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How can I prevent myself from showing tells in Poker?

How can I prevent myself from showing tells in Poker?

Public Comments

1. Don't act like your hiding anything if anything talk but make sure you don't have any nervousnes in your voice
2. My answer is limited by not knowing what some of your tells are and when you tend to do them. To get you started though: #1 Wear a hat and sunglasses to disguise as much of your face as you can...blinking, eye brow raise, etc... Can you get a tape of yourself when you are playing for some high stakes? That would give you the best indication of your tendencies. Barring that, play some with people you trust or have someone standing on the sidelines watching you who will let you know what and when you give yourself away. Provide some more details & we'll go from there.
3. Never talk about your hand. Its not what you say it how you say i.e tone etc. Say you don't want a caller don't use reverse psychology by making out you do want a caller because as soon as you talk they will pick up the lack of confidence in you voice. often i just stare at the table in front of me and look blank i do this both when i am bluffing and when i have a great hand.
4. I do not believe in hats or shades, what I do is carefully place the chips out in front of me the same way with each bet. Even for a casual call. Then stare at a spot on the table 2 feet in front of me.
5. It wont be real valuable if you are not playing against pros, they will pick up stuff your mother wouldn't notice, but might as well work on it now.I have a friend who is a certified pathological liar and he has no tells, impossible to read, ever. A lot of what you think and feel shows. The very best way is to get a book on tells and once you learn exactly what a tell is and why you make them, you can work on not making the tell. You first have to fully understand it and the psychological, physiological reason behind them. Get a book on body language. There are some good ones.
6. play more ;0 play for stakes that dont mean much to you.
7. First of all, buy a good about poker tells. There are lots of tells you wouldn't even think of hiding. A good book will identify all the tells for you. A great book is Joe Navarro's 'Read'em and Reap'. Very interesting. Secondly, you should stick to a routine. Always look at your cards and bet your chips the exact same way. You should also never look at your cards until it's your turn to act, and don't talk about your hand, even when someone asks you what you have.
8. It isn't so much about anything physical, it is about changing up your style and how you play and bet your hands. But as far as physical tells just do the same thing every time, weather you have flopped a huge hand or if you have 7-2, take the same amount of time. Sometimes i can tell a player has a big hand when he was very quiet then all of the sudden sits up or starts talking a lot and seems very interested in the action. Or if he bets very fast or very slow can give a tell off, also how he throws his chips into the pot can give info away sometimes. Just look at Chris Ferguson he is the master of body control, he takes the same time and does the same thing no matter what he has. But for me i see how a player bets his hands for my reads, i.e does he play only good hands from good position, or does he bet with anything, will he bet a flush draw or will he try and take a free card, does he underbet the pot or overbet when he is bluffing, does he bluff or does he just bet good hands, can i steal or not, will he re-raise me or is he a calling station, will he chase draws or not, does he always bet out on the flop (stop and go play) if he has bet pre-flop? These are the things that give away info to me, you have to be willing to play outside your comforte zone to give false info to other players. So sometimes i'll make crazy over-bets with the nuts and sometimes i'll just smooth call to throw off other players to what i'm doing, i'll go from playing a,b,c poker, to a nut if i think it is the right time to do so. Also you should change up how much you open a pot for, Some players will always open a pot for 3-4 times the blind from up front and the worst there position the less they raise. So i will come in with a wide range of bets so they can't put me on a hand. By understanding what a player is going to do, before he does it, is a huge edge to have. If i know a player is aggresive and i know he has missed his draws on the river and i have a very good hand, i will check, and let him make a play at the pot, because thats what he does. Now with a tight player i would value bet, because i know he will just check the hand behind me. So in the end tells combined with what you know about a player give you some info on where someone else is at in a hand.
9. I use a hat and sunglasses fairly often. I also try to vary my game in different ways every time I play and confuse those at my table. Poker is so random, it can sometimes hurt (IMO) if you try to be too methodical, unless you are an absolute genius/cold blooded killer type. Here are some of my variations and helpful hints: Sometimes I try to play the cards more or less. Other times, I try to play the people more or less. I wear comfortable, kind of baggy clothes. It just adds more difficulty in spotting my body language (like being a little more tense). I change betting patterns and don't always follow a certain program. Lots of poker players read the same books and know the same things. My bluffing patterns are totally random. Keep my cool -- act like I have the best hand at all times. Even if you are short stacked, some people will be intimidated. Try to learn about players during the hands that you do not play. It's hard to figure people out when you are busy trying to play your hand. I live within a couple hours of several different casinos and every night is different. I also play in a hold 'em league and play some local cash games. I never feel like I get worked over or "played" by anyone. I am sure it will happen at some point, but I think my randomness keeps good people players from zeroing in on me.
10. I would suggest making sure you never act immediately, always take a little pause before deciding on what to do. Also when you bet/call, make sure your chip action is always the same. This is because some players will throw in the chips or move them in slowly depending on how good their hand is. Finally sunglasses or cap can help if your poker face isn't that good although the more you play, the better your poker face will become anyway.
11. Follow a set pattern every time you play a hand if you can. It doesn't matter if you have aces or 72o, you want to try and play the same way. Take a look at Phil Hellmuth Jr. on TV. He plays every hand the same way. Hands in front of his mouth, hat and sunglasses on. No talking during the hand. You need to develop a routine for playing just like that. When you start behaving differently when you hold different hands you risk giving free information to other players. You should never look at your cards until it is your turn to act. Watch the other players as they look at their cards. Watch how they bet their chips. Take in all the free information. By not looking at your cards, it is impossible to have tells. Even you don't know what your cards are, so you can't give anything away. Then when it is your turn to act look at your cards, and then decide what you are going to do. Take your time. Don't dive for your chips when you have a monster hand. Be careful about table talk. People like Daniel Negreanu may be able to chatter (seemingly) aimlessly at the table, but you cannot. If someone asks you a question, ignore it. If someone asks for a chip count, move so that the dealer can count your stack. You are not obligated to speak to another player. Be careful with the transparent acting tough when you are weak, and acting weak when you have a monster. This will not work against any good player. Consider wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses if you really feel like you need help. But choose quality sunglasses where you can see the cards easily. Red or brown lenses make it very hard to read the red cards. Go for a smoke lense with a fairly good light transmission rate. Oakley's may look intimidating, but many of them have 9-12% light transmission rate. This is going to make it very dark when worn. So choose your glasses wisely. The benefit of others not seeing your eyes is negated if you can't see the cards! Read two books. Caro's Book of Poker Tells, and the new one Read 'Em and Reap by Joe Navarro. The good news is, most players suck at reading you, most players don't even notice your tells. It's only when you play against good players that tells really matter.
12. We all have tells about us that we can't see. Even the greats such as Negreanu and Brunson have tells (if you watch them on TV enough you can see). The best way to avoid showing your tells is to act the same way, with the same tone of voice and same actions on every hand. And try to bet differently each time too so people can't get reads off of the size of your bets. If I play enough poker with a person I can almost always pick up a few tells. But if you try and act the same way each time and change up your betting amounts, then you can try and throw your opponants off. Good luck! P.S. If you want to watch a guy with almost no tells, watch Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. The guy is like a stone wall!
13. Have a shot of Numbing agent shot into your face
14. Just relax..... play like you have AA in your hand all the time... when you are nervous people can tell... so DON'T BE NERVOUS!