Quote:
Originally Posted by I hate lederer
strategy part is not an issue... its my first big live MTT I have played bigger online etc....
Will be calm etc.
Just looking for any tell tail signs I would not find whilst playing online
Oh I see. I was assuming you weren't that experienced.
If I had to name the top ones most useful in a tournament, I'd say:
Immediate calls. These tend to make strong hands unlikely. A lot of times this can be useful preflop for discounting high pairs and AK, in spots like where you 3-bet and an opponent snap-calls or calls quicker than you would think they would with stronger hands.
Long looks at cards or repeated looks back post-flop. Most players tend to put down strong cards quickly pre-flop. Quick looks aren't especially useful, but what's useful is when people stare at their cards for a while. This will usually mean weak hands. This can be useful when you see players behind you staring for a couple seconds at cards pre-flop; this can encourage you to raise when you might otherwise not. Or if you see a guy in late position look early and stare at his cards and action comes around to him and he raises, this might encourage you to 3-bet light. And of course you ideally are trying to see if this pattern matches for that person.
Watching players behind you. Especially in tournaments (I admittedly play very few), I like to watch the two players directly behind me, assuming they look at their cards early. I'm looking for things like: if/when/how they put their chips on cards, what their posture is like, where they direct their attention, if they're doing ostentatious things. Generally players w/ strong hands will avoid doing attention-grabbing behaviors, so when you see a player behind you look at his cards and move around a lot, or grab chips, or slam a chip down on his cards, it's a sign of weakness.
Immediate raises or shoves. These tend to make strong hands unlikely. Most players like to put on at least a small show of concern/hesitation with their strongest cards. This isn't very helpful, as there are still a lot of strong hands players could be snap-shoving with. But it can sometimes make up your mind if you're on the fence. Ideally you'd like to have seen a player bet/raise/shove quickly with a weak hand a few times in the past before acting on this.
Post-bet eye contact. This can be really powerful for amateur players, as many players have patterns with where they look after making big bets. I recommend just watching your opponents whenever there's a big pot and see what they're doing with their attention and eye contact after making big bets. Of course you don't always get to see their cards, but when you do, try to remember what they were doing with their big bluffs and value-bets. Were they shooting occasional glances at their opponent when betting the nuts? Were they looking down at the table completely still when bluffing? Were they staring at their opponent hard when bluffing? By taking note of these kinds of things (and taking notes on your phone can help you remember this stuff) you might be able to form some kind of reliable read over time.
Hope this helps.