One of the most important secrets to playing good poker, is to have the ability to ‘read’ your opponents at the table. Poker tells are any noticeable behaviors, habits, reactions or habits (body language) that in effect “tells” or gives at hint to other players as to the type of hand that you may have.

A good poker player watches and controls their own body language to ensure that it isn’t dropping any clues, while also watching their opponents for potential indicators of weak or strong hands. If you can accurately read your opponent’s tells, it can guide you to make certain decisions which are likely to help you win more.

With this in mind, here are some of the more common poker tells that you should be on the lookout for:

1. Eye movements. Why do you think most professional poker players where sunglasses? The eyes never lie! It’s often inevitable for example that a player will look down at his hand, spot a nice hole card, then glance down at his chips to figure how much he can bet. Likewise, some players with a weak hand will try to use reverse psychology and stare down other players in a fake show of strength.
2. Player uninterested. If a player seems uninterested in a particular hand, but is still in, it could be a good indicator that he/she has  good hand. More reverse psychology.
3. Facial expressions. Simply put, it’s often difficult for a player to mask their glee or disappointment with a particular hand.
4. Trembling or shaking. If a player’s hands are shaking, chances are he/she has a really good hand and this anxiety reveals itself in this way.
5. Old habits die hard. You can tell a lot in the way a player habitually bets or acts during particular situations. For example, the player may rest his forehand on his hand when faced with a bad hand, almost as though he was reading the table and concentrating.
6. Nervous anticipation. There are some habits that are often displayed when a player is nervously anticipating some good fortune. Movement /swinging of the legs/knees, tapping of the fingers or feet etc.
7. Deep or even shallow breaths. When making a big bluff, some players will take a deep or shallow breath, or even hold their breath for a few seconds.

Ultimately, every player is unique, so the tells will be different for each. The key is to assess each player individually, and observe the difference in the way they play various hands. Any differences are potential poker tells.

One of the best ways to know and play your poker like a pro, is to know when to fold. If you’re playing Texas Hold’em Poker, there are some hands that your best bet is probably to fold immediately if/when you draw these cards. Here we go with a listing of the five worst hands in Texas Hold’em Poker:

1. 2-7 : This hand is popularly known as ‘the hammer’ and it’s undoubtedly the worst hand in Texas Hold’em. They are the lowest two cards that you can pull that cannot make a straight. Even if they’re of the same suit, they will still only make you a very low flush, and if either pairs, it’s still an awfully low hand.
2. 2-8 : Same basic problem as #1 above, except in this case you’ve got an 8 instead of a 7. Still quite bad for a high card.
3. 3-8 or 3-7 : The 3 makes either of these hands able to beat items 1 and 2 above, but even with the 3-8, you still can’t even make a straight.
4. 2-6 : The stars could align in your favor and send you an unlikely flop of 3-4-5, giving you a straight, but someone with a 6-7 will beat your straight. Even if you get a flush, against even just four players, it’s very likely that someone will have a higher flush.
5. 2-9, 3-9 or 4-9 : There are no straights to fill the gap between these cards. Really, the best thing about these hands is the 9. If you get a 9 pair, you’ll have a middle pair that could still be beaten by a player holding pocket 10s, jacks, queens, kings, or aces (very likely odds here).

To bluff is to bet or raise with an inferior hand, i.e. a hand that is not likely to beat the other poker hands at the table. It’s done by a player with the hope that the other players will think that he/she has a dominant hand, and fold their own hand out of fear (the bluffing player then wins the pot).

Bluffing is an important part of poker, but not everybody understands how and when it’s best to bluff. While there’s no hard and fast rule that one must bluff at a certain time or even a certain amount, there are certain times and situations in which it might be in your best interest to bluff. Typically, bluffs only work against certain people and/or in certain situations.

It is important that you don’t bluff too frequently or infrequently. If a player bluffs too frequently, other players can observe and note it as a ‘tell’, and ’snap-off’ these bluffs by calling or re-raising. If a player bluffs too infrequently, this too can be observed and noted as a ‘tell’. Occasional bluffing is a good cover not just for the hands that a player is bluffing with, but also for those legitimate strong hands that opponents may think he/she may be bluffing with.

Here’s your poker secret for the day: David Sklansky, in his book ‘The Theory of Poker’, states that, “Mathematically, the optimal bluffing strategy is to bluff in such a way that the chances against your bluffing are identical to the pot odds your opponent is getting.”

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