These represent a collection of tells not specifically covered in the first two parts. You will discover many links between these tells and the mannerisms discussed in Tells From Those Who Are Unaware and Tells From Actors. Still, each of these categories deals with an important new aspect of tell science. For that reason, the concepts deserve to be studied separately.
Choosing Your Seat
The seat you select in a poker game can do much to determine how much you'll earn. Many players choose their seats on the basis of hunches or superstition. This is horse pucky. Not only is seat selection important when you first enter a game, it's often profitable to change seats when a better one becomes available. Some of the most valuable reasons for choosing a certain seat are not tell related. Remember, poker action moves clockwise, so it's good to sit behind (to the left of) loose opponents who play too many pots. Your raises will always come after these players have money invested. Also, sit to the left of very aggressive, knowledgeable players. They can interfere with your strategy, so let them act first.
Often, you will enter games where you know little or nothing about the habits of the players. In that case, refer to Tell #21: "When in doubt, sit behind the money."
Conflicting Tells
Oh, gee. Tells aren't always as clear as we'd like them to be. On rare occasions, you'll see two or more concurrent mannerisms that seem to suggest different things. Relax. You can unscramble these mysteries fairly easily. In most cases, the opponent is aware of only some of his actions. He or she is acting, but it's not a whole-body act. If a man seems about to throw his cards away with one very visible gesture while his other hand is slyly creeping toward his chips, the puzzle is resolved. The hand doing the passing is the one he figures you're aware of. His act is that he's weak and about to surrender. The other hand is in the background and it's inching toward his chips. If that were an act, he'd make it more blatant ΓÇö perhaps touching the top of his stacks in a claw-like manner. Be aware that when you see a conflict, it's probable one part of the player is acting and one part isn't. The act is whatever he thinks you're aware of. The rest is unconscious.
Gaining Information
Since tells are very valuable, it's beneficial to encourage them. If you can intimidate your opponents, they'll provide more and easier tells. Players who remain calm, rational and in control are better able to camouflage their hands. If you play powerful, aggressive, winning poker, your opponents will feel threatened. If you can convince them that you are master of your table, they will fight back with ill-conceived efforts designed to confuse you. These actions and reactions will be desperate and primitive: weak when strong, strong when weak. So, just by playing sensible, aggressive poker, you'll invite abundant tells. Beyond that, there are specific things you can do in special situations to elicit tells. This section covers what to do to gain valuable information from your opponents.
NOTE: The percentages of reliability for this category of tells apply to the response of the player at whom the information-gaining ploy is aimed.
Misdirected Bets
Any bet that challenges a secondary contender is a dead giveaway. It almost always means weakness. If you had a strong hand, would you go out of your way to bet in a manner designed to challenge the player who was least likely to call? Of course not! If you wanted to challenge somebody, you'd go straight after the guy who's got a hand powerful enough to pay you off. That's simple sense. Bettors who violate that logic (by aiming their wager at or focusing their attention on someone who's scarcely a threat) are not having mental lapses. They are doing this by design, to make the strong hand feel that he is not even the real threat.
Don't you be fooled. When they bet, players with winning hands pay attention to their strongest-appearing opponents. If the most likely challenger is being ignored by the bettor, that's a bluff. Period. It's too bad this kind of tell doesn't occur frequently; then it would be worth a great deal more money.
