lesson three: body language and focus

In poker, the player who makes the most correct decisions compared with their opponents will tend to win. One of the ways that players help themselves to make correct decisions is the observation of tells.

Tells are the subconscious clues that your opponents give out through their body language, voice, the way they handle their chips, etc. that "tell" you something about the strength of their hand. In Caro's Book of Poker Tells, author Mike Caro mentions several tells which are extremely valuable, including whether an opponent is looking at or away from you after a bet, or the classic "look at the hole cards then quickly glance at the chip stack" tell (a huge indicator of strength, generally).

I think that one tell that's really important to be on the lookout for is your opponents' level of focus. In almost every card game, the players' attention is divided between the game itself, and everything that's going on around them, such as the table conversation. It's important to figure out to what degree a player's paying attention to the game strategic vs. social/environmental factors, as this can often give you big clues as to their holdings. Here are some examples of some things I've observed.

The "start paying more attention suddenly" move:
Sometimes, during a hand, a player will abruptly seem to become more emotionally invested in a hand, either becoming quieter or more focused-looking. This often happens after a certain card comes out, or after a player makes a bet. In general, I've found that if you see a player do this on more than a couple of occasions, they're not faking their body language, and that's generally a big sign of strength.

The conversation bluff:
As a preface, I don't know if this one applies to as many players as the increased focus tell, but I've definitely observed it in a couple of the guys in my game. For one of them in particular, I'd say this tell is close to 90% reliable, every time. He likes to bluff a lot, betting and raising with air in many hands. Sometimes, though, he'll make a big bet (or raise), and while I'm taking my time thinking about my decision, he'll stop being focused, and often start comfortably talking with the other players, or in other words he becomes emotionally divested from the game to a degree. This rarely seems to happen to him when he wants a call, and I've reraised him with air and taken it down on several occasions. He'll appear focused for a while, but if you make him sit for a minute, pondering your decision, he'll (I suppose) get bored of looking focused.

I also think there's something worthwhile in paying attention to what your opponents do with their hole cards after they look at them, as far as placement, use of a card protector, etc. Do they do it differently in different hands? Do they protect/not protect (place their hand on top of) their face-down hole cards during a hand? Do they double-check them?

Do your opponents always announce their bets the same way, or is it different each time? It may seem picky, but I believe there is a difference between saying "raise" while tossing in 35 more in chips, and saying "I raise 35 more."

Of course, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to catch every subtle thing that goes on at a poker table. But knowing what you're looking for allows your antennae to be up, at any rate, meaning you're catching things at a higher rate than your opponents. Plus, the more practice you get, the better you'll become at it.