Can you keep a poker face? This famous term dates back to the 1870s, when card players in the Old West would adopt different facial expressions as poker bluffs. The idea was to trick opponents into thinking they were holding specific cards. Today, a poker face is a blank expression that conceals a person’s feelings. In both cases, though, it’s about deliberately using body language to deny or falsify information another person could use against you. At the poker table, a poker face can be useful to prevent your opponents from reading any tells you may be giving off. These are the subconscious cues that betray your attitude towards your hand.

Experienced players can interpret poker tells to figure out information they can exploit, such as whether you have a strong or weak hand. The importance of tells can be exaggerated — there’s no way you can cold-read an opponent to figure out exactly what they’re holding — but they have enough validity to make it worth your while to study. Most poker tells apply to live tables, but there are also a few tells you’ll see when you play online poker. Here’s a closer look at some common poker tells.

Tell-Tale Live Poker Signs

It’s important to pay attention to your opponents when you learn how to play poker. Every player has their own individual mannerisms, and if you play with them enough, you ought to get a sense of when they’re bluffing. But when you’re playing against strangers at casino cash games or live poker tournaments, you don’t have the time to pick up on their specific tells. You’ll have to be content with observing their poker body language for information leaks.

Chip Handling

The way an opponent handles their chips while they’re waiting to act can give you helpful information. If, for instance, they behave in a way that suggests they’re eager to call or bet, chances are that the opposite is true. Maybe they place their hands on their chips or near them. Maybe they grab them and push them forward a little. This is defensive behavior designed — intentionally or subconsciously — to put you off betting into their weak or average hand. They are unlikely to raise, allowing you to play more marginal hands.

Body Movements

In addition to hand movements, body movements can provide information for you to act on. As a rule of thumb, looser movements can represent strength, while stillness can indicate weakness or bluffing. Think of the natural instinct to keep still when danger is near. But a player who’s confident they have the strongest hand will often make multiple relaxed movements, from flexing their neck to playing with their chips. If you notice an opponent acting relaxed prior to a strong river bet and freezing up when they bluff, you’ve identified an exploitable pattern.

Calling

When a player calls a bet immediately, pay attention. It tells you that they have rejected a raise, suggesting that they don’t have a strong hand (because if they did, it’d be correct to maximize value). A strong-handed player who decides to call is likely to think their decision over for a few seconds. This tell is most useful before and on the flop, as betting decisions on later streets tend to be more weighty, and no players are likely to make instant calls.

Betting

Immediate bets can also provide useful information because a fast, decent-sized bet is more likely to indicate a bluff than a strong hand. Why? Players with medium-strength hands are liable to take the time to weigh up their strategy. By contrast, a big, fast bet either means a strong hand or a bluff. Since a player is less likely to have a strong hand than a weak one, the hand behind a rapid-fire bet is statistically more likely to be weak. On top of that, a strong-handed player seeking to maximize value will think about how to play their hand in the best possible way. Bluffers have less to think about and often are thinking ahead because they have a bluffing plan. Also, they want to project confidence, so sometimes they can act too quickly. Of course, there are always exceptions to these tendencies, but if you see a player who conforms to this pattern, you have exploitable information.

Eye Contact

You might notice that players will often make eye contact with you after betting. This can broadly mean one of two things. One is that they’re relaxed after betting a strong hand, so they’re in the mood to interact. Another is that they are deliberately making eye contact to appear relaxed and strong, but they’re actually bluffing. Similarly, a player who avoids eye contact could be anxious about bluffing, or they could be representing weakness when they’re actually strong. You’ll have to observe your opponents closely to see which patterns (if any) they fall into.

Staring at Hole Cards

Conventional poker wisdom says that a player who stares at their hole cards when they’re initially dealt is unlikely to have a strong hand. That’s because players tend to unconsciously look away from strong cards as if to conceal their precious treasure. How is this useful? Preflop. You can use hole-card-staring to rule out action behind you. Say a player raises from early position and two players between you were staring at their cards. They’re unlikely to call or raise, so you can open up your range and 3-bet with more confidence. Postflop, hole-card-staring can mean that a player has missed the flop. The same holds true for players who stare in apparent fascination at the board.

Online Poker Signs

When it comes to online games, poker body language isn’t a factor, but there are behavioral patterns that can spill the beans. Bet sizing is one such online poker tell. Bluffers may bet larger amounts relative to the pot to discourage calling, while strong-handed players may bet larger amounts to maximize value.

Another tell that applies to online poker sites is timing. A player who takes a very long time to act preflop, then raises or calls, is probably speculating. If it folds to a player who tanks for a few seconds before raising, it’s likely they’re not holding trash or anything strong, meaning you can put them on a speculative hand such as suited connectors. Postflop, on the other hand, a fast call probably means a medium-strength hand or a draw.

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