Andre Agassi reveals Boris Becker's tell

As we mentioned in a recent opinion piece, there are many high profile celebrities who have become such a staple part of the poker community that we consider them poker players first and foremost. People like Jennifer Tilly, Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Shane Warne, Teddy Sheringham, James Woods, Aaron Paul, Kevin Hart and without doubt Boris Becker. 

Becker is obviously a legend of tennis having won Wimbledon three times, the Australian Open twice and the US Open once, as well as many other titles. He has also been a consistent face on the poker circuit, having previously been sponsored by PokerStars and just last month announcing a sponsorship deal with partypoker. 

There is bad news for him at the tables, however, as a video has emerged of one of his biggest rivals, Andre Agassi, giving away one of his biggest tells. While commentating on a tennis match in 2007 he told his co-commentator that Becker had a tick where he would stick his tongue out before serving, and the direction his tongue was pointing towards would determine where the ball was being served to.

If his tongue went to the left of his mouth it meant he was probably serving towards the tramlines and if it stayed in the middle of his mouth the ball would stay near the middle. 

It may not be directly applicable to poker, but it is a fascinating insight into the world of elite sports, in that it shows picking up on physical tells is by no means unique to the game we know and love. 

You can see Agassi's analysis for yourself here:

Have you noticed 'tells' on people outside of poker? Let us know in the comments:

Barry Carter

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2.