Most Convincing False Tells in Poker

Matt VIP• 10,012 Views • on 22/9/16

False tells are the romantic part of poker that's often overshadowed by the cool new technology and the latest trends in poker strategy.

False tells are the romantic part of poker that's often overshadowed by the cool new technology and the latest trends in poker strategy. It's very easy to underestimate the value of techniques that used to be very popular in the past and were responsible for great results of many live old school players.

While there's no substitute for +EV betting patterns, ideas like false tells can add to that EV especially in the case of live poker players.

In this article, we're going to explore the subject of false tells and explain how you can use them to gain a bit of an edge in your games.

Physical Tells and Betting Pattern Tells

There are two kinds of tells in poker - physical tells and betting pattern tells. Physical tells are the ones that get the most attention in popular culture; sweaty trembling hands, face ticks or twisting open an oreo and other types of indirect signals that players can send.

Betting pattern tells are the ones that players exhibit in the game by actually using their chips. The most popular ones are sizing and timing related. Some players tend to bet or call very quickly with marginal hands. Others telegraph the strength of their hand with a specific bet size.

Physical Fake Tells

Before attempting the use of a fake tell it's important to establish if we're dealing with honest or dishonest players. To an honest player, strength means strength and they use that rule in their own behavior. Dishonest players, on the other hand, tend to act weak when they have a monster and strong when they have a marginal holding. You have to adjust your behavior based on the opponent player types. Here are a few examples:

When you're playing against an honest recreational player and you're holding a strong hand out of position, make it seem like you're not happy about the call you're about to make. You can achieve that by thinking a bit longer than usual or making it look like you're about to fold your hand (without actually crossing the table line or releasing your cards, otherwise your hand might be considered dead).
In a similar situation against a dishonest player, making your decision very quickly can have the same effect. Take a short look at your chip stack before your opponent makes his move etc.
If you're playing in a new environment don't hide behind a hoodie and shades. You're also not helping yourself by shuffling and twirling your chips all over the place. Make it seem like both chips and cards feel a bit foreign to you. This can allow you to pull off some bluffs that you otherwise couldn't get away with.
Sitting up in the chair is a very powerful move. If you're playing in an honest game, assuming a strong posture before you make your three barrel bluff can have a tangible effect on your success rate.

There are many other things you can do at a live poker table to deceive your opponents, but it's important not to overdo it. Don't expect to build the bulk of your win rate on mystical hand gestures and false appearances, but you can use them sparingly to supplement your betting patterns.

Can u use physical fake tells in online play? If you're willing to drop the semantics and bend the definition of 'physical' tell a bit it turns out that there's plenty of room for deception in the context of an online game. The first thing you can do is to drop your flashy, professional or funny screen name and change it (if possible) to something non poker related, possibly emphasizing your hobby.

To someone who pays attention 'lolequitywtf' or 'n3verbr0ke' seem to indicate that the owner of the nickname knows a thing or two about poker, 'messi97' or 'fluffy' on the other hand - much less so. Same goes for the avatar if you really want to play the part of a recreational player use a picture of a dog instead of the poker chip. Lastly, you can experiment with buying in for less than 100bb and not using the auto top-up feature. This will no doubt cause you to sacrifice a bit of your win rate, but you can possibly make up for it with deception.

I, personally, wouldn't really bother with it because a solid strategic approach is much more important than false information, but if you're playing only a few tables at a poker room that allows screen name changes, playing the part of a recreational player might be a very interesting and profitable approach.

Betting Pattern Fake Tells

The most common betting pattern tells in both live and online poker are timing and sizing tells. You can take advantage of this by making a lot of notes and trying to quickly establish your opponent's tendencies. This can be hugely profitable especially in the context of micro stakes games full of honest players with low table awareness.

When you play against someone who's at a high enough level to pay attention to your sizing and timing you can also use that to your advantage. Going back to what we already discussed, it's essential to know what kind of opponent you're facing. Against honest players betting big with your bluffs is the way to go. If you want to value bet against them use a smaller sizing, around 1/2-2/3 pot. Against someone who's dishonest you can get away with very cheap bluffs or multi-street raptor bets with marginal hands that you can turn into a bluff by the river.

While it's very easy to "put the cart before the horse" when dealing with things like false tells, if your fundamentals are strong and your strategy solid there's nothing wrong with searching for that tiny bit of additional edge.

Train your self-awareness to recognize the spots where betting a bit faster than usual or using a smaller sizing than you would normally will benefit your game and add to your bottom line.

Most Convincing False Tells in Poker

Physical Tells and Betting Pattern Tells

Physical Fake Tells

Betting Pattern Fake Tells

More Top Rated Content

Matt VIP

Add your "Room Name" username and register with PokerVIP