One of the crucial skills required in poker is that of bluffing – the ability to make your opponents believe that you have a much stronger hand than you actually have and inducing them to fold. It follows that the skill should also include the ability to tell when your opponent is bluffing. The proverbial poker face is quite rare. Expert player can discern tell tale signs made by their opponents. These signs reveal what the opponents think of their own hands. In poker parlance these signs are known as “tells”.

There are many common tells. Eyes are dead give-aways. A good hand warrants a longer look. Players want to make sure that they have seen right. A body tic, especially on the face is usually an indication of a weak hand. Some players exhibit tells when they are bluffing. Flexing of muscles, eye pupil dilation and raised voices are common behaviour when bluffing. But players who exhibit such tells know that they are exhibiting tells. Hence they develop antidotes for the tell. They induce such be... more.

A lot of players underestimate the value of position in Poker. Positional advantage is an important factor that helps you win games.

In Texas Hold’em, the value of position is quite obvious. As a player, you want your opponents to decide before you so that you can have the final say. In Hold’em, no player has an absolute advantage over the rest. The decisions you take are based on any little advantage that you get to outplay others to win the pot. Although a superior position by itself can’t help you win a game, it can certainly help you make better bets. It is the familiarity of the situation that gives you the edge over your opponents.

Position in Texas Hold’em is a simple concept. If there are two players in a pot, you would want to be the last. You always have a positional advantage when you are seated first or second behind a maniac, or in front of him. All good players have a tendency of playing more hands in a late position and far less hands when they are in an early position.... more.