Poker nights with buddies are a good excuse to drink booze, smoke cigars, and repeat jokes you heard elsewhere while passing them off as your own. But the fun stops if you watch your entire paycheck go into someone else’s wallet. And while poker is a game of chance, risk, and probability, you also have to know how to bluff your ass off without seeming like you’re bluffing your ass off. Thing is, your friends opponents will have a similar strategy, so knowing how to read your their tells and hide yours ups your odds of being the one leaving with a stack of loot. To help put your friends in the poor house, we asked poker whiz Mike Caro, the self-proclaimed “Mad Genius of Poker” and author of Caro’s Book of Poker Tells.
Common Poker Tells You Should Avoid
COMMON POKER TELL #1: THEY TRY TO SELL THEIR HAND
Shrugged shoulders, sighs, and a sing-songy voice are ways people display unhappiness with their hand. And if they’re trying to play up how crappy their cards are, they’re probably bullsh*tting you. “People try to sell opponents on what hands they have when they don’t have them,” Caro says. “They’ll act weak when they have strong hands, and they act strong when they hold weak hands.”