One of the most important skills required to be a good player of poker is the inherent ability and capability to read the moves of one’s opponent. A poker “tell” is an action either physical or behavioral or any habit which betrays some information on the game of one’s opponent.

If one has a knowledge of the tells not only can one put a check on certain habits which give away one’s cards but also read the opponent and even win. There are a few typical tells which will be discussed in the succeeding paragraphs, which would aid one on the poker table.

The actions which reveal that one has a good hand can be easily detected. For example theplayer would act disinterested even while playing a hand, the players hand might shake if he has good cards, some players might not shake but their rate of breathing goes up considerably, some either sigh or shrug usually saying things about calling it up and lastly when a player has good cards he may look at the chips available to him for betting after having a look at the hole cards. Signs which reveal that the player has bad cards are easily caught when one catches the player staring at the other players on the table or even when he is holding his breath while bluffing. Occasions when one can make out that the opponent has a drawing hand are when he checks the hole cards immediately after one flop. Also when your opponent takes a long interval of time before betting is rest assured that he has a drawing hand.

It might seem easy to catch these tells but even very experienced players usually make mistakes. So keep all odds in mind and then play.