Much gets made of physical tells, especially when Hollywood does poker.
However, there is more literature available on deciphering physical movements and what they mean at the table.
So, if you know how to prompt and interpret an involuntary reaction, as colorful, aggressive pro David “Devilfish” Ulliott showed, you can save yourself a lot of chips.
With blinds at $400-$800, plus a $100 ante, at the World Poker Tour’s $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Championship at Las Vegas’ Bellagio in 2008, two players limped into the pot. Ulliott raised to $7,000 from the cutoff seat with K-Q offsuit.
“I was trying to steal the blinds and the pot,” Ulliott said of one of the biggest sucker hands in hold’em.
The big blind re-raised to $15,000, the two limpers folded, and Ulliott called.
“He was out of position, so I called to see the flop,” Ulliott said. “I’m not saying calling with K-Q was a good call because catching something might get you into trouble.
“But I had position on a guy who’s not really a known player. You can tell by the way he’s acting and the way he bets. I thought I might be able to play him off the hand if I missed the flop.”
The flop came Q-4-9, rainbow, giving Ulliott top pair/good kicker. The big blind bet $10,000, less than one-third of the pot and less than his pre-flop re-raise. Ulliott called.
“When these novices bet $10,000, it doesn’t really mean anything,” Ulliott said. “You can’t think that they’re thinking, ‘I’m going to bet $10,000 for this situation or that reason.’ It’s the first figure that comes into their mind.”
The turn came the 2 of spades. The big blind moved in for about $70,000.
“I don’t think he wanted to see any other cards come off,” Ulliott said. “I don’t think he wanted to make a decision on the end. He protected his hand and it was probably the right thing to do. I could’ve caught a king or queen, and if he had aces, I’m going to bust him.”
Still, Ulliott had his opponent covered and might have the best hand. He thought about the confusing betting pattern for a long time. Then he tried to get more information by asking his opponent if he could beat A-Q.
“He’s never going to tell me what he’s got, obviously,” Ulliott said, “and he’s never going to speak to me because he’s probably frightened to death to speak.
“You’re never allowed to say what you’ve got, so I asked if he could beat A-Q. If he could beat A-Q, he could beat K-Q, obviously. As soon as I said that, I noticed he just physically relaxed. He wanted me to call him. He was nervous up to that point because he wasn’t sure what I had. So, I got a read off him.”
With that, Ulliott folded, avoiding what he concluded was a potentially costly situation.
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Table talk
Cutoff: The position in a betting round immediately before the player on the button.
