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In my previous column I introduced you to Navarro’s Axiom: To save money, learn to conceal and not reveal. I emphasized that even if you are a poor reader of other people’s tells, you can still preserve a significant portion of your bankroll if you learn to conceal the majority of your tells from other players at the table. The less you reveal, the less likely others will be able to take advantage of you. I then outlined a 13-step strategy for achieving this concealment objective. In this second of three columns on the topic, I want to explain how you can assess and monitor the effectiveness of your table image to make sure your concealing efforts are, in fact, working. Following my recommendations will involve some significant time and effort on your part but, if you are serious about winning money at the poker table, that will be a small price to pay for some big profits in the years to come.
VERIFYING THE ACCURACY OF YOUR TABLE IMAGE
OK, so you’ve come up with your best concealing profile at the table that cuts down on your nonverbal tells and encourages your opponents to look elsewhere for useful information. The question is: How can you assess the adequacy of your new table image? How can you be confident you are truly concealing and not revealing? One way, of course, is by evaluating actual game conditions at the table, but that can be expensive and stressful… particularly if your image needs some fine-tuning. I recommend you treat the development of your new table image like an actor practicing to perform in a play. First, you need to rehearse your role before you appear live on stage. Then you need the feedback of someone you can trust when it’s time for your dress rehearsal.
Here is how I’d proceed: Purchase, borrow, or rent a video recorder. These days, such equipment is not that expensive. Set it up on a tripod and play a game with some friends at your home. Keep the camera focused on yourself and let it run for a few hours while you’re playing. Make sure the camera can see all of you from head to toe. Then go back and take a look at what’s been recorded and ask yourself, “What do I see here?” Don’t be shocked when you see all sorts of tells. Almost every player I have asked to do this has come back to me and said, “I didn’t know I was doing that with my _____.” Players routinely report that by using these techniques they have been able to see just how clearly (unfortunately) their bodies transmit how they feel about their hand, the flop, their intentions, or concerns. It is there for all to see.
Your reward for taking the time to record and view yourself will soon be evident. You’ll likely be able to spot the tells that other people see on you and utilize to their advantage. Now you’ll be in a position to eliminate these giveaway behaviors and present a more concealed image at the table. I would also recommend a trick I have used for thirty years: When you watch yourself, speed up the tape. What you will notice is that all your tells stand out more clearly when you speed up the video. A jittery leg, the repetitive touching of your neck suddenly look almost comedic. It’s a great way to review how you play. Remember, if you can see it on the tape, others will be able to see it as well; and eventually they will decode your behaviors and use them to their advantage.
In the second and final phase of this exercise, I’d pick a poker friend that you can trust, an individual who has read Read’em and Reap and is familiar with tells, and ask him to watch you play at your home game. Ask him to see if he can spot any tells in your behavior at the tables. Keep in mind, however, that low-stakes poker games place little stress on players; so oftentimes the tells you see in a major tournament simply don’t show up in a neighborhood game. Nevertheless, it is useful to have someone watch you and try to pick up something that you may have missed in watching yourself.
And don’t do this just once. Watch yourself or have someone watch you several times during a year. While our behaviors are fairly stable over a lifetime, as humans we are very capable of adopting behaviors from others we observe. For instance, pacifying behaviors (those that calm us down) observed in others may be adopted subconsciously (e.g., chewing gum, touching our necks, pulling on our lips).
WILL YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY CONCEALING YOUR TELLS?
People are obviously different, so it’s no surprise that some individuals will have an easier time concealing their tells than others. Frankly, some players are living billboards: They express everything they feel and think in their faces and bodies. Others are like ciphers - extremely difficult to read. For the most part, everyone has tells; the question is how hard are you willing to work to conceal them. If you take poker seriously, then the concealment of tells should be a priority for you. It makes no sense if you can read other players and they in kind can read you. The more difficult you make it for them, the greater the chance you will conserve your bankroll. Concealing, not revealing, is an attainable goal. I have taught dozens of individuals these techniques and, without fail, they have seen immediate results.
Consider the case of Alice Thompson (not her real name). She was a participant in the first Phil Hellmuth poker camp and was a virtual “tell transmitter” - she gave off tells like a nuclear isotope gives off radiation. Players were taking advantage of her at the tables, using her tells to call her down when she was bluffing and to fold against her when she was strong. I pulled this young woman aside and spent about ten minutes, probably no more, pointing out her most obvious tells. I told her she squinted at her cards when she had a rag hand and tightened her jaw when the flop didn’t go her way. Then I suggested ways she could conceal her tells (discussed in the previous column). By the end of the next day, she had improved her play so dramatically that she made the final table of the special camp tournament! She changed her demeanor completely and had become a tough read. You can do it, too. It’s not that hard. But first you have to be willing to work at it - watch yourself and/or have someone watch you play - and then you have to be willing to accept that your behaviors need modification. Your willingness to help yourself will make all the difference. Truly, once you learn to abide by Navarro’s Axiom, to conceal and not reveal, you and your bankroll will be less of a target.
Joe Navarro served as a Special Agent with the FBI for 25 years. You can read his book Phil Hellmuth Presents Read’em and Reap, (HarperCollins) available at all major online and brick and mortar booksellers. Joe welcomes readers’ questions at his navarropoker.com website. Dr. Marvin Karlins holds a PhD in Psychology from Princeton University and is currently Professor of Management at the University of South Florida’s School of Business Administration. An avid poker player, Professor Karlins enjoys answering inquiries at mkarlins@aol.com.
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