When you play online poker, planning to make the most of available poker promotions, reading your opponent is not easy. As you rarely see your actual opponents, you can't rely on analyzing body language to determine whether you should fold or stay in the game.
That's why, when you enjoy a good poker online session, you have to focus on different behavioral giveaways. That includes paying attention to reaction time, erratic betting patterns, and more.
But now, since people are getting back to playing the game in land-based casinos, learning more about physical poker tells is important. What is the most crucial thing you need to know about body language and poker? It's time for you to find out!
Scientific Evidence: What Are the Most Accurate Poker Tells?
When we think about poker tells, facial expressions are the first thing that comes to mind. And while some players find it hard to conceal feelings of delights, sadness, or surprise - others have a pretty decent poker face. That can make them a harder target to read.
Luckily, there is a better way for you to figure out what kind of hand your opponent has. According to a study published at ResearchGate, conducted by multiple psychology experts, arm motions can indicate whether your opponent has a good hand or not.
The researchers in questions made twenty short clips showing players competing in WSOP events. They asked 78 people to watch one of three types of clips: upper-body footage, clips showing the players' faces only, and clips showcasing arms only.
Those who participated in the study had no prior poker knowledge, they didn't have knowledge of chip values and weren't aware of the players' hands and winning probabilities.
After watching the video clips, participants had to guess the quality of each poker hand shown in the video. Once they did that, they had to report how confident they were in their judgment.
Once the data collected by the researchers was analyzed, they came to the conclusion that those who watched the arms-only clips made more accurate guesses as to which player was more likely to win.
In the face-only group, players were rarely able to correctly judge the players' likelihood of winning, which led experts to believe that the poker pros in the clips showed deceptive facial cues. Therefore, they suggested that looking at a players' face while playing poker can't help you determine what kind of hand he has.
However, since the participants in the arms-only group made more precise guesses, researchers have concluded that watching arm movements can help you predict whether a player has high chances of winning or not.
To make things more interesting, the psychology experts in question conducted two follow-up studies. They show the participants a new batch of poker clips, trying to determine whether the results of the previous study were coincidental. However, the data they collected supported the results of the first study.
In addition to that, they wanted to figure out what affected the participants' thought process. They came to the conclusion that smooth arm movements and the players' perceived confidence levels made it easier to predict the likelihood of winning a game.
In Conclusion
Now it is official: there is a proven way to figure out whether the player you're competing against has a good hand or not. Apparently, watching players' arm movements can help you figure out your opponent's success rates and react accordingly.
Specifically, you are encouraged to watch the smoothness of movement and try to determine your opponent's confidence levels.