Common Tells - Chapter I: Preflop Tells

This series is going to focus on some of the more common tells you’ll see in poker. Each chapter will focus on tell in a specific scenario, this chapter on preflop tells. This is chapter 1 of a continuing series. Come back in a couple days for the next chapter.

Please note that tells are not an exact science.  They can, and do, vary from player to player.  However, some of the more common tells are usually accurate especially for players at lower stakes.  Players at higher stakes may throw fake tells at you to try and get you to make the wrong move.  This is one situation where knowing your opponent is extremely valuable.

I'll start off with 3 scenarios and then post what the tells mean separately.  I'm not going to go right into what the tell means because I want you to think about it for a minute before I do. 

1) You’re sitting at a $2/$4 no-limit cash game, which has been surprisingly tight for the most part. The under-the-gun player limps, and as the action goes around the table you notice that the under-the-gun player has been watching the action carefully. When it gets to you there are a total of 4 people in the pot, and you have A-10 on the big blind, not a bad hand, but not strong either. What do you do?

2) You’re at a table that has been playing fairly quickly all night. No one is really playing trash hands, so they’re pretty quick to throw them away. One such player looks at his hole cards and sits up as the action gets to him. His hand reachs for chips before he stops, looks at his hand again, and just calls. What does he have?

3) You’re on the button and you have pocket jacks. It has folded around to you and you’re counting out a raise when the big blind coughs and starts stacking out chips to call, or prehaps raise with when the action gets to him. What do you do?

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1) Check and proceed with caution. The under-the-gun player is watching carefully because he is hoping for a raise so he can come back over the top. While you could often get away with a steal in this position this is not the spot for it. Check and if you don’t hit a big flop, don’t get too attached.

2) There are a couple possibilities, it will ultimately depend on the player. The most likely scenario is that he has a marginal hand like A-10 suited, or pocket sevens and was going to raise, but decided to limp in and hope to flop big before getting too much money in the pot. It’s also possible that the player has a monster, so if the player was in early position, you should proceed with caution if you pick up a strong hand yourself and are considering raising preflop. However, if the player is in late position and there are a few limpers already, it is extremely unlikely that someone is going to limp in with a big pocket pair and let everyone see a cheap flop.

3) He’s just trying to intimidate you. He wants to see a cheap flop, likely with a hand like 6-7 or a small pocket pair. Don’t give him a free flop, and don’t give him the pot odds to make the call.