My very obvious tell
In his Community Weekly Round-up Barry Carter asks if physical tells are overrated and also gives you the lowdown on the next seven days at PokerStrategy.com.
One thing that has always irked me a bit about poker is when you meet someone who doesn't play the game and they ask you "so do you have a tell?" or something similar. For me the physical tell side of the game has always been exaggerated in the mainstream.
I've always thought that it was a bigger part of the game pre-internet, but as more and more mathematical and strategic information about poker became available, it became less important. I also didn't like the fact that it was quite hard to quantify tells, and the people that claimed to use them never really seemed to have any definitive answers why one tell meant weakness and another meant strength.
But then I played poker on televison.
A few years ago I played in one of those televised shootout tournaments. I didn't last long but was quite happy with my play. I watched the show with my family and we got to a hand where I flopped a very disguised two-pair (ie. I played a hand badly preflop and got lucky). I couldn't believe what I saw - I was actually rubbing my hands together on screen. I was so delighted with the flop I resorted to a feral caveman tick of rubbing my hands together like I was about to feast.
To make matters worse, my (non-poker playing at the time) mother announced "It must be a good hand, look at how you are rubbing your hands together".
Since then, although I still believe physical tells are an exaggerated element of the game, I also now concede that there is perhaps a knowledge gap that exists where they are concerned. So this week you can expect an interview with Zach Elwood, the author of Reading Poker Tells, which is a modern guide to this side of the game. He really has brought an old school element of the game to an online audience.
Until then, let me know your thoughts. Are physical tells important or overstated? Let me know in the comments box.
Thread of the week
I rib him a lot, but if you haven't seen it already, our very own 
pleno1 has a long ongoing thread which is really worth checking out.
Ask me anything about 6-max has been going since July 2010 and has nearly 1,300 replies at the time of writing.
As the name suggests, Patrick invites you to ask him whatever you want about the short handed poker variant, and he also shares general coaching advice and stuff about his own life.
It really is one of the standout threads on the English forum and totally worth browsing and posting in.
LOL of the week
I'm embarrassed to admit I have lost several HUSNGs before where my opponent was sat out, only for him to come back and win at the very last minute. So I really enjoyed this video of jafreiteris truggling against a disconnected opponent:
Running Hot
A busy week as usual last week, which included:
• We recapped what 2013 was like for our Black Member VIPs.
• This was fun - would Chuck Norris play exploitatively?
• Lots of Boot Camp fun including videos from Uri Peleg and Slam5.
• Changes to our Tell-a-Friend system means you can now buy bankrolls for poker rooms with amounts less than $50.
• I really enjoyed this interview with WPT champion Tony 'Bond18' Dunst.
Coming Up
We are just going to keep on giving this Christmas, in the next seven days you can expect:
• Videos from Schnitzelfisch, lnternet, Slam5 and Oblioo.
• Live coaching from pleno1, CollinMoshman and Uri Peleg.
• We have a fun promotion for people who like to follow the European Poker Tour.
• Poker book fans, we have an exclusive competition to win a lot of big poker titles, plus more free samples of the classics.
• If you liked our most recent change to Tell-a-Friend, you will really love the next one we have lined up.
• Plus more from our Boot Camp and Winter Promotions.
by Barry Carter
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