• Reading Body Language Powerpoint
• Reading Body Language In Poker
• Reading Body Language Practice
• Reading Body Language Poker

Often when a new player starts to learn about this fascinating game that is poker, they become bogged down in the technical and strategic parts. And this is needed, of course.

Reading the Tells – Improving Your Poker Game, is a fun and dynamic training seminar that teaches you the skills needed to read the “tells” or body language of your poker opponents. You will explore how reading body language works, areas to look for “tells”, what it means when you see a “tell”, and practical suggestions that will.

• Poker is one of those games where the cards you have are less important than knowing how to play them and reading the players around you. If you want to increase the odds of victory drastically in your favor, learning body language just might be your ace in the hole.
• The word congruence, as it relates to body language, refers to the degree to which body language cues in a person matches one another in terms of their meaning. If, for example, one is speaking honestly with the palms up (an honest gesture) we can say that the body language and verbal language are congruent.
• Body language is the type of information that depends on your perceptions about someones reactions. At a poker table, we call those reactions tells. Some tells can be faked, for sure. And some players are prone to do just that. (Theyre actors, as Mike Caro says.) But, with practice, you learn to distinguish what reactions are more reliable.
• One of the key skills most good poker players have is the ability to read their opponents at the table. That is why you hear so much about “poker tells.” A “tell” is any physical reaction, behavior, or habit that gives (or tells) the other players information about your hand.

You need to understand the game inside out if you hope to become a great player. But one of the most overlooked parts of the game (and quite frankly hardest to learn) is the psychological aspects.

Live poker tells such as reading people’s reactions, body language, and subconscious signals can give you the edge against many opponents. And equally, knowing how to manipulate these psychological tendencies can help you throw your opponents off if you feel yourself playing in a predictable manner.

With all this in mind, I’ve decided to write down a few tips to help you learn the psychological side of the game, more specifically, what common poker tells are telling you.

Some of this may seem basic, some may seem extraordinary, but all of it will help your game.

Guide: Poker Tells to make the most when playing Poker

Contents

1. The first obvious poker tell is someone staring down the other players. Why is this a tell? Well, if he or she is staring you down, they are most likely trying to show strength. But if the hand really was strong, most people wouldn’t make it so obvious. The player may have something, but you will probably be able to beat it. Obviously this isn’t an exact science – experience is needed.
2. The next tell is jittering and fidgeting, which sometimes isn’t so obvious. This poker tell is usually not an act. It’s usually a sign of impatience. So what does this mean? It probably means the player betting has a weak hand or is bluffing, and therefore, does not want the call. If a player has a big hand he will usually stay relaxed when pending a call. Here’s a really important tip: If you’re not sure about calling or folding, reach towards the chips to see what his reaction is. If he stops fidgeting (this includes things like drumming the fingers, as well) then you should call. If the action doesn’t stop, you should fold, as he probably has a strong hand.
3. The next tell I will talk about is shaking hands. Firstly, this tell is hardly ever an act. Why? Because most players won’t try to “act” nervous, and genuine hand shaking isn’t an easy thing to fake. So what does this tell mean? Well usually, hand shaking happens in connection with your opponent having a very strong hand. The reason his hands shake is that it’s a subconscious release of tension due to the suspense of what’s about to happen next. Depending on the circumstances, some players are nearly always nervous, however. So don’t mistake the two types of hand shaking. If your opponent hasn’t been shaking, and then all of a sudden he is, then you can be fairly confident that he or she has a very strong hand. Similarly, you want to observe if there is shaking legs. Although not talked about nearly as much, when a player’s legs are shaking, it’s no different to the body as a whole. They tense up when they’re not comfortable but if they’re moving or shaking then the player is more excited and probably feeling good about his hand.
4. Another common tell is changes in breathing. This is rarely an act either. If you can tell your opponent has changed his breathing (either by hearing, or seeing his diaphragm move faster) then you will be able to read this tell. What does it mean? If your opponent is breathing faster, he may have become slightly more excited due to having a strong hand. If a player is bluffing he may try to hide the change of breathing by consciously breathing slower, or even holding their breath.

2 Videos here explains bit more about Tells:

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A big part of poker tells is gathering information to know the strength of your opponent’s hand. If a poker tell suggests they’re strong or weak, it allows you to play perfect poker against them, assuming your reads are correct. If you expect them to have a strong hand you’d never consider bluffing them or bluff catching, and on the flip side, if you think the player has a weak hand, you’d be more inclined to bluff them or call their bluffs.

When you are controlling the betting in a hand, it’s hugely advantageous to identify the strength of your opponent’s hands when they call, especially on draw heavy boards with many potential draws. The first common tells players give when they have a drawing hand, is when they may be checking hole cards after a flop. When the flop is showing signs of giving one of the players a flush or straight draw, keep an eye out for people who are re-check their hole cards. They are most likely checking to see if they have a piece of it. Your opponent probably doesn’t have the flush or straight just yet. How do I know this? Well, most players wouldn’t need to check if they had it already. They are checking to see if they can draw it.

