There is one KEY PRINCIPLE to keep in mind when deciding if someone is BLUFFING or has a GREAT HAND…

 

Here it is:

If a player acts STRONG, he is probably WEAK.

If a player acts WEAK, he is probably STRONG.

It’s simple human nature.

This is NOT an original idea… Mike Caro was the first to put this amazing insight into words many years ago.

And after I had heard this wisdom, my poker winnings soared to a NEW LEVEL.

Because every poker TELL boils down to this fundamental principle.

Now, the UNFORTUNATE thing about this advice is that even though it is SO SIMPLE, most card players just don’t “get it”, or don’t apply it properly.

So let’s discuss how you can use this concept to spot bluffs

QUICKLY, EASILY, and CONSISTENTLY…

First off, it’s important to remember that in order to spot BLUFFS, you must be tuned into signs of STRENGTH as well.

For example… if you only look for “tells” that suggest a player is BLUFFING, you’re only getting half the picture…

When trying to get an accurate read on an opponent, you must be looking for both signs of strength AND weakness.

Let’s go back to our main “rule” again and look at the first part:

“If a player acts STRONG, he is probably WEAK.”

This means that when a player does something that makes it LOOK like he’s got a monster hand, he’s probably bluffing.

The CRUCIAL point to keep in mind is that most players don’t TRY to act strong. They just do it unconsciously…

I know that sounds strange, but think about it.

Let’s say you’ve got 9d-2s and you decide to make a bold bluff by going all-in pre-flop (which I don’t recommend, by the way!).

Anyway… in your mind, you’re thinking, “Damn I sure hope no one calls!”… but when someone starts contemplating a decision, you REALLY start to get worried.

So what do you do? 

Well, the NATURAL thing to do… the thing that MOST players do… is to act like you’re NOT afraid.

Obviously you don’t want someone to know that you’re SCARED of getting called, right?

So you sit up straight, your hands don’t tremble, your voice has a little “arrogance” to it…

And ultimately, all of those things are signs that you’re BLUFFING.

But you didn’t MEAN to act that way… it just kind of came naturally. You didn’t think, “Oh, I don’t want him to know that I’m scared, so I’m going to sit up straight and act smooth and talk with arrogance.”

It just kind of HAPPENS…

Still with me?

Ultimately, a BLUFF is a LIE.

That’s right… just a plain old lie.

So when someone is bluffing by betting, they’re simply LYING about what they have in their hand.

Which means technically, the real skill is not the ability to spot a bluff… it’s the ability to spot a LIE.

But anyway… back to my point…

When the player acts strong, he’s probably weak. But he didn’t really CHOOSE to act strong… this is just a

“mechanism” inside of him that turns on, simply because he’s LYING to you about his hand.

Let me show you a few practical examples. Here are THREE valuable “tells” to look for:

1. When a player “flicks” his chips in the middle with extra OOMPH or tosses them in aggressively… What’s going on there? I’ll tell you what: The player is ACTING strong… which means he probably doesn’t have a very good hand.

2. When a player speaks aggressively and talks a lot… Once again, this is usually a sign of weakness, since the player is “covering up” his bad hand by acting like he’s got something.

 

BUT… this poker tell is very easy to confuse and get

COMPLETELY WRONG, and here’s why:

There is a major difference between SPEAKING AGGRESSIVELY and DEMONSTRATING CONFIDENCE.

Here’s what I mean…

If a player talks a lot in a manner that’s NOT normal for him, it’s usually a sign of WEAKNESS.

The way to sense this is to look for any signs of DESPERATION with his voice…

But if the player is chatting along, having a good time, and seems quite CONFIDENT in general, it usually means he has a strong hand.

It’s a very subtle difference, and takes time to learn.

 

3. When a player looks you dead in the eye… This usually means the player does not have a strong hand. The “death stare” is simply an ACT of strength, but what it really means is WEAKNESS.

Now…

Let’s flip this over and look at poker tells that will show you when a player is sitting on a monster hand…

Because knowing when to FOLD is often times MORE IMPORTANT than just knowing when someone’s bluffing you.

So, repeating the second part of our mantra:

“If a player acts WEAK, he is probably STRONG.”

ACTING WEAK is usually more subtle than acting strong… it’s usually demonstrated in a way that is more like DISINTEREST.

And once again, the player doesn’t usually MEAN to act weak… it’s simply a NATURAL MECHANISM.

Of course, sometimes a player will INTENTIONALLY ACT WEAK, but the meaning behind it is still the same:

He’s got a strong hand.

Here are three poker tells when a player is acting WEAK, but has a really great hand:

1. Looking AWAY and acting disinterested… and NOT making eye contact with you…

This is the opposite of STARING YOU DOWN, which is a sign of weakness.

This poker tell is ESPECIALLY apparent when the flop hits… if the flop REALLY helped a player, he’ll usually just glance at it for a brief moment and then look away.

(On the other hand, if a player stares at the cards on the flop for a long period of time, that usually means the flop did NOT help him.)

2. Being very quiet…

When a player is PRAYING to himself that you’re going to call his bet, he usually stays very quiet and to himself…

If everyone at the table is laughing at something and a player suddenly gets QUIET… or kind of “forces” his laugh… then that’s a sign he just picked up a monster hand. 

Beware!

3. Getting shaky…

When a player’s hands get very shaky, watch out. 

Some people think it’s a sign of BLUFFING, but I sure hope you’re not one of those people. Shaky hands is almost always a sign of a MONSTER HAND.

Also… I might add here… that after someone WINS a really big pot, sometimes they get shaky as an “after effect”.

Honestly, I have no idea why. But I do know that it happens.

So if someone just won a huge pot and is looking kind of shaky, that’s probably why.

Knowing about poker tells like these… both signs of WEAKNESS and signs of STRENGTH… is a very important part of WINNING POKER.

P.S. Be careful not to study the poker players on TV for

bluffs and “tells”. Most of these players are two or three

steps FURTHER than anyone you play with…

The pros will try to trick their opponents by doing stuff

like INTENTIONALLY giving off a tell that is the OPPOSITE of

the tell that would actually MISLEAD the opponent…

It gets crazy. And that’s why it’s hard to learn how to spot

a bluff by watching the pros.