Tell (poker)
Encyclopedia
A tell in poker
is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may fake a tell, hoping to induce their opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell. More often, people try to avoid giving out a tell, by maintaining a poker face regardless of how strong their hand is.
, doing chip tricks
, or making any changes in one's breathing, tone of voice, facial expressions, direction of gaze or in one's actions with the cards, chips, cigarettes or drinks.
An underlying rule to many tells is:
Weak means strong, strong means weak. Thus, players who hold weak poker hands attempt to convince other players at the table that they are strong: staring down an opponent, throwing chips down forcefully into the pot in an effort to discourage others from calling. Whereas, players who hold strong hands tend to try to disguise their hand as being weak. They attempt to fly under the radar by being a passive player at the table: not making direct eye contact, softly tossing the chips in, friendly and talkative. They are deliberately trying not to come across as intimidating, so as to entice a call.
, but tells like speed of play, betting patterns, the quantity of chips that a player plays with and player chat can be particularly revealing online.
Players can also make mistakes that may seem like a tell, like fumbling chips out of clumsiness or betting the wrong amount online when clicking the wrong button.
's 1987 movie House of Games
includes as an essential part of the plot a discussion and visual reference to the tell.
The movie Rounders contains an even more subtle use of strategy: at one point, Mike discovers that his opponent changes the way he eats a cookie after betting an especially strong hand, and after using that knowledge once, Mike reveals to the opponent that he has discovered this tell. Mike's tactic works: although his revelation eliminates the usefulness of the tell itself, it upsets his opponent so much that it disrupts his subsequent play (q.v. tilt
).
A popular reference to poker tells also appeared in the episode "Casino Night" of the US TV-series The Office
: Dwight believes that Jim coughs every time he has a strong hand, but Jim really coughs only to make Dwight fold, because Jim knows that Dwight believes that coughing is Jim's tell.
In the M*A*S*H sixth-season episode "The Merchant of Korea," Hawkeye and B.J. lure Winchester, a beginner at poker, into a game with the intention of taking advantage of his inexperience. Winchester instead has an amazing lucky streak, until the other players realize that his incessant whistling (of a passage from Verdi's "La Traviata
") grows louder when he is holding a weak hand and bluffing. Using this knowledge, the other players proceed to win back all of their money, and more.
In the episode "All In" of House, MD, House analyzes Cuddy's poker gameplay over the phone based on a reports of her tells given to him by Wilson.
In the episode "Contenders" of Numb3rs
, Charlie Eppes
tries to find an opponent's tell before he plays in a Texas Hold 'em
game.
One plot turn in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale
hinges on Bond's belief that terrorist financer Le Chiffre
must hide an eye twitch when he bluffs. However, Le Chiffre learns that Bond knows his tell and uses it against Bond to call an all-in bet.
In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, fallen defense attorney Phoenix Wright is able to keep up a seven-year winning spree in poker with the aid of his adopted daughter, Trucy Wright who has the ability to perceive tells with muscle contractions. On a related note, the titular character, Apollo, who is the half brother of Trucy, inherited this ability from their mother as well but can only harness it with his help from his bracelet.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may fake a tell, hoping to induce their opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell. More often, people try to avoid giving out a tell, by maintaining a poker face regardless of how strong their hand is.
Examples
A tell may be common to a class of players or unique to a single player. Some possible tells include leaning forward or back, placing chips with more or less force, fidgetingFidgeting
Fidgeting is the act of moving about restlessly. Fidgeting may be a result of nervousness, agitation, boredom or a combination of these. It may be a result of genes and is often an unconscious act. Fidgeting may involve playing with one's fingers, hair, or items of clothing. A common act of...
, doing chip tricks
Chip tricks
Chip tricks are manipulations of poker chips. Unlike in magic, chip "tricks" are not demonstrated to fool a spectator. Rather, in the poker community, chip tricks are a way of passing time, fidgeting, showing off, looking impressive or intimidating other players.-History of chip tricks:Since the...
, or making any changes in one's breathing, tone of voice, facial expressions, direction of gaze or in one's actions with the cards, chips, cigarettes or drinks.
An underlying rule to many tells is:
Weak means strong, strong means weak. Thus, players who hold weak poker hands attempt to convince other players at the table that they are strong: staring down an opponent, throwing chips down forcefully into the pot in an effort to discourage others from calling. Whereas, players who hold strong hands tend to try to disguise their hand as being weak. They attempt to fly under the radar by being a passive player at the table: not making direct eye contact, softly tossing the chips in, friendly and talkative. They are deliberately trying not to come across as intimidating, so as to entice a call.
Online tells
Non-physical tells exist in both casino and online pokerOnline poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
, but tells like speed of play, betting patterns, the quantity of chips that a player plays with and player chat can be particularly revealing online.
Reliability
A player's tell gives information only about that player's assessment of his own cards, and hence is reliable only when that player has accurately assessed his own hand. An unskilled player may misread a weak hand as a strong hand and thus their tells will only indicate this misinterpretation.Players can also make mistakes that may seem like a tell, like fumbling chips out of clumsiness or betting the wrong amount online when clicking the wrong button.
In popular culture
David MametDavid Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's 1987 movie House of Games
House of Games
House of Games is David Mamet's 1987 film directorial debut. Mamet wrote the screenplay himself, from a story he devised with Jonathan Katz. The film's cast includes Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay, and J. T. Walsh.-Plot:...
includes as an essential part of the plot a discussion and visual reference to the tell.
The movie Rounders contains an even more subtle use of strategy: at one point, Mike discovers that his opponent changes the way he eats a cookie after betting an especially strong hand, and after using that knowledge once, Mike reveals to the opponent that he has discovered this tell. Mike's tactic works: although his revelation eliminates the usefulness of the tell itself, it upsets his opponent so much that it disrupts his subsequent play (q.v. tilt
Tilt (poker)
Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming over-aggressive...
).
A popular reference to poker tells also appeared in the episode "Casino Night" of the US TV-series The Office
The Office (US TV series)
The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company...
: Dwight believes that Jim coughs every time he has a strong hand, but Jim really coughs only to make Dwight fold, because Jim knows that Dwight believes that coughing is Jim's tell.
In the M*A*S*H sixth-season episode "The Merchant of Korea," Hawkeye and B.J. lure Winchester, a beginner at poker, into a game with the intention of taking advantage of his inexperience. Winchester instead has an amazing lucky streak, until the other players realize that his incessant whistling (of a passage from Verdi's "La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
") grows louder when he is holding a weak hand and bluffing. Using this knowledge, the other players proceed to win back all of their money, and more.
In the episode "All In" of House, MD, House analyzes Cuddy's poker gameplay over the phone based on a reports of her tells given to him by Wilson.
In the episode "Contenders" of Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
, Charlie Eppes
Charlie Eppes
Charles Edward "Charlie" Eppes, PhD is a fictional character and protagonist in the CBS crime drama Numb3rs.Dr...
tries to find an opponent's tell before he plays in a Texas Hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
game.
One plot turn in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale
Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
hinges on Bond's belief that terrorist financer Le Chiffre
Le Chiffre
Le Chiffre is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS's Climax! television series, by Orson Welles in the 1967 spoof of the novel and...
must hide an eye twitch when he bluffs. However, Le Chiffre learns that Bond knows his tell and uses it against Bond to call an all-in bet.
In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, fallen defense attorney Phoenix Wright is able to keep up a seven-year winning spree in poker with the aid of his adopted daughter, Trucy Wright who has the ability to perceive tells with muscle contractions. On a related note, the titular character, Apollo, who is the half brother of Trucy, inherited this ability from their mother as well but can only harness it with his help from his bracelet.