As you move up in the poker world and enter higher stakes, you will face a smaller pool of better players.
That’s the nature of the game, and as the competition gets stronger, you’ll need more weapons in your arsenal to stay on the winning side.
Knowing how to receive live poker information is one such weapon.
There is no easy way to become good at reading live tells. The only real solution is volume, which means playing thousands of hours against different opponents.
Once you do that, you will notice that certain patterns appear and repeat.
Context is important in poker telcos
When it comes to live tips, there is no one-size-fits-all formula. For example, someone betting big on the river and sweating profusely doesn’t necessarily mean they are strong or weak.
Putting things in the right context is key. It is all the different information combined together that will help you make the right decision.
Of course, you won’t always have a lot of information about your opponents.
For example, in a WSOP Main Event where there are thousands of players in play, you won’t have much (if any) information about individual players.
In such scenarios, we can use what is known as “population reading,” or more general biases, to help us see who a given opponent is not and what they are unlikely to do or know.
For example, a middle-aged player who qualified for his spot by playing at home or in a local league is almost certainly not an online pro.
Knowing this, when you see this player over-betting, you can be sure that they are not worried about balancing their ranges and frequencies. If they are betting a lot, they probably have a big hand and want to extract value.
Game-related hints you can rely on
There are two main types of live cues you can use, and the first category is directly related to the game itself.
One of the biggest things to focus on in this category is betting. It’s not just about the size of the bet (which is very important), but also about the general tendencies that people have when betting with strong and weak hands.
In terms of bet size, many players tend to increase their bets when they have a valuable hand and stick to lower bets with their bluffs, trying to keep some chips if they get caught.
Another general tendency is to be more prudent when constructing bets with big hands. With weak hands and bluffs, many players subconsciously reach for smaller denomination chips.
It takes some observation to catch these tendencies, but when caught, they can be very helpful in difficult situations, especially against unprofessional players.
In addition to betting, the way a player arranges his chips can often tell you a lot about his tendencies.
Players with a tough character usually stack their chips carefully. More aggressive players will not be as organized, in part because their chips are in constant motion, moving from their stacks to the pot and back again.
Physical readings at the tables
Another large category of live information is physical information. They too can help you make more money at the tables if you know how to read them well.
A player’s pulse is probably the biggest of these. Someone’s pulse is likely to rise when they make a big bet on the river, for example.
Knowing this alone is not that valuable. However, if you remain observant, you can gather valuable information from your opponent.
In the case of someone with nuts, his pulse may rise for a short period of time, but will gradually slow down as he sits waiting for a decision, knowing that he cannot lose.
However, if someone is bluffing, his pulse may not calm down, but on the contrary, it will rise as time passes and he waits for a decision that could cost him a huge portion of his stack or even his tournament life.
Eye movements and posture
Like other live readings, eye movements are not finite and can mean different things to different people. However, there are some general tendencies that you should be aware of.
Blinking is one of the biggest and most visible signals associated with the eyes. To take advantage of this, you need to analyze your opponent and find out whether his blinking changes when he is strong or when he is bluffing.
Finally, a player’s overall posture can give you a lot of information.
The difference in attitude will be apparent between a player who is really thinking about a decision, and someone who already knows what he is doing and acts only to try to avoid timing.