Other Poker Tells:

The other drawing poker tell is when a player is taking a while before calling his bet. If he seems to be doing some sort of calculation, he probably is. What’s he doing? He’s probably trying to work out the pot odds to see if it’s worth it to risk getting the cards he needs to complete the drawing hand.

I know this stuff is fairly basic for most people, and when you’re judging these tells, be aware of the skill level of the players you’re up against. If they are beginners then you can feel free to make decisions based on these sort of tells, because they’re too inexperienced to try being deceptive. But if the players you’re up against have some experience, be very wary, since accomplished players will often give you false tells like this, to throw you off completely.

As always, you need to use your own experience to guide you, and judge wisely.

1. You’re “cold reading” which means you don’t have a lot of time to play around – so let’s get going already. First define the “context.” This is the easy part. Are you in a business, dating, public or friendly setting? Are you playing poker? The context says it all. You shouldn’t look for sexual cues while reading your sister’s body language! Her coy smile probably doesn’t mean she wants to date you! In the office, your boss might be clenching his fists, but he’s unlikely to smash your face in! When that guy in the bar starts balling his fists, well, that’s another story!

Why? “Context” is an important factor to consider while reading people. We often hear about verbal statements that are taken out of context and in this same way, we can take nonverbal language out of context as well. “The guy was obviously lying, he was scratching his face and neck and could barely sit still” might be accurate when being grilled by a panel of the media over missing fund money, but in the context of being attacked by a swarm of killer bees, not accurate at all! Concluding that someone is cold hearted from a single meeting is another case of ignoring context. We often think people are shy after a first meeting, but are surprised when over time they open up and are actually quite expressive and talkative.

Some people normally clasp their hands together. We need to watch for sudden changes in body language beyond the baseline to discover hidden meaning.

2. Get to know a person to discover their “baseline.” A “baseline” is the set of nonverbal mannerisms that a person will use when relaxed. Find out how a person usually comports themselves and if possible in more than one situation. Experts agree that reading body language requires a comparison between relaxed body language and body language that arises during emotional provocation.

Why? “Baselining” is probably one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of reading body language. It refers to the “normal” motions that populate the repertoire of each and every person on the planet. “Normal” here is the operative word. We can’t even begin to read someone until we first have their baseline pegged. For example, to read someone that is normally flighty and constantly moving as agitated, is wrong since they are merely acting out their particular “idiosyncratic nonverbal behaviour.” That is, the body language that is particular to specific people and that makes up their repertoire, or basket of cues, considered normal for them. By establishing a baseline it will be possible to catch sudden changes in body language. This is the ultimate purpose to establishing a person’s baseline. Without catching the changes, body language loses its ability to indicate exactly what is going on.

Most agree that we need at least four independent signals before we can reliably make conclusions about a persons body language. How many signals can you spot in this photo? How does each person feel?

3. Next try to find at least four cues that stand out in a “cue cluster.” Look for the big stuff first like arm and leg crossing (closed body) or uncrossed (dominant and open), head tilts (interest), head down (judgment), head back (disapproval), head even (contemplating) palm up (offering/honest) palm down (authoritative), eye contact (strong or fleeting), ventral orientation (toward-liking, distancing-disliking/disinterest), proximity of body as well, such as arms and legs (close-liking, far-disliking), type of smile (even-honest, uneven-feigned/stressed), body size, large (dominant/open), small submissive/closed), touching (liking/influencing), any forms of clenching, pinching or scratching (discomfort/pacifying), use of barriers in blocking (discomfort/shielding), lip compression or biting (negative thoughts).

Why? “The rule of four”, and it’s an important one, says that you can’t attach meaning to a single gesture and accurately judge a person – you need more than one, preferably at least four. The rule of four calls on us to read cues alongside other cues commonly referred to as “cue clusters” before drawing conclusions. The more cues that appear in association with other cues, the more accurate one can be about the underlying meaning. It isn’t impossible to see cue clusters in the six’s and sevens or higher. However, most agree that four independent signals is enough to positively identify true meaning.

Most experts agree that we need at least four independent cues before definitively uncovering hidden meaning. Can you spot the hidden language in this photo?

4. Next, check for “congruence.” The word congruence, as it relates to body language, refers to the degree to which body language cues in a person matches one another in terms of their meaning. If, for example, one is speaking honestly with the palms up (an honest gesture) we can say that the body language and verbal language are congruent. That is, honest words match up with honest body language. A child with their hands in their pockets (dishonest gesture) speaking about how they didn’t steal a cookie is incongruent since their body language does not match their verbal language. To extend this example, someone might remove their hands from their pockets, do a palms up display while relaying information, and then return their hands to their pockets. Their palm up display is incongruent with returning their hands to their pockets. This person might be lying in a worst case, and at best, nervous.

