Hey gents. Wanted to hear your opinions, but given no other context, in general, have any of you had experience correlating heavy breathing (ie, noticeable increased chest inhalation and speed of breathing) with strength or weakness?

very unlikely to be bluffing

strong hand imo


the bluffers are usually the one quiet

i agree bluffers and generally quiet and motionless

I agree with the above posts that heavy breathing is more often a strong hand. I think it is a pretty unreliable tell though because I have noticed lots of people start breathing heavy when they get involved in any pot bigger than a limped pot. I notice tight players breathing heavy quite often in medium sized pots and I think it is just that they have gone into mental hibernation waiting for a hand and then they suddenly are thrown into some action because they have a playable hand and they get visibly excited. Therefore I think it is important to only use this tell to influence very close decisions.

I think it is also important to consider that they may be breathing heavy because they have a "strong" hand, but that doesn't mean they have the nuts. People who give off obvious tells like this usually aren't good players and therefore will overvalue their hands and emit this tell because they have a hand that is "strong", even though situationally it may be very weak.

Example- Fish limps behind 4 other limpers with TT and flop comes 478 R. EP bