Watching the players directly to your left
- Another example of Pius Heinz avoiding eye contact with a big hand
- Poker tells at 2011 WSOP Final Table: Pius Heinz' eye-contact tell
- Situations where poker tells are most important
- "Disclaimers": a category for some common verbal statements in poker
- Self-delusion and overconfidence in poker
- A tricky player with a rather unique betting motion tell
- Looking down quickly when betting a weak hand
- Limit players who make it obvious they’re calling your bet
- Gambler's Fallacy and why not to show opponents AA or KK
- Gambler's Fallacy in poker. Defensive chip handling tell.
- A hand using poker tells - an introduction to the book
- Decision fatigue in poker
- Most ridiculous poker hand ever televised
- Great live poker advice from Limon
- Immediate calls and raises, and talking a lot after betting
- Bluffing and hand tension
- Pre-flop looking-at-hole-cards tell
- "Sick Call" Kenny vs. guy with good hand
- Some tells in a $5-10 no-limit game
- Phil Galfond and some great thoughts on poker
- Looking down when betting. Studying body posture.
- Best strategy for playing a limit game with a kill
- A forceful bet on the river and fake aggravation
- Pushing/throwing chips into the pot
- Betting movement tells - betting forcefully vs. betting gently
- Direct eye contact after betting and what it usually means
- Freeze-up bluff tell in $30-60 Limit Hold'em hand
- Facial expressions of strength and weakness
- Checking quickly vs. taking a long time to check
- Limit player who holds chips defensively
- Jeremy Sisto and some pre-flop tells meaning strength
- Acting weak when strong, starring Matt Damon
- Hole card tells in Guts games and 5-Card Draw
- Jamie Gold, lies, and ambiguous statements
- Most useful tells in limit poker
- Threatening-to-turn-cards-over tell
- Kido Pham vs Doug Lee: verbal trickery and making speeches
- Staring at hole cards usually means a weak hand
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Categories
Category Archives: Poker Tournament
$500 Pendleton tournament – Immediate check-behind from aggressor raises red flags
This past weekend I played in several tournaments at Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. I played a $200, a $300, and a $500 buy-in. I had some pretty bad luck, but I also did some stupid stuff that probably … Continue reading
Posted in Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Poker Trip Report
Tagged immediate check, Pendleton, strong hand tells 2 Comments
Quitting job, WSOP tournaments, other stuff
I recently quit a full-time job I was working for the past 9 months in order to focus on some personal projects, including playing more poker and working on a video project related to my book. I’m trying to sell … Continue reading
Posted in Poker Tournament
3 Comments
Got third in a fairly big tournament: thoughts on poker tells
This past weekend I played a $215 tourney at Chinook Winds, put on by Deepstacks Poker. Out of about 280 players, I got third for $5,700. I feel like I’m playing my best tournament game I’ve ever played; I can … Continue reading
Posted in Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Poker Trip Report, Psychology
Tagged bet timing, bet-timing tells, tournament 4 Comments
One Drop Tournament: Guy Laliberte’s poker tells
First of a series of posts on Guy Laliberte’s possible poker tells. Covers some general Laliberte poker history and focuses on his performance at the $1 Million buy-in One Drop poker tournament.
Posted in Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged facial expressions, Guy Laliberte, One Drop, poker tells, relaxation, stillness 1 Comment
Chris Moneymaker getting a live read on Chris Oliver
Chris Moneymaker seems to get a good live read on his opponent Chris Oliver in this footage from a televised tournament.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged Chris Moneymaker, Chris Oliver, live read, poker tells 4 Comments
Loose hand movements associated with high hand strength
Some more thoughts on Martin Staszko and a specific hand where he played with his chips as he was waiting to raise Pius Heinz with a very strong hand. I talk about how these kinds of loose hand movements, if they’re unusual for a player, will generally be a sign of high hand strength.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged chip shuffling, hand movement, looseness, Martin Staszko, relaxation, strong hand tells Leave a comment
2011 WSOP: Martin Staszko’s (Possible) Poker Tells
An analysis of Martin Staszko’s physical behavior in his heads-up confrontation with Pius Heinz at the 2011 WSOP. Mainly, I talk about the relative amount of relaxation and muscle movement in Staszko’s mouth and face when he had a good hand compared to when he had a vulnerable hand.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged Ben Lamb, facial expressions, looseness, Martin Staszko, mouth, movement, Pius Heinz, post-bet tells, strong hand tells, WSOP 1 Comment
Watching the players directly to your left
Some thoughts on watching the players directly to your left. Not only can you get some last-minute tells from them regarding their actions, they are the players who pose the biggest threats to you.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Strategy, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged hand movement, hole cards, multi-way pots, pre-flop, stillness, strong hand tells Leave a comment
Another example of Pius Heinz avoiding eye contact with a big hand
Continuing on same theme as last blog post, talking about another hand where Pius Heinz avoided eye contact when he was very strong.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged eye contact, Pius Heinz, strong hand tells, tournament, WSOP 3 Comments
Poker tells at 2011 WSOP Final Table: Pius Heinz’ eye-contact tell
A look at a significant poker tell exhibited by 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion Pius Heinz.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged eye contact, facial expressions, Martin Staszko, Pius Heinz, strong hand tells, WSOP 9 Comments
Situations where poker tells are most important
Thoughts on the most common situations where tells are likely to be useful; mainly in those spots where a significant bet is being made, and a player knows whether or not he wants a call or a fold. So, basically, there aren’t most tells in the large majority of spots.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Strategy, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged poker tell theory, poker tells, tournament, WSOP Leave a comment
2011 WSOP ME final table = great poker television
Thoughts on the new format of this year’s WSOP where they had a 15-minute delay and you couldn’t see the hole cards until after the hand was over. It was great poker television.