Why? A lack of congruence can lead us down the wrong path or when we see inconsistency can tip the body language reader off on a ruse.

5. Is “mirroring” happening? Are similar postures and gestures being imitated between two people? Is rapport being built? Mirroring describes body postures, body positions and gestures that are held in unison or echoed a few seconds later, across people as they interacting. Mirroring can be matched to create perfect flow through changing dialect, speech rate or tempo, pitch, tonality, voice inflection, use of words, and even accent. The process by which this happens is called “communication accommodation theory.” Mirroring can cut so deep that breathing, blinking, and even our heart rates can beat in unison. When full mirroring appears it is as if each person is looking into the mirror and seeing their reflection.

Why? Mirroring or “isopraxis” is as important to lifelong friends as to strangers meeting for the first time, since mirroring is a way to test and maintain the level of rapport, or connectivity being established, between two people or groups of people. We mirror as a form of bonding with one another, and it happens without our conscious awareness. In ancient times, mirroring would have created group cohesion and identity. Sports groups, riot officers, firemen, and a myriad of occupations all wear the same uniform. It is this dress that formulates the beginnings of the behaviour that eventually leads to a group’s ability to functioning in unison. Mirroring says that we are on the same page. It’s like saying look at the two of us, we walk the same, talk the same and our bodies move in unison, therefore we must agree!

Reading Body Language Powerpoint

How does this posture appear to others? What if clothing was absent?

6. Pretend they are nude! My rule of thumb on “macrogestures”, the big stuff, like arm and leg crossing, is to picture people nude. This gives the body language reader a quick assessment of a persons level of dominance or submission and comfort or discomfort. Are their hands covering their genitals? Are they hiding their breasts or chest with arm crossing, are their legs splayed out putting their ‘junk’ out on display, are their arms raised up high defying gravity showing no worries, are they cowering over in a fetal position? Each posture leaves cues as to the emotional state of a person through their relative exposure.

Why? The genitals are tied to our emotional state and when we feel insecure or submissive we cower to protect them. Our hands will “fig leaf” over our private areas or our legs will slam closed. Body language cues came about over our primitive evolutionary history as the naked ape, so it naturally follows that they developed without clothing or coverings. Clothing provides a blanket to hide our genitals, or chest and breasts, our feet and so forth, but the hardwiring in our brains functions as if they are totally absent. Imagine, for example, a full body steeple, sometimes called “hooding” where the arms are placed behind the head and the body leans back with the legs spread wide open – a crotch display! It is the way a proud (or arrogant) man sits to put his full package on display to the benefit of others. True, it is slightly less offensive with clothing on, but it still carries the exact same meaning since its true intentions were delivered as if the clothing were absent.

Sitting on the feet or tucking them in can be a sign of high comfort because it makes it difficult to make a quick escape.

Reading Body Language In Poker

7. When in doubt check the feet. Are the feet bouncing (nervous energy/wanting to leave or excited), are they aimed toward the door (desire to exit), aimed upward (gravity defying-happy), standing crossed (negative thought but not ready to leave), pulled under the chair (insecure), wrapped around the chair (ejector seat-negative thoughts/bracing), extended toward a person (attracted/liking/interested), pulled in (dislike, fear, disinterest), feet together while standing (child-like, at attention-ready to take orders).

Why? The feet are honest! It has been said that the feet are the most honest part of the body as it applies to the language they emit. Millions of years ago, we gave up quadrupedalism to walk upright leaving our feet to the dirt. While our hands busied themselves with other complex tasks like fire building, making clothing and shelters, and throwing spears, our legs were relegated to more primitive activities like locomotion.

The feet, unlike the hands, carried out more traditional tasks like escaping predators, avoiding hot sand or coals from the fire, leaping from slithering snakes or poisonous spiders, or navigating rough rocking river bottoms. The feet were therefore connected more to the reptilian brain which reacts to stimuli directly instead of contemplating higher order tasks that require planning. When we’re frightened it doesn’t take much to put our feet in gear. We quickly and instinctively get them tucked under our legs and coiled up, or freeze instantly or pull them up onto a chair when startled by a mouse that catches our eye scampering across the shadows of a room.

When in doubt, trust your gut. Emotions often appear as microexpressions in fractions of seconds, so if we feel a certain way, it’s probably for good reason.

Reading Body Language Practice

8. Trust your intuition. When all else fails, how do you feel about the person you are reading? Do they fit into one of the six primary emotions (happy, sad, fearful, disgusted, surprised, or angry)? Do they like or dislike what’s being said? Are they flirting, playing hard to get or are they hiding contempt? When it really comes down to it, our intuition is usually quite accurate. Knowing body language helps reinforce what we already know about our targets. So when doubtful, trust your gut!

Reading Body Language Poker

To really learn how to read body language switch over to Body Language Project: The Only Book On Body Language That Everybody Needs To Read.