I play small stakes (0.20/0.50 NLHE) ring game with friends almost 3x a week and I am fairly familiar with their betting patterns, as they are with me.

with regards to tells, a couple of my buddies say that I have some and they'd rather keep it to themselves and just take my money so that is the basis of my question. when you guys play live to do you have a specific regiment that you follow when playing a hand that helps you minimize movements? or does most people here think that live tells are overrated and are almost a non-factor at games?

also, can anyone give me some live tells that amateurs usually employ that I can use to my advantage?

any or all responses are welcome, thanks!

check out chris ferguson playing...

Simple one here: After making a bet... do the same thing on every pot whether you are bluffing or have the nuts ~ basically: it might be best to pick a spot on the table to focus on each/every time

Also another (kinda tough if you're playing with your buddies): Don't TALK.

Keep your opening bets consistant like 3 or 4 times the big blind instead of how strong you think your hand or position may be. Play slow.....count to the same number before you bet. Table talk is always a give away too. Dont talk during a hand!!! Be aware of your posture through out the hand. Moveing toward or away from a table can be a huge tell. I bet if you tell yourself before every move play slow you will do much better

Read Phil Hellmuth and Joe Navarro's book about tells A+++

I was in Vegas when they ran the WSOP Academy where he has some seminars... Ive never been more impressed and surprised by the stuff he taught. If ur serious about ur liveplay, u HAVE to read this book. I'm in the middle of it now but its just to repeat what he said. I'm gonna read this book over and over untill i know it by heart... seriously, buy it.

http://www.amazon.com/Phil-Hellmuth-...278&sr=8-1

Annette gets 20% of every book sale, so gogogoogogogogoogogogogo.

lol. how much is your percentage from that Mkind?

Joe Navarro wrote a great article in the latest Bluff Mag. called "Getting a leg up on the Opposition".....this guy knows his stuff! I will read everything he has written

Old men in wheelchairs are tight....any raise at all means strength...
Well dressed women under 25 are 'kept' women and are using their sugardaddy's money and wouldn't know a good hand from a bad hand.....
Ugly cheap tattoos denote stupidity....
Talkative people suddenly becoming quiet denote strength....
Quiet people suddenly becoming talkative denote weakness....
Gazing away from the flop denotes stength...
Fumbling chips and shaking hands denote strength....
Looking at hole cards immediatley as dealt denotes donkey...
Looking at hole cards several times means flush draw....
Throbbing vein in neck means bluff....

Don't degrade yourself to wearing sunglasses and a hat please. It's bad enough for people that wear sunglasses in major games, but to wear them in a home game would just be sad.

My suggestion would be to try and remember how you acted physically, with how you put your chips into the pot, your body movements and anything you say with every pot that you come into. Compare how you acted in Pot A vs. how you acted in Pot B and C and try and figure out any possibilities.

Physical tells are not overrated, though.

Caro's book of tells is a good place to start. However, the best advice I ever read was written by Andy Bloch who said that he simply copied the mannerisms of another player at the table. When they folded their arms, so did he. When the frowned so did he. etc etc. A simple yet brilliant way to randomise your physical actions so they are totally uncorrelated with your cards.

WATCH ALEX JACOB kid is sik at makin the samr motions everytime.

tu summaraize Enigma1157 tells into one......

buy a freakin space suit and make sure that the cooling system is working properly...also make sure that your shades are down....no way anyone can make any tells after that....no mo pulsating veins visible.

I don't think it matters what limit you are playing. When it comes to home games you know who your opponents are which tells a lot right away. We play from .50/1.00 ring games to $50 Sit N Gos. Obviously not big games. I am a very weak player when it comes to reading tells but I have a lot of live and online poker experience at low levels. Most players live in our home game are very easy to read. Example. A player sitting directly across from me limps in middle position everyone else folds to me in the BB. I am holding K 3 offsuit. The flop is Q 5 10. I check, my opponents eyes study the board and just before looking up the go back to the 10 and pause then move chips in for a bet. I immediately reraise a decent amount and now my opponent has a disgusted look on his face. My friend sitting to his left is laughing at him whispering something or other. Now I am just some guy who enjoys playing poker. Not a pro nor will I ever be. Another player who'd I'd call a donk to my right had just got done announcing that poker is all luck blah blah blah no skill blah blah blah. I didn't say anything in responce. I just let him rant. So as my opponent asks if I'll show my hand and throws his cards in the much I say No, I won't show you my hand but I will tell you that you paired your 10. He started laughing grabbed his cards and showed us K 10c. I laughed and showed my K 3 and said what's luck have to do with it.

Yea I know, who cares about some home game tournemant, I was just really proud of myself for making that read because it is a very weak part of my game. And I shared the story because even though some people feel that it doesn't matter at low limits I think it can help maximize your play as you pick up the skills to be accurate at any level of play.

Also, to minimize my tells I only look at my cards once and I count to a quick 5 while I look. When I fold, call, bet, raise or move all in I count to 5 again with the old one-onethousand, two-onethousand to slow down my actions some.

My best friend and good poker pal tells me I still have some tells, so I'm working on figuring them out to minimize them.

Hope my input was useful.

Joe Navarro. Enough said. I sat in on a lecture and he definately will help you eliminate YOUR tells, and pick up on everyone else's. About the glasses, at a 1/2 or 3/6 game, I will admit that I chuckle when the glasses and backwards hat with the ipod sit down BUT, if that guy walks away with 4 racks full then.. screw it.. WEAR EM!