Most top pros have a good poker face. You don’t reach the upper levels of poker by giving away your hand to your opponents. But there is one player who is more disciplined than any other when it comes to giving out information.
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has a routine that he goes through every time it’s his turn to act. He will pause for an equal amount of time whenever it’s his turn, and he announces his actions with the same tone and speed each time.
With the addition of the big cowboy hat and sunglasses, it’s pretty much impossible to get a physical tell on him. After his turn, he sits still like a statue until it’s his turn to play again. The only way you’ll ever pick up a tell on Chris Ferguson would be through a betting pattern, and you would need to be lucky to discover it.
The job of an FBI spy catcher is not an easy one. Ever realize a person was lying to you just because they took a breath a certain way or lifted their eyebrow ever so slightly?
Joseph Navarro has. For more than 25 years Navarro worked espionage cases for the FBI, becoming a world-renowned expert in non-verbal behavior and earning him a spot on nearly every U.S. spy investigation between 1993 and 2003- including those of notorious moles Aldrich Ames and Robert Hansen.
Now retired from the FBI, Navarro brings his keen eye to the poker table and shares some of his secrets with players eager for an edge in play.
“Poker players lie all the time,” Navarro says. “They pretend they are strong when they are weak or weak when they are strong. The truth is they can all be read. You can have a poker face, but I’ve yet to see someone with a poker body.”
“When you are feeling good — or have a monster hand — your body will manifest what it feels,” he says. “You get happy feet. Your feet begin to bounce up and down like a kid going to Disney World.”
Navarro teaches players to observe and collect behavioral information from the minute they sit at the card table. When players are confident, they tend to use their hands more and claim more territory at the table. When they have good hands, they generally look down at their chips.
“While you can’t control the cards you are dealt,” Navarro says, “you can make them win.”
Online Giveaways and Tells
Picking up tells online is not as easy as in a live game. Players can only give away physical signs online. Oversize bets are usually a sign of a bluff late in a hand.
The most common online tell is the pregnant pause. This will often occur when a player has a big hand and they want to appear as if they’re having a hard time deciding what to do next.
Many players like to make a small bet in early position to control the betting and get the next card cheap. This move is usually a player on a draw, and if you think you have the lead you should raise this player up. Don’t let them get what they want, a cheap card, without paying a price for it.
And the old all-in bet followed by a message saying “they have to leave the game”, is a ploy that’s usually followed by pocket Aces.