Posted in Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged tournament, WSOP Leave a comment
Most ridiculous poker hand ever televised
Hilarious televised hand of poker with a bunch of Spanish donkeys. Great comedy.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tournament
Leave a comment
“Sick Call” Kenny vs. guy with good hand
An analysis of a hand where Kenny Tran calls down with bottom pair on three streets versus a guy with pocket Aces. The guy with Aces exhibits some common behavior of someone with a strong hand.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged acting upset, betting forcefully, betting movement, eye contact, Kenny Tran Leave a comment
Direct eye contact after betting and what it usually means
An analysis of an eye-contact tell that one of the players had in the $340 tournament I played and how I used that to my advantage. And some other random observations.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged chip on cards, eye contact, staring, tournament, weak hand tells Leave a comment
Got knocked out in 14th. I suck.
Some thoughts on getting knocked out 14th from the $340 tournament by playing AA badly.
Posted in Poker Tournament
Tagged anger, making mistakes, tournament Leave a comment
Chance at a big tournament win today
About making the second day of a $340 buy-in 160-player tournament in Portland. Some thoughts on the game.
Posted in Poker Tournament
Tagged Michael Mizrachi, UB scandal Leave a comment
Facial expressions of strength and weakness
Analysis of Jeremy Sisto, the actor, and his facial expressions when he has good hands and bad hands. He is a good stereotype of a very beginner-level players who puts on extreme emotions of displeasure when he has a good hand and a more neutral, stoic expression when he’s vulnerable. Most players will not exhibit tells this extreme, but it’s a good starting point to recognize more subtle tells.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged facial expressions, Jennifer Harman, Jeremy Sisto, Phil Laak, post-bet tells 3 Comments
Jeremy Sisto and some pre-flop tells meaning strength
A clip from a celebrities-meet-the-pros type show where Jeremy Sisto displays some really amateur signs of strength when he has AA. These are very obvious weak-means-strong tells, like acting really disappointed, shaking his head, and having tight, upset mouth expressions.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged Jennifer Harman, Jeremy Sisto, Matt Damon, pre-flop, strong hand tells 2 Comments
Acting weak when strong, starring Matt Damon
Matt Damon at the 2009 WSOP, flopping a full house with 6T. He gives a really amateur, comical show of trying to act really weak. It’s pretty funny because you won’t find too many players behave this obviously weak when they are strong. It’s usually something you only see at a super-beginner level.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged Eric Seidel, looseness, Matt Damon, Mike Caro, poker clack, strong hand tells, WSOP 5 Comments
Dealing with anger
Venting about being an idiot and not knowing how many chips a player had when I went all-in, which cost me probably finishing in the money in a tournament.
Posted in Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged anger, mistakes Leave a comment
Making mistakes in poker and forgiving yourself
I went out in 5th in a big tournament ($400 BI), playing a hand very badly and being very angry with myself because I should have known better. I wrote this post to try to deal with the anger and the frustration at making basic mistakes at this point in my life.
Posted in Poker Cash Game, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournament, Psychology
Tagged anger, forgiving yourself, mistakes, Stu Ungar 4 Comments
Movement and stillness when bluffing
Thoughts on a weird player who behaved the opposite of most people; this player got all antsy and moved around a lot when he was bluffing. Whereas when he had a real hand, he would be more still. This is the opposite of most people, so it got me thinking that maybe there’s certain people who do this…
Posted in Poker Cash Game, Poker Strategy, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged bluffing, movement, stillness 2 Comments
Beginner thoughts on playing pot-limit Omaha 8 online
Just some meandering thoughts on starting to play pot-limit Omaha 8 online. I am not skilled at this game, so this post would only be interesting to a real beginner.
Posted in Poker Cash Game, Poker Strategy, Poker Tournament
Tagged online, PLO8, Pokerstars Leave a comment
Kido Pham vs Doug Lee: verbal trickery and making speeches
Interesting hand between Kido Pham and Doug Lee, where Pham flops the straight and talks a lot, trying to manipulate Doug into thinking he’s weak. In general, I think it’s one of those cases where the more a player is talking, the more you have to be cautious, because speeches usually equal strength.
Posted in Favorites, Poker Strategy, Poker Tells, Poker Tournament
Tagged Doug Lee, Kido Pham, manipulation, smile, speech, strong hand tells, talking alot 5 Comments