Once you’ve gotten a handle on identifying tells at the poker table, it’s important to realize that highly experienced players will be trying to use your knowledge against you. Reverse tells are exactly what they sound like: tells players give off intentionally which have the reverse meaning of their actual hand strength. When they want you to call, they’ll display a tell that makes them seem weak. When they want you to fold, they’ll display a tell that makes them seem strong.
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Unskilled players will often fall into a “Weak is strong, strong is weak,” trap and will constantly be betting in a way that is opposite to their hand strength. These are not reverse tells. This is merely bad play. However, they will be displaying many common strength tells, some of which are discussed in our article on recognizing physical tells.
Strong players are usually experts at manipulating their opponents and will often use reverse tells in a compelling way against observant opponents. So be on guard and do your best to follow Mike Caro’s indispensable advice, “Players are either acting or they aren’t. If they are acting, then decide what they want you to do and disappoint them.” This article introduces two very powerful reverse tells that you should watch out for and add to your poker arsenal.
The cBet Hand Fake
While recently playing in a live tournament in Las Vegas, I observed a player who employed a powerful reverse tell I’ve dubbed the cBet Hand Fake. After raising preflop with pocket sevens in middle position, he was called by a tight aggressive player on the button and went headsup to a flop of 9? 7? 4?. Throughout the tournament, the tight aggressive player had been continuation betting nearly 100% of his hands and betting most flops when the action was checked to him.
With his set of 7s, the preflop raiser deployed the cBet Hand Fake. He started to move his hand to his chips, indicating that he was going to make a continuation bet, then suddenly stopped and checked as though he had changed his mind. The aggressive player interpreted this as weakness and instantly bet 3/4s of the pot which the hand-faker called after what appeared to be much deliberation. The turn brought the 4? and the hand-faker, who now had a nearly unbeatable full house checked again. The aggressive player instantly shoved all-in with A? J? and was drawing dead in a massive pot.
The Fake Fold
A friend of mine, playing his first WSOP Main Event, was knocked out after succumbing to a reverse tell I’ve dubbed the Fake Fold. My friend is an online beast, with more than a million dollars in earnings, and told me that this was the first time he had ever made a decision based solely on a physical tell.
After the bubble burst on Day 4, play started to get a little wild and crazy. After a slew of eliminations, things started to slow down again and he found himself with about 15BB. He looked down at a suited connector in the SB and followed the action around the table. As he was studying his opponents, he noticed the player in the cutoff seat (one seat behind the button) look down at his hand and then moved his hand forward as though he was going to fold his hand out of turn. Mr. Cutoff was also watching the action, and when everyone folded to him, he pulled his hand back and decided to raise the pot four times the big blind.
After the button folded, our hero decided to shove all-in, as he read Mr. Cutoff’s fake folding motion as a physical display of weakness. Unfortunately, Mr. Cutoff snap called with pocket tens and our hero was sent to the cashier’s cage to pick up his cheque.
Employing Reverse Tells
There are two important aspect of reverse tells that you should be aware of before trying to employ them. First, you should primarily direct these actions at observant, thinking players who are actively looking for tells at the table. It’s pointless to pretend to fold your hand if no one is paying attention to your actions. Second, you should make sure that you use reverse tells sparingly. Many players who start integrating tells and reverse tells into their game fall into a trap of displaying “typical” weak tells every time they make a strong hand. Remember, if a player recognizes that every time you use the cBet Hand Fake you’ve flopped a monster, it will cease to be a reverse tell and will become an actual tell of strength, allowing your observant opponents to get away from your trap.
Final Thoughts
Recognizing and employing reverse tells are important components to becoming a successful live poker tournament player. Many experienced players succeed by simply maintaining a robotic, tell-free disposition at the tables. However, being able to quickly identify and accurately respond to reverse tells will certainly increase your likelihood of making correct decisions at crucial moments of live tournaments, wherever you happen to play them. Displaying reverse tells of your own may make the difference between winning a small pot or a monster pot when you make a big hand.
