Poker is a game where psychology plays a major factor in winning. If you’re having trouble taking the pot home, then you may be doing something wrong. One of the most common mistakes both new and expert players make is being unable to conceal their tells.

Types of Tells
Tells come in several forms. If your opponents usually talk more loudly or show audible changes with a good hand, this type of tell is known as audible tells. If your opponents do certain gestures with a weak or good hand, these are known as visual tells. If your opponents’ behavior towards betting changes, this is known as betting tells. In traditional games, where you sit down in front of your opponents, all three types of tells are used in reading the opponents. However, players in online poker games only rely on betting tells.

Unfortunately, tells can be very hard to prevent, even for pro poker players. The slightest differences in breathing, gestures and eye contact can give out signals to your opponents. Many amateurs have no idea that they begin to talk loudly or continuously, recheck cards or make long dramatic pauses before making a significant raise – these signs often indicate strong hands. Advanced players usually give out subtler tells, but an observant opponent can easily catch these tells regardless of how obvious or vague they are. Whatever signs you may observe with your opponents, you may actually be doing them as well, so it’s important to avoid these tells at all cost.

The Secret to hiding Tells
Amateur and advanced poker players can benefit from standardizing their betting and body movements. You need to be consistent in playing, so if you usually push your chips out in a stack, use this method every time, regardless of having a weak or strong hand. As long as you become consistent in everything you do while playing poker, you can’t let your opponents read the quality of your hand based on how you react, move or speak. Here are some things you should consider:

1) Breathing – Most of the time, when players bluff, they hold their breath unconsciously while bluffing. Make sure to observe your opponent and learn a way to breath normally throughout the game.
2) Speech patterns – Many players become excessively talkative during the game. Depending on the player, this may indicate a sign of a weak or strong hand. Some players even start a conversation to try and read your tells, so be careful on how you react while the hand is in play.
3) Eye movements – Usually, players with made hands initiate eye contact, while those who are bluffing avoid them completely. The most effective way of concealing tells based on eye movement is to refrain from eye contact while the hand is in play.

When it comes to betting, make sure to learn how to standardize your betting, such as the size of bets and raises as well as the time it takes you to make a bet. Many players unconsciously bet too quickly if they have a strong hand and take several seconds to make a bet with a weak hand. Other tells can make or break your game, but as long as you learn from your mistakes and prevent your opponents from guessing your hand, then you can have a better chance at winning poker.

The object of poker is to win money. Sure, some people will argue that it’s also fun and it might be a rewarding activity for a diligent student of the game, but the bottom line is, every move you make at the table and every thought that crosses your mind while playing is directed towards making money, towards relieving your opponents of their stacks, towards winning.

Good players win by exploiting the mistakes their less skilled opponents make. With that in mind, the profitability of the game is obviously highly dependant on who you play against. According to experts, you’ll only win as much money as the table allows you to, even if you are an extremely efficient player.

The above facts explain why game and table selection are both considered important parts of overall poker strategy.

Game selection is about picking the right kind of game for your needs. The days when online poker rooms only offered their players the possibility to play Texas Holdem are long over. Nowadays Omaha and Stud are also available everywhere not to mention other – more exotic – poker variants. In regards to choosing the variant which suits your needs the best you need to know the following: Texas Holdem is a game of short term luck and long-term skill. In Holdem, rookies will be able to upset experienced opponents over the short-run, although this advantage will disappear over the long-run. If you’re a rookie looking to get started in real money poker, by all means do pick Holdem. If you’re a good player though, and you know you’ll be faced with beginners, try to take the action to the Omaha or Stud tables where your skills will offer you an unquestionable advantage over the rookies.

When good players play with other good players, Omaha and Stud tables can become extremely frustrating too. In this case, you’re better off playing these skilled opponents over at the Holdem tables.

Limits/stakes need to be according to the bankroll you possess. Playing on a proper bankroll is one of the most important prerequisites of being successful in the long-run, so make sure you’re well bankrolled for the limit you pick.

Table selection is another such vital problem, as it will ultimately determine the individual players that you’ll be going up against. Here are a few tips that will help you pick a good table:

In a live poker game, if you recognize several of the players as battle hardened pros, you should obviously avoid that table. Poker is not about bragging rights, so you shouldn’t be aching to lock horns with these guys. What you need is a table full of amateurs.

If a table is loud it means people are enjoying themselves, which means there will be more money in the pot in every hand. More often than not, loud tables also betray the presence of alcohol in the players’ systems, which is even better news for you.

If you realize you opponents are only playing the nuts and – while you can make some money off them – you’d be making much more at some other table, do not hesitate to make the switch.

Players should be well-stacked at the table of your choice (compared to the size of the blinds of course). Short stacked people will not pay well, and they’ll be tighter too.

In online poker, you should also pick a well-stacked table, but as far as other tells go, you’ll just have to hang around for a while and observe the betting patterns to gain a clue. Fortunately, online poker rooms allow observers to check play out unseen and unnoticed by those actively taking part in it.

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