Live Poker Tells

Live poker players have more advantage over online poker players when it comes to poker tells.  Live poker tells are easy to spot as they are typically physical reactions.  They may not be visible to untrained eyes, but they are there for someone who has been trained to look for and see them.  In Poker Online, however, such physical reactions are lacking; online poker players typically have to rely on actual playing behavior and player stats for poker tells.

If you are playing live poker, what live poker tells can you look for and what do they commonly mean?  Note that most poker professionals are already expert at hiding their instinctive reactions.  If you are playing with a seasoned poker player, you’ll have to be more observant to catch these otherwise tell-tale signs.  Furthermore, you have to be careful and be sure that you are not being deliberately misled by your opponents through false live poker tells.

Widening of the eyes

When a poker player’s eyes widen after looking at his hole cards, this means that the poker player in question probably has a pair of pocket aces or one that can become a potential nut hand.  If your hole cards are rather weak, better fold.  If a player’s eyes widen mid-game, he is excited about his cards.  Check the recently revealed community cards and assess your opponent’s potential hand.  If you are coming up with combinations that are stronger than yours, fold.

Raising of the Eyebrows

If two eyebrows are raised in a gesture that says “Well, look what we have here,” the player is obviously pleased with his cards.  He has a surprisingly strong hand and you’d better fold if you have a very slim chance of forming a good hand.

Chip Counting

If a player instinctively assesses his chips after the flop, then chances are high that his cards have potential and he is evaluating his chances of aggressively betting during the round.  If you have a weak hand, fold.

Card Checking

Someone who is always glancing at his hole cards is probably someone who is hoping to draw good cards.  At the moment, he doesn’t have a good hand.  You can try to push him out by betting aggressively (but do this only if you have a strong hand to support this strategy).  Someone who checks the board repeatedly is probably disappointed at the last round and has not been able to form the hand that he wanted.