Read Your Opponents and Improve Your Game

Poker Tells that Say "I Have a Good Hand!"
Acting Uninterested in a Hand While Still in It
This is usually a sign of a strong hand. The player
is pretending that he’s not excited about his
cards – but he is.

Shaking Hands During a hand, if you notice a player’s
hands are shaking as she places her bet, she
probably has gotten a really, really good hand.
Perhaps the nuts.

Rapid Breathing
Some players can control the shakes, but it's harder
to control the automatic heart-racing that comes
when you see pocket aces or hit the flop really hard.
If you can see a player's chest visibly rising and falling,
they have an excellent hand

Sighing and Shrugging
If a player makes a show of sighing or shrugging, and
says things like “Oh, I guess I’ll call,” or even “Why am
I calling?” he probably is overacting and is trying to
hide a big hand.

Glancing at Chips After Looking at Hole Cards
When a player looks down and sees strong hole or pocket
cards, she may glance over at her chips to see just how
much she can bet.

Poker Tells that Say "I Have a Weak Hand!"
Staring Down Other Players If an opponent is staring you
down, he’s trying to represent strength. Usually though,
he has a weak hand – he might have something, but it’s
something that can be beaten or drawn out on.

Holding Breath
Often, inexperienced players will hold their breath if they
are bluffing.

Poker Tells that Say "I Have a Drawing Hand.
"Checking Hole Cards After a Flop If the flop shows the
possibility of giving someone a flush or straight draw,
watch for people re-checking their hole cards. They’re
checking to see if they have a piece of it – whether that
black Ace was a spade or a club. The player doesn’t have
the flush or straight at that point, because if they did,
they wouldn’t have to check, but she is seeing if she has
a draw to it.

Taking a Long Time Before Calling a Bet
If a player looks into the pot and seems to be doing some
calculating in his head, he probably is. He’s most likely
figuring out the pot odds to see if it’s worth it to try and
catch the cards he needs to complete his drawing hand.

A final note: more experienced players may give off false
tells, so the first thing to read about other players is if
they’re novices or pros.