As a poker player you should be well-versed in the art of body language as it can reveal much about your opponents’ intentions. With careful observation, you can discern whether a person is out to make love to you or to lop your head off.

Observing the body language of poker players, one can detect their “tells.” A tell is simply a repetitive signal given by a player disclosing his current hand and motives. It is important to relate the body language reading to the total environment with the same gestures being made over and over in distinct situations. Gestures such as playing with chips before a move to frighten you to check will reveal the opponents hand (even partially) to the table as well as his thought patterns.

Reading of the opponents’ hands and minds is not magic. Body language may appear to have nothing to do with actual poker, but pros rely heavily on it and any aspiring player should acquire at least the basics of it: it is fun (especially when you finally become good at it) and it earns you cash. Not least importantly, it makes you more aware of this aspect of the game. Not only that you learn to read other people’s tells, you become aware of your own - and everybody has them - and thus learn to conceal them (sometimes, when it is possibly, by removing them altogether; sometimes by converting them into something else, so that they mislead any other body-readers at the table).

The potential of body language perception is not a trivial matter. Expert players avail themselves of the unorthodox. Of course, they perfect their technical skills, but they also scan the environment where a specific table is located. High degrees of body language reading are mostly intuition-based, even so, a strong grasp on it instantly raises a player to the zenith among players who do not have a firm grasp on logic, but win anyway. These players are able to read opponents’ cards and forecast moves by how they manipulate their shirt buttons or check their watches.

Online body language is an entirely different thing. A player’s icon cannot be read for gesturing, but you can detect the speed of which certain selections are made. In online games, you bet, call and raise by clicking on the button of your choice. The time it takes you to decide on which button to click is observable by your opponents. They know when you appear to be making moves automatically or dithering a bit about which move to make.

Such moves are typically uncharacteristic of the rest of the player’s game: they are not naturally slow thinkers; they are simply trying to convince you that they have a good hand, but taking a while to “think” and then pressing “check,” as if saving the good cards for a greater later bank. Actually, they hope their opponent will check as well, so that they don’t have to play a weak hand right away.

With practiced observation you will be able to discern between natural pauses and bluffs. You are ready now to learn in detail the pause-patterns of specific opponents.

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