There are six categories of tells under Tells From Actors in addition to the two titled Weak Means Strong and Strong Means Weak. But don't let that fool you. All of the tells shown in the other six categories are all related to the first two categories. Before you can use the tells provided by an actor, you must be fairly certain that he's acting and not simply unaware. An opponent is probably acting if: 1) He believes you're watching or listening; and 2) Your decision matters to him.
Also keep in mind that, overall, strong players are less apt to provide you with tells than weak or average players. Some players will even reverse some of the more obvious tells, i.e. they may sometimes act weak and be weak. You should place such opponents on a "tricky" list in your head and evaluate their behavior carefully. Fortunately, almost all poker players (even poker superstars) will provide you with important tells quite regularly.
Weak Means Strong
Poker players like to fool you. If they can convince you that they have a weak hand when they have a strong hand, they figure they'll win a few extra calls and make a few extra dollars. If you let these actors succeed in fooling you, they'll win your money when they hold strong hands. Don't let that happen. The very same acts, which are designed to steal your money, will supply you with powerful information that can place your opponents' bankrolls at your mercy.
When players go out of their way to act weak, it's because they hold strong hands. Remember that. Would you expect a player who truly holds a weak hand to tell you he's in bad shape? That would be stupid. Would you expect a bluffer to tell you he's bluffing? No way! If they act weak, it can only be because they're strong.
Strong Means Weak
Many students of the game should concentrate on this aspect of tells first. In a poker game, the urge to act strong when weak can be overpowering for most players. Catching players who are pretending to be strong is even more valuable than catching players who are pretending to be weak.
When you determine that a player is acting weak when strong, you'll often save a call, but the value of the money you save is usually only a theoretical portion of the bet. You might have decided to call anyway. Also, the tell is not 100% accurate, so you might throw away a winning hand when you might otherwise have called. It's a different story if you catch a player acting strong when weak. You will often use that information to make a courageous call you would not otherwise have considered. In such a case, you will frequently win an entire pot you would have lost!
Remember, players will not waste energy making you think they're strong when they really are. Why should they?
Exposing Cards
Careless players sometimes expose cards by accident. This usually happens when they aren't interested in the pot. A player who's involved in a betting war or is otherwise competing for a pot will usually guard a hand carefully. When you see a player expose one or more strong cards, beware! Also, though this is rare, a player may expose a weak card when he holds a powerful hand. In either case, the exposure is seldom accidental. You can correctly suppose that a player who deliberately exposes a strong card or several strong cards is actually weak.
Opening Tells
Determining who's going to open a pot and who isn't is one of the most profitable applications of tells. In games where you can check and later call or raise, there's seldom a reason for you to make the first bet if someone else will do it for you.
The advantages in knowing whether someone intends to open are many. If you were considering playing a weak hand, you can bow out gracefully by simply checking and later passing. If you have a strong hand, it's usually better to check, let the opponent open and see how many callers there are by the time the action returns to your position. At that point you can either call or raise. In fact, there may be several raises by the time the action returns, and this may indicate your hand is not worth playing. In such a case, you can pass without losing even an opening bet.
In high-hand-wins draw poker, there's an incentive for players to disguise their hands even if they have no chance of winning. If nobody opens, the original ante remains in the pot and there is a new ante and a new deal. That's motive enough for players who are holding weak hands to pretend to be strong, thereby keeping you from opening.
Encouraging Your Bet
When players encourage your bet, it's because they think they have a winning hand. The advantage in knowing when an opponent is trying to encourage your bet is this: you can save the money or chips you would have otherwise wagered. Even if you do have a fairly big hand, you can simply check now and call later. That way, you won't wager first and then be faced with calling a surprise raise. Some of the usual ways of luring bets are not visual, but audible. They're related to the act of conveying weakness through tone of voice, sighs and other sounds. Remember Caro's Law of Tells #24: Beware sighs and sounds of sorrow.
Discouraging Your Bet
The advantage in knowing when an opponent is trying to discourage your bet is this: you can earn extra money or chips by betting marginal hands in the hope of getting called by hands that are even weaker. There is another great advantage: you can sometimes bluff into the player with a reasonable chance of success. Keep in mind that players holding weaker-than-average hands are less likely to call than players holding hands of unknown strength. Players who are trying to discourage your bet usually have weaker-than-average hands.
Betting Moves
You can often determine the strength of a player's cards just by watching the way he bets. If the move is too dynamic, exaggerated or made with extra emphasis, you should suspect weakness. If it's quiet, smooth or made casually, suspect strength. A casual bet is frequently accompanied by other overt signs of pretended weakness: shrugging, sighing and negative tones of voice. The video clips under this category will be of little use if you play against players who use the same betting move all the time.
Tricks
Opponents are always trying to outsmart you. If you're confident that an opponent is acting, remember to ask yourself what he hopes to accomplish. Usually, the answer is astonishingly simple.
