Talking at the table
Marcus Bateman
/
Marcus Bateman /
26 August 2009 /
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Even if a player hardly ever talks in conversation, how they say 'call', 'raise' or 'fold' will often give you valuable insights into their hand.
Human beings like to communicate. Even the most introverted of us need some kind of verbal contact, and as a result of this, much information can be gained from changes in style and substance of language when at the poker table.
Even in the highest stakes poker games, conversation runs along at a mile a minute until big pots start to be built, then a deathly hush tends to fall over the table as players start trying to limit the information they are giving out.
Weak players tend to give out all types of verbal tells, most of which tend to be along the lines of trying to pretend that they are very casual about a big hand, or trying to intimidate players when bluffing. You should usually be much more scared of a comment like 'OK lets see another card' than something like 'Come on and call - lets gamble'.
There are players out there though who have got talking during hands down to an art. Perhaps the greatest example of these players is the legendary seven card stud player Danny Robison. Danny is renowned for his constant chat at the table, able to consistently extract information from his opponents as they respond to his endless patter.
These players are very hard to deal with, as they are very skilled at giving off very little information about their own hands when talking (Danny Robison once lost a huge pot when his opponent sucked out on the final card while he was telling a joke, to which his response was just to deliver the punchline as if nothing had happened), but will know a huge amount about yours the minute you start to respond. Against these guys, its usually best to just get the ipod on and ignore them as much as possible.
One of the other great verbal tells is in the way in which people say the words of poker. Even if a player hardly ever talks in conversation, how they say 'call', 'raise' or 'fold' will often give you valuable insights into their hand. Quiet and slow pronunciations of words usually indicates strength, as the player attempts to keep as low a profile as possible with their big hand. Conversely, loud and quick pronunciation usually indicates weakness, as the player attempts to show the massive strength of their hand.
Slips of the tongue can be very costly in poker is made at the wrong times, and as a result it is important that you both limit what you say, as well as being able to spot what comments from your opponents mean about their hand.
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