Chicago Poker Club

Re-published courtesy of our content partner Ante Up Magazine.

One question I’ve been asked repeatedly since writing 200 Poker Tells is, “How do I get to where I can read others like a pro?”

When I entered the FBI, I thought I was a fairly good observer. I had been studying body language for several years and thought what more could there be? Well, a lot, so much so that I’m still learning. I honed my observation skills and looked for things I’d never imagined, such as how often a suspect looks at his watch (something about to happen) or what’s his blink rate (nervousness). These cues gave me insight into these individuals and their actions.

We can always improve our observation skills; there’s always more to observe; it’s a continuing endeavor and it never stops because we can never know everything there is to know about body language or tells. The best we can do is study them and validate them every chance we get.

Re-printed courtesy of our content partner Ante Up Magazine.

You sat down at a $1-$2 cash game in a casino and bought in for $200. You’re in the cutoff seat, one seat right of the button. You’ve only been at the table for about three hands and don’t have any information about the players. Those in this hand are under the gun (UTG) with $300 and UTG+2 with $140.

Both limped for $2 and it folded to you with -. Which of the following do you do and why?

A. Fold B. Call $2 C. Raise to $15 D. Raise to $20

Re-published courtesy of our content partner Ante Up Magazine.

Much has been written about exploiting opponents on the felt. This is a critical part of the game. If you can’t identify and exploit the weakness in opponents, you’ll rarely have an edge and ultimately you won’t be successful. I’m quite sure every winning player spends a great deal of time and energy on this aspect of the game.

What is less certain is how much time and energy is spent on a related aspect of the game: making yourself less exploitable by opponents.

Take a minute now to do some soul-searching and ask yourself how much time and energy you spend working on exploiting others vs. working on preventing your exploitation.

Be honest. I’m guessing you spend more time on the former. There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t believe an equal amount of time needs to be expended on both or that there’s any right percentage.

Every player is different and should play to his strengths to maximize his profits. However, I do think players at every skill level could spend more time and energy working on making their play less exploitable.

So, how do you do this? Mixing up your play and not being predictable is obviously a good starting point. However, poker isn’t played in a vacuum.

If you’ve been super tight in a tournament and find yourself getting short-stacked when everyone folds to you on the button, you may feel your tight image has built some fold equity for you and it’s time to make a move.