Ask poker tells expert Zach Elwood a question to win his new book

Considering that movement patterns and micro expressions as well as voice inflections and speech content can be tells, how do you reach a conclusion when body tells and speech tells send conflicting messages?
For example, villain announces raise with a low pitched assured voice but flashes contempt and then leans back on his chair, how do you determine which tell is the most sincere, context, repetition, first impression, other?

Now you have studied verbal and physical tells so much, is it hard to 'turn it off'? Do you find yourself noticing little things when someone is serving you coffee or when you meet them at a party etc?

Originally posted by BarryCarter
Just post the question in this forum before June 23 to be in with a shot of winning.

No one else wants the book?

Q: Which celebrity poker player is the easiest/hardest to read?

No one else wants the book?

I know I do, plus I am very interested in the subject and work pretty hard on it! ♦

Q: Would you consider it correct to invest money in marginal calls in order to establish a base line/verify hints on tells you could have on villain? If not, what would you consider to be the best alternative?

Q: When you have no baseline on villain, how do you work on determining real tells from manipulation?

Haha, mrkhaan! Good to see a motivated person, I have a feeling you have a good chance of winning (with 3 questions posted!).

Do you think that what consitutes the most common tells have changed over the past few years? Would you consider a book like Mike Caro's poker tells to still be relevant or have the tells shifted?

Can you expect a verbal poker tell of Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu?

How many tells would you say is enough to establish a baseline for an opponent? Is its strength largely determined by first impressions?

Does gender play a role in establishing tell baselines? If so, to what extent?

If you could only use one everytime you play a hand, would it be tells or math?

do you think verbal reads are mainly focused on recrational type of players or there is still significant edge which you can achieve in this area playing high stake pros?

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1: Is searching an opponent for tells a tell in itself? ie doesn't staring down or questioning an opponent suggest we are unsure/uncomfortable?

2: Is this technique more effective in cash or MTTs? I feel like it's more useful in big tourneys, given that most cash is played online now, and most players in a big MTT are unused to playing live. It sounds like a tool mostly used in spots where we are facing an all in, spots we should generally avoid.

3: (Assuming I'm right about the MTT thing) In order to prevent this becoming a tell in itself, don't we have to stare down an opponent every time we play HU?

4: (Is really a continuation of Q1) Is speaking to/questioning an opponenent not dangerous? Do we not risk giving away information ourselves?

5: Is this not very tiring due to the inherent intensity and nature of MTTs; long hours; varying ability in the fields of all stakes; other strategy and tactical adjustments?

Hello,

How have you created this book? Is it based on your experience at the tables from you and people you know that play live poker, and/or did you have skills/were you interested in that area away from the poker tables and did you transfer it to poker?

Have you seen differences based on people's countries/beliefs/cultures?

People can chose what they say at the table, how do you estimate if a verbal tell is legit (for example someone bluffing that says "I'll show you") or if it's a "reverse tell" (someone saying "I'll show you" with the nuts)?

Thank you!

Do you use Neuro Linguistic Programming techniques? (e.g. eye movement patterns)

Do you use trash talk, or non verbal language to manipulate your opponent into some action he wouldn´t otherwise do? (e.g. acting weak to encourage bluff)?

Hey Zach,

I would really like to know about how you can figure out if the opponent is:
1. making his tells unconsciously ( lets assume that he don't know that he is biting his lips when he has a monster ) ;
2. making all of his tells trying to indicate a false "read" by you ( lets say that he scratched his left ear once while he knew that you are observing him when he was bluffing, and after he makes the same tell when he is holding a good hand )

I would like to hear your advise on this matter, because a skilled player may play the role of the "wolf in the sheep skin".

Thanks

Hi. Are there any tells discovered by you from a type of person who sits at the table in the hood wearing sunglasses and ipod in his ears?

It is not a joke. How to read a fish we all have read in Mike Caro's book.

Hi, Zach

1)Do you suggest to be friendly and talk much when playing or rather stay quiet and just sometimes talk without any extraneous phrases?

2)Do you level people capabilities of doing fake tells by some of the details you might know about them? If so, what information about them you can use?

3)Do you believe that buddhist monks can spot people lying by seeing their aura? If so, would you become a buddhist monk? ♦
Looking from science prospective, the brain activity is increased when lying, will we see some king of cheating devices for bluff recognizing by tracking brain activity in live poker?

Hi,

How about a player that put his glass to his mouth and drinks after he makes a bet/move on the turn or river?

And how about using this tell yourself on purpose against other players.

Good luck selling your book.

Tuffie

Question:
I really wonder if there's second, third and maybe even further level of thinking about someone showing a tell.

F.i. Will a professional player show a tell to make the opponent think he shows a tell to mislead hem, so he makes the wrong decision even when spotting a tell?

Another question:
How can a recreational player that is aware of his tells, avoid showing them (or showing the opposite, that again makes it a tell).

Hi Zach,

First sry for my English

What Kind of tells would u say are the reliable ones during a poker session?

Do u think its worth to try and give reverse tells?