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baudib
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04-20-2010, 03:00 PM
Post subject: stopping tells
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#1 (permalink)
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,233
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Last night I won a big pot, and two guys told me they spotted a serious tell on me. Not that it mattered, because the guy who was in the hand couldn't fold his TPTK, and I think an astute player could tell from the action that I had top pair beat.
anyway, it's a pretty common tell: my hands shake when i have a big hand. this problem is undoubtedly exacerbated by drinking tons of coffee/Red Bull doing long sessions. but I am pretty sure mine shake more than normal, I know I have trouble pushing out chips in a calm, non-threatening manner. In some cases I'll just announce the bet size to avoid touching anything.
I suppose I could practice the Jesus statue stare for hours....or maybe just keep my hands off the chips as much as possible...I have chip sets at home I practice with sometimes.
you guys have any tips on working on tells?
I did manage to overcome one tell when a friend told me about one -- I used to Hollywood-frown when I flop the nuts and someone bet into me.
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Playing big pots at small stakes.
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KoRnholio
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,166
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Try exhaling slowly while pushing the chips into the pot at a constant speed.
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Some days it feels like I've been standing forever, waiting for the bank teller to return so I can cash in all these Sklansky Bucks.
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rpm
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: maaaaaaaaaaate
Posts: 2,055
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do you shake simply whenever you are making a big bet (and in this case it was for value) or is it ONLY when you are value-betting/have a strong hand. i used to get the shakes when i started playing live, but it wasn't really a tell because it started whenever the $$ at stake was enough to get adrenaline moving, regardless of hand strength.
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eugmac
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 739
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yeah it's a hard one because it's so involuntary, just a natural reaction when there's adrenaline pumping. i've been able to spot it a couple times in live games, even though sometimes fish will shake with a hand like JJ on a safe flop, which to a fish, is a freaking monster "omg omg omg i haz a pair of jaaaaaacks".
i noticed one time after flopping a set that my hand was shaking, and did my best to try and throw in my chips as normally/casually as i normally do, in a quick carefree motion... a very hard one to control indeed, and i doubt anybody can fake it convincingly either.
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FetusChrist
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High Card
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 14
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That's why I do chip tricks. Look em up on youtube. When I keep my hands moving it's easier to control than when my only movement is to get the chips in the middle.
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swiggidy
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Waiting in the shadows ...
Posts: 3,777
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Just make sure your hands shake anytime you put a large amount of chips in the pot, then it ceases to be a tell.
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(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")
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eugmac
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 739
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ya just drink an excessive amount of coffee. downside is having to stand up to pee so often.
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LawDude
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Full House
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 940
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While it is entirely possible that these people noticed this tell, I have to say that the most important thing to remember about physical tells is how overrated they are. You learn much more about a player's range of hands from how they bet and what moves they make than you do from watching them for physical tells.
Also, plenty of players pay no attention whatsoever to physical tells anyway. You could be sweating like an ocean and shaking like an earthquake, and the drunk guy next to you who is waiting for his fraternity brothers to get back from the strip club isn't going to notice.
So my recommendation to live players is to simply not worry so much about physical tells. Work on your game; plugging leaks is far more +EV than not giving off tells.
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pokerfan
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: NS, Canada
Posts: 1,736
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yeah, Learning how to hide your own poker tells is soooooo overrated. Do you think that you often play with world-class live poker pros? I cant imagine that a bunch of poker amateurs or casino gamblers would notice your goofy physical tells ? 
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oskar
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: in ur accounts... confiscating ur funz
Posts: 2,452
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Ikd, I think lots of people pick up on the shaky hands thing.
There's something weired about live poker. Online even my largest pots haven't gotten my adrenaline pumping, but live a simple c-bet makes me nervous.
Luckily I'm a looser live, so I just stay away from it 
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ChezJ
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Full House
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posts: 1,456
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exploit your opponents' observation by shaking your hands the next time you bluff at a scary board. they are fools for revealing your tell to you.
one thing i used to do when i was starting out was to clench my leg muscles under the table whenever i had a big hand. this redirected my anxiety and left my hands still.
ChezJ
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sk8r_daniel
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Flush
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 330
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChezJ
exploit your opponents' observation by shaking your hands the next time you bluff at a scary board. they are fools for revealing your tell to you.
one thing i used to do when i was starting out was to clench my leg muscles under the table whenever i had a big hand. this redirected my anxiety and left my hands still.
ChezJ
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Yeah like Chez said its about reducing anxiety. To reduce the anxiety put in lots of hours and try to think like a robot. Think ahead and try to move methodically.
I find that if I am feeling overly anxious i wiggle my toes, place a hand firmly on my face or do alot of chip tricks.
You could also try saying things inside your head like. What is the best move right now? Raising to $200 is the right move. Now I am going to smoothly move the correct bet into the center...all the while looking like a spaced out robot!
Meh, hope that helps.
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Fnord
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: I'll Do You Like A Truck
Posts: 19,336
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sk8r_daniel
Think ahead and try to move methodically.
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This. Although if you play with the same guys a lot, don't make difficult snap calls. Let them think you're actually considering a fold when you know they're just betting because they think you're weak.
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aqn
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High Card
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FetusChrist
That's why I do chip tricks. Look em up on youtube. When I keep my hands moving it's easier to control than when my only movement is to get the chips in the middle.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LawDude
While it is entirely possible that these people noticed this tell, I have to say that the most important thing to remember about physical tells is how overrated they are.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oskar
Ikd, I think lots of people pick up on the shaky hands thing.
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I think people try too hard to look for this tell because it's probably the most popular/folkloric
tell. People will see shaking hands even when there are none! One time, after I won a pot, guy
claimed he wanted to call me 'cause "his [my] hand was shaking". It's entirely possibe that my
hand was shaking, but I was doing the "chip twirl" chip trick, and not dropping chips or messing
up. I don't see how my hand could be shaking!
(My other hand was out of view.)
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kidsoldja
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Two Pair
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 34
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i Have the same problem..unfortunately it follows me off the poker table as well..my hands shake sometimes involuntarily and it sux when it happens at the poker table but you have to be able to play it off as a bluff sometimes too like another person here posted earlier, just make sure your hand are shaking when you v got a great hand.
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Penneywize
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Full House
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 886
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have this problem too.
pro tip: drink one beer before playing to get a bit relaxed. shake's'll be mostly gone, gtd
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drmcboy
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DrButtInski
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 9,603
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yeah I find a cocktail or two usually helps, but I tend to shake regardless, I can't even hold my hand steady right now. Also I know talking to people and generally creating a fun happy atmosphere helps all my nerve related stuff. When someone turns over 3rd pair for a winner, exclaim "the nuts!" for an ice breaker.
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parislad
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3-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: ~Manchester~
Posts: 75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by baudib
...and two guys told me they spotted a serious tell on me...
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Sometimes, people (read pricks) often say stuff like this just to throw you off your game anyway.
Say something back like 'but the grass isn't always green, you know...'. That'll fuck with their heads.
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Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups
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