If you are a poker player who strives to make the most of the game, there is something that urgently requires your utmost attention at the card table. Funnily enough, these are not the cards
that you have to solely concentrate on. Wondering what it is then? Without further ado, we will say that looking deep into the eyes of your opponents can make a world of difference to the outcome of your game. Let us explain, please.
It is no secret that your opponent’s cards are kind of painted on their faces, in particular in their eyes. Players can lie and hold back their emotions, they could restrict their body movements, they could even put on perfectly unreadable facades, but there is very little or nothing at all that they could do to control their eyes.
Hard-wired behaviour
The idea that eyes are the window to the soul is as old as hills: in about 70 BC, Cicero stated that our eyes are the interpreter of our mind. Furthermore, for thousands of years, people have been observing patterns in eye signals and came to the conclusion that certain eye behaviours are instinctive. For instance, if you ask someone to help you with home repairs, and while rubbing (blocking) their eyes, they utter in response ‘Okay, I will do it’, be sure they consider it a nuisance. Interestingly, the same thing applies to people who are blind from birth. They will automatically cover their eyes when they don’t fancy something. This example suggests that your eyes are hard-wired to react to certain situations in certain ways.
With that being said, today, we delve into some of the most accurate poker tells. They are based on the instinctive eye behaviours that are hardly subject to control. As such, they can rarely be misleading.
Poker Tells: Tip 1
The research has shown that people’s genuine sentiments can be revealed by observing the pupils of their eyes. To elaborate on this, if someone likes something, the circle-shaped dark area in the centre of their eyes will grow bigger. Conversely, if someone dislikes a certain thing, the aforementioned dark area will constrict. This means that looking at people’s eyes at the poker table can come in really handy.
To break it down for you, the pupils of the player who has been dealt a rotten hand will constrict. Decent or monster cards, on the other hand, will make people feel innerly happy, which might not be reflected on their demeanour, but is likely to be shown via dilated pupils.
This is one of the most significant clues that you can extract from a poker game. The only fly in the ointment might be the dark colour of your opponent’s eye, in which case you may struggle to spot the change in pupils.
Poker Tells: Tip 2
Now, think back to the occasion when you received terrific news. What was your facial expression at that very moment? Don’t quite recall it? Then we will tell you! Apart from the fact that your pupils dilated, your eyebrows most likely arched. The bottom line is that very pleasant emotions – say, getting a smashing hand – will automatically prompt a person to arch their eyebrows and widen their eyes. So be on the lookout for arched eyebrows right after the cards have been dealt. If you spot this kind of arches, be sure people are sitting pretty.
Poker Tells: Tip 3
Similarly to how our pupils constrict when we experience negative sentiments, our eyes will squint when we are not happy about something. That said, when spotting a lousy hand, a player will likely squint their eyes. It’s worth mentioning that even a flicker of eye-squinting signifies that the player is in a fix.
Poker Tells: Tip 4
When journalists threw Nickson, the 37th president of the USA, a curve ball when interviewing him, he began blinking his eyes overenthusiastically. To put things into perspective, the president blinked 56! times per minute, whereas his normal rate stood at 12. The guy was under a lot of stress, and so are those players whose eye blink rate suddenly increases.
Although there are a whole bunch of other eyes-related clues that you can pick up at the table, like eye-shifting, staring at other players or gazing at chips, we will not elaborate on them today. We deliberately did not include them in this post as those are quite controllable behaviours and as such, they do not always constitute sure-fire tells. However, as they still hold plenty of valuable information we recommend that you read about them in our previous post: ’ Poker Tells: Play the Man, Not the Cards to Be a Winner’.
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We, at WildTornado Casino, stand tall in the knowledge that we do our bit for your successful gambling experience by sharing insightful information! A new instalment of poker tells will follow soon, so stay tuned!