In a not particularly good live 100-200 game i was dealt AKo in the sb. We were 8 handed and it was folded around to the cutoff who openraised. I 3 bet. This reraise will look like a wider range of hands than a normal 3 bet in this game because it's a blind steal situation. Just as cutoff's openraising range should be relatively wide there, he should expect my 3 betting range to be fairly wide. To further fuel the fire I had been playing a fair amount of hands aggressively in the past hour, a combination of my attempt to counter the relatively weak-tight behavior of the table with some blind steals. In addition to these extra raises, I happened to be getting more than my share of strong starting hands. But rather than assume my opponent should give me credit for getting a string of solid cards my experience shows that opponents tend to want to believe you are up to something, and especially in bigger games they will play back accordingly. (As is often the case in advanced LHE analysis, the principle of figuring out how your opponent thinks, rather than assuming they think similarly to you, comes into play.) So as soon as I reraised out of the sb I was attuned to the idea that my opponent would underrate my hand. The bb folded, cutoff called, and we were off to the flop.

        K83 rainbow. I bet, and my opponent now paused, seriously studying the flop, as if to decide what to do, and frowning, rather dissatisfied, he finally called. It was mildly dramatic, and clearly this act was for me. So what did he want me to gather from it, how did he want me to react? There's not much going on on that flop. I did not know my opponent well, but from what I could tell from his play over the last couple hours he was tight, had little creativity or "game", and obviously the stakes were meaningful to him. In short, he was trying to play well, but had shown no signs of actually knowing how to do so besides folding a lot preflop and doing nothing blatantly horrible from what I had noticed. I felt if he had a pocket pair he would either raise or call on that flop very quickly, perhaps to scare me into thinking he had a K so he could get to showdown cheaper in case I held something I would give up or slow down with. If he had no pair he would either snap raise to represent the K or auto muck. I decided before the flop that he might think I am getting out of line, and that now his flop act was a hand he was showdown committed with, but he was trying to convince me he might not be in love with his hand to try and lure me into "bluffing" more. I took my initial read and now added this new information, formulating and profiling his hand to prepare me to make the best plays for the rest of the hand. My read was that his tell on the flop (his deliberation and disenchantment) was an invitation for me to misthink about his hand, and from what I had perceived about him as a player already led me to conclude he would be satisfied his acting job would be enough to fool me. Fortunately I was thinking on the next level, which is what he wanted me to think he had.

        The turn was a 4 and I decided to continue my "bluff" for his benefit. I bet confidently and stared blankly at him the same way a bluffer might try to stare down and intimidate his opponent when he's looking for a fold (a reverse tell because actually wanted him to call). But I wasn't trying too hard, I really wanted to see if he would continue what I believed to be an act on the flop. I was looking for a sort of second opinion, a confirmation of my initial read. He surprised me by giving even more information than I needed. He really hemmed and hawed this time, but, just as I felt they would, the eight chips ultimately went in the pot. My river play was at that moment very clear: this guy just earned himself a checkraise!

        The river paired the 3 and I didn't hesitate to check. His chips went in quickly and I checkraised with little fanfare. Oftentimes when a very good player makes a strong play where they raise they will slam the chips out very strong to try and provoke their opponent to call or even reraise out of anger. This is a tell, but it's strong when strong, as opposed to weak when strong like my opponent was doing in this hand. When a very good player makes this sort of ultra aggressive hard fast raise against you they are doing so to make it look like they are trying to scare you, it's a reverse tell, and a very basic one you will see often if you play mid limits and higher live often.

        Anyway, not that it really mattered here, I avoided making that sort of raise, and he called instantly. My hand was good and my opponent even flashed a K to the table, perhaps a little red with embarassment at having been played. This play also left an impression on the other players at the table, one guy even asked "how did you know he was going to bet?". Great plays have the extra benefit of cultivating fear in your opponents. If they fear that you might be able to know through some sixth sense what cards they hold they will most likely misplay their hands against you. Watching and studying to find these extra bets is a crucial part of an expert player's game. A lazy player would just bet, bet, bet here and not think much about it. In tougher games it's sometimes hard to come by extra bets so being observant and creative is imperative. Notice how the opponent in this hand thought he was being creative by resorting to a standard hackneyed acting tell. This is the sort of ploy uneducated players fall back on when they find themselves in over their heads. It may work fine against the most gullible fish in a smaller game, but more sophisticated players see right through it.

        An overarching principle about tells is this: What your opponents actually do is more important than what they almost do. Sometimes weak players are doing a post-mortem on a hand and you will hear one say "but I saw on the turn he almost raised!" In the case of this hand the cutoff almost folded, but ultimately called (and on the river did something quite different: he bet!). When a player makes it really obvious that they are about to do one thing, but then in a way that seems at all exagerrated they barely do another they are trying to con you. If they almost raise the turn, it's because they want you to check the river. If they almost fold the flop, but then call it's because they want you to bet again. It's pretty simple to pick these sort of players apart with good value bets, good bluffs, good checkraises, and good laydowns. Good.

        So why didn't I checkraise the turn? I wasn't sure of my read first of all. I needed to see how he reacted to my turn bet. Another reason is I felt there was some chance he would raise the turn, that his flop act was just to lure me into betting the turn so he could raise a K. If that was the case I wanted to bet-3 bet the turn, and a checkraise would only lose me an extra bet I had coming to me. Notice that at no time do I talk about there being a chance he would release his hand. How can I be so confident this player wouldn't come to his senses after being checkraised, or even 3 bet, on the turn? In levels 100-200 and up players tend to commit completely with a big pair in heads up blind steal situations like this. It takes a very nuanced player to release such a strong hand. Simply put this player had done nothing to make me think he was a great player, and you should in general assume players are mediocre at best until they prove to you repeatedly that they are something more. When common tells like the one used in this hand are employed it should confirm your suspicion that a player is quite marginal, and he should be targeted as someone all to willing to give excess information and leave himself open to losing extra bets to you.