Poker: Poker Strategy: Clip and card handling

Online Poker Strategy. Whatching your opponents behavior

Chip Handling

A) Players will often put their small denomination chips into the pot when they have a marginal or perhaps a drawing hand. Subconsciously, they may consider that they are not breaking into their pile of valuable chips, so they can do no real damage and can afford to speculate on this occasion. When the same players ignore their low denomination chips and go straight for the large, then beware - there is a high percentage chance that they have a strong hand. Their subconscious reasoning may be that 'I will be getting these chips back anyway when I win the pot, therefore I don't need to worry about which chips I stake'.

B) When a player arranges their chips into amounts which match the current blinds, this gives you an idea about their game. They are likely to be the type of player that calls much more often than they should, a 'calling-station' in poker terminology. Attempts at stealing pots and bluffing are not advised here as the percentage chance of being called is high. Conversely, if you have a reasonable hand you can try a bet because they are likely to call with a lesser hand.

C) Sometimes a player will call a bet, or more often a raise, in such a way that there will be a cracking or snapping made by the chips as they bang them into the pot. This behaviour is almost always a sign of a medium-strength hand and seems to be a non-verbal statement meaning 'I have a good hand and I am going to make a stand' or 'you are not going to get away with a bluff against me'. This type of player may also dislike being check-raised and so use this observation advantageously when you are confident against only medium-strength hands.

Of course, sophisticated players will exercise the behaviour mentioned above as part of their general deception, and it is always a good laugh watching someone giving it all the dramatics when you are on to them.

Card Handling

Often the flop in Hold'em will contain three cards of the same suit. When this happens one or more players may look at their hands again. The reason for this is that the player may have one card of the suit and has looked for the second time to make sure. It is equally likely that the player has an ace but has forgotten what suit it is.

It is almost never the case that a player will pick up and look at their cards a second time if they already have the flush made. This is because a player usually remembers if they have two cards of the same suit, and what the suit is.There are a great number of tells out there and especially if you play with the same opponents regularly, it is certainly very profitable to work them out - this is of course easier said than done!

More information on Poker Strategy:

Poker Probabilities
Pre-flop strategy
Post-flop strategy
Successful poker betting
The important art of bluffing
Chip and card handling
7 Card Stud

The First Golden Rule of Poker
The Second Golden Rule of Poker
The Third Golden Rule of Poker
The Fourth Golden Rule of Poker
The Fifth Golden Rule of Poker
The Sixth Golden Rule of Poker
The Seventh Golden Rule of Poker
Poker Decision-Making
The Value of Position
The Double-Bet
Table Image
Implicit Collusion
Have a Gameplan Before the Game
Study Your Opponents
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Introduction
Low-Limit Casino Poker Etiquette: Starting at the Tables
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Table Climate
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Position
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Starting Hands
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Playing Pairs
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Playing Drawing Hands
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Mathematics and Psychology
Low-Limit Casino Poker: Playing Big Card