The Poker Face – Reading and Being Read

Every poker player is quite familiar with the 'poker face' and the importance of it in the game. However, is reading your opponents poker face more important than the projection of your own poker face? The reading ability you acquire through years of playing poker and the aptitude to recognize different situations is only half the battle when it comes to playing an effective game of poker.

The other half is the projection of your Poker Face and how you can easily convince or manipulate your opponent into believing you. One of the best players with the greatest reading ability is undoubtedly Daniel Negreanu. I personally met Daniel at the WSOP in 2008 and was just amazed at his outgoing personality and his targeted reads at the poker table. A lot can be learned from Daniel and how he is able to project a convincing poker face to his opponents.

While many poker players will try to cover up their face with sunglasses, hoodies or hats, or even cover their face (ala Phil 'unabomber' Laak), many pro poker players have learned that revealing your poker face and using deceptive countermeasures are far more effective in misleading your opponents.

As a side note, Daniel Negreanu along with several other professional poker players have started a grass-roots movement to ban sunglasses and hats at major live poker tournaments.

Before you can work on your poker face, you need to learn more about the body language of the face and what tells are derived from it. Doyle Brunson once said,

"If I can see your eyes, I can see your hole cards."

Although this may scare a player into believing they need to cover their eyes with sunglasses or a hat to prevent a pro from learning the secrets of their poker hand, the reality is that, Doyle, or any experienced pro, does not need to see your eyes. That statement is merely a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the real tells people give away when they play poker.

The truth is, that the poker face is not just resigned to the face, it is more about body language as a whole and the behavior of a person in a certain situation. I always amaze my daughter with the fact I know when she is not telling me the truth, just as any parent is usually able to do, not because I can read her mind, rather I am familiar with her body language, mannerisms and behaviors.

Those are the basic keys to having the ability to read your opponent, and furthermore they are the keys to you projecting your poker face to lead your opponent into believing what you want them to believe. So remember, when playing poker, putting on your poker face is not about hiding your hand, rather it is about telling your opponent what you want him to believe you are holding!

An excellent book on the subject is from a magician and mentalist, known as The Mind Reader. His book is called The Poker Face and gives great tips and strategies for reading body language and detecting lies. It is available as an instant download at http://pokerface.caligonia.com

Daniel Negreanu Blasts Shortstackers

While sitting at a $100-$200 cash game on Pokerstars, Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu (KidPoker) went slightly on tilt and began blasting the shortstacks at the table. The max buyin was $20,000 with a minimum buy in of $4,000. Daniel had come to the table with $20,000 and shortly built it up to nearly $38,000 when his pocket Aces got cracked by pocket Kings.

Daniel was in early position and raised to $1200 while middle position player re-raised to $3600, Daniel was holding $38,000 while his opponent had just under $20,000. Daniel's response to the reraise was to move all-in. His opponent called and showed KK vs. KidPoker’s AA. The flop hit the K and rivered a full house for Daniel’s opponent.

Left with about $9,000 in chips, Daniel made another move when a shortstack pushed all in with a little less than $4000, Daniel made the call and showed JJ vs. shortstacks Ace rag. Daniel won the hand and a few hands later he held A9 of hearts and again tangled with another shortstack having less than $4000.

Daniel managed to river a flush against the shortstack, increasing his chipstack to almost $19,000. Again Daniel found himself involved in another hand against a shortstack at the table holding JJ; he flopped a set and took the shorty’s chips.

The frustration of having to call an all-in so many times against so many shortstacks at this cash table seemed to wear on Negreanu as he began to berate the shortstacks. Daniel said “I don’t know why I sit down at a table where they allow a minimum buy-in like that” and later he said, “This is just bad for the game”.

Another player remarked that Daniel should not blast the shortstacks that are feeding him chips. To which Daniel responded, I will never sit at a table like this again. A point was made by another player that Daniel could easily move to a table that has a 50BB minimum buy in.

At one point the heated debate brought in a moderator, who apparently saw nothing wrong with Daniel’s tirade. Apparently, a player at the table called in a moderator, the moderator stated he did not see a problem and quickly left.

Although Daniel Negreanu is considered the ambassador of poker and he is always willing to take a few minutes time to sign autographs or shake hands, I think he should not complain so much at the players who just wanted a shot at sitting at a table with him and playing poker.

Hey, Daniel, we all go on tilt, it happens and I agree the shortstacks do sometimes cause undue frustration. However, I think you should not complain, since it is just as easy for you to get up and move to another table. A table that does not allow someone to buy in for a mere $4,000.