discover the reaction
Have you ever listened to someone tell a story and “know” they are lying? There is something in either their demeanor, body language, tone of voice, or reaction that makes your spidey sense tingle. There is a reason certain things just don’t seem right: with all of our human interaction in our lifetimes we are used to natural reactions and conversely unnatural reactions just seem amiss.
When someone is lying their natural reaction is to look away since they are trying to deceive you. However, on another occasion when they tell you something that you suspect is a lie they may be aware you are watching them intently and stare in your eyes. The trick is to deduce which is the natural reaction; are they telling the truth because they are looking at you or are they lying because they know you think they are lying if they look away?
If you have seen this person look in someone’s eyes when they are telling the truth you should have a good amount of information to go on. It is difficult to fake a natural reaction; try using a fake laugh the next time someone tells you a joke and see if you fool them. It probably won’t, especially if they have heard you laugh for real in the past. This includes not only poker situations but also things such as how they react to a ball game score or how they react to food they genuinely like or how they react to a political conversation that they disagree with. Watching your opponents be genuine in any circustance will help you determine when they are being deceitful.
I cannot state this enough, you must be cognizant of everything your opponents do both poker related and not if you want to take full advantage of them. Here is a well known example;
Poker is full of characters, perhaps none more colorful than “Amarillo Slim” Preston. Slim had very little respect for females as poker players and was involved in a heads up challenge against a female player. As you can Imagine Slim was taking this match very seriously, as was his opponent. At the beginning of the match Slim overheard a few comments she made about how much she liked the drink she ordered. This was a genuine show of emotion which she would never think could be used against her at a poker table. Unfortunately for her, after seeing this genuine show of emotion, Slim would later ask her how she liked her hand. By her response Slim would be able to deduce if she really had a hand or not. After three consecutive wins she became aware (or was informed) Slim was using the table talk to somehow pick up a tell on her. In their 4th match she decided to don a set of headphones thus eliminating Slim’s tell, and proceeded to wipe the floor with Slim. The above story shows how an attentive poker player can get a leg up on their opponents now matter how good they are.
Here is another example that you are more likely to find yourself in. After all, not too many of us will be in a high stakes, heads-up, match with our genders reputation on the line.
You have noticed that the player in the #3 seat, Joe, has been keeping a close eye on the Baseball game on TV. Joe is making it pretty obvious who he wants to win and when his team pulls it out in the ninth inning you ask Joe if he had money on the game? When Joe gives you a “yes” answer you notice he has a satisfied look on his face and has begun talking excitedly. An hour later you find yourself in a big pot against Joe. You think there is a good chance Joe is bluffing so you say to Joe, “I have a pretty big hand”. At this point you notice that same satisfied look on Joe’s face and he starts that same excited talk. Joe has unwittingly given you a tell on his hand because of something you observed in Joe’s reaction to a ball game.
When trying to use natural reactions to get a read on someone it is imperative to have seen the players natural reactions already. Pay attention to how your opponents act when being genuine and you will have a much easier time deciding when they are trying to deceive you.
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