Poker Tells That Actually Work at a Home Game

Your friends are telling you what they have almost every single hand, not with their face, with their hands, their chips, and their mouth. Here are the tells that actually work at a home game, the one everybody believes that's completely backwards, and the one rule that makes every tell on this list actually work. And here's the part pros would kill for. They have to read strangers you've been watching the same five people for 50 nights. Start with the one you can see from across the table. The flop comes down, Sam looks at it, and for half a second his eyes drop to his own chips. Then he looks back up like nothing happened. That glance is his brain doing math before he decides to. Somebody who missed the flop has nothing to count. So when someone checks their stack right after a card lands, that card probably helped them. Next, watch the cards themselves. Danny looks at her two cards and pulls them a little closer, maybe puts a chip on top of them. People protect things they want to keep the same way you touch your pocket when somebody sketchy walks by. Now watch Marco. He peaks and slides his cards an inch toward the middle like he's already halfway to folding. If the action checks around to him, that's the guy who's going to try to steal it. He doesn't love his hand, so he's not guarding it. Then there's the actor. Nick hits his hand and suddenly he's narrating. Oh man, I don't know. I guess I'll call. I probably shouldn't. Nobody asked. When somebody puts on a little show, the show is usually the opposite of the truth. The guy who sighs and complains is usually strong, and the guy staring you down slamming chips in like he wants you to be scared is usually the one hoping you'll fold. Weak acts strong and strong acts weak. Now the best one at a home game because a home game has snacks. A bluffer wants to be invisible. He's already put the chips in, so now his whole plan is please don't call. And the easiest way to stay invisible is to stop moving. So he stops chewing, stops stacking his chips, and stops talking right in the middle of a story. Whatever Adrian was doing before he bet, if he suddenly freezes after, that's a lot of fear in a very still body. And the opposite is just as useful. Somebody who's checked out of the hand, checks out of the room, they're on their phone, they get up for a beer, they ask who wants pizza, that's a fold waiting to happen. But be careful with the friend who gets chatty while his are still in the pot. So how is the wedding? He knows exactly what he has and he wants your eyes anywhere but on him. And at a home game you're allowed to just ask. You're in a hand with Nick he bets and you say you got it. Watch what comes back. A guy with a big hand is relaxed so he plays with you. He laughs he says call and find out. He keeps talking. A guy who's bluffing wants the conversation over because every word is a chance to give himself away. So you get one flat word or nothing or he suddenly looks at the TV. You're not reading the answer you're reading how much he wants to be done answering. Here's the one everybody gets backwards. It's a big hand. Sam goes all in and his hand shakes when he pushes the chips forward. Most people see that and think he's nervous he's bluffing call. But shaking is usually adrenaline not fear and it usually shows up when somebody can't believe how good their hand is. Bluffers work hard to look calm. It's the guy who's about to win your money whose hands give him away. So shaky hands on a big bet usually means strong and that's the call that costs the most. And this is why the poker face is mostly a myth. In a 2013 study researchers showed people short clips of pro players at the World Series pushing chips into the pot. When people only saw the players faces their guesses about hand strength were no better than guessing. When they only saw the arms moving the chips they got it right more often than chance. The face is the part everybody controls. The hand pushing the chips is the part nobody thinks about. So stop staring at their eyes and watch how the chips go in. Speed is the last big one. When somebody calls instantly before you've even finished your bet they usually aren't sure enough to raise and aren't scared enough to fold. That's a middle hand often a draw. When someone takes a long dramatic pause and then bets big at a home game that's usually theater for a monster. And the friend who always takes 10 seconds and suddenly bets in one that's the important one which brings us to the rule. But first two tells you can read before a single card is dealt. Look at how everybody stacks their chips. The friend with perfect towers sorted by color edges lined up usually plays tight and only bets when he has it. The friend with a messy pile he just shoves around usually plays loose and bluffs a lot more. And watch the rebuys. When somebody's down and pulls out another 20 before the last one is even gone, he's not playing his cards anymore. He's playing to get even. That's the night he'll call you with anything, so that's the night you stop bluffing him and just bet your good hands. the rule. tell only counts when it's a change. people always shake. Some people always talk. always looks at his chips because Marco is always counting. None of that means anything. What means something is when the person who always talks goes quiet or the person who never looks at their chips suddenly does. That's called a baseline and it's the part pros can't get because they've known the guy across from them for 20 minutes. You've known yours for years. So for the next couple of games, just watch what everybody does when they fold. That's their normal. And one tell is a guess. Two at the same time is a read. If Danny pulls her cards in and glances at her chips on the same flop, that's two signs pointing the same way and you can fold that bottom pair without feeling bad. If it's just one thing, you play your cards like normal. Now flip it around because your friends have been watching you for 50 nights, too. The easiest fix is a routine. Look at your cards the same way every hand. Put your chips in the same way at the same speed, whether you have aces or seven, too. Don't narrate, don't freeze, and don't reach for the chips before you've decided. You don't need sunglasses and a hoodie. You just need to be boring the same way every time. And here's the free upgrade almost nobody at a home game does. When the flop comes, don't look at the flop. Look at the players. The three cards will still be sitting there in two seconds, but everybody's first reaction to them is gone forever. Watch Sam's eyes go to his chips, then look down at the board yourself. So here's the whole list. The chip glance usually means they hit. Pulling cards close means they like them. Sliding them forward means they don't. The complainer is usually strong. The stare down is usually weak. The bluffer goes still. The guy getting a beer is out. The guy who suddenly wants to chat is in. A short answer means he wants it over. Neat stacks play tight and a fast re-buy means he's chasing. Shaky hands on a big bet usually mean strong. Watch the arms, not the face, and none of it counts until it's a change from their normal. And there's one place at a home game where nobody should be reading faces and that's the end of the night when somebody says, I think I'm up about 40. That's why I built HG Poker. You log the buy-ins and rebuys as you go, and at the end it shows exactly who owes who. It takes no bets, holds no money, and moves no money. It just keeps the records. So tell me in the comments, what's your friends tell? Don't use his name, he might be watching. And if you want to beat that same table with your bets instead of your eyes, watch how to beat your friends at poker next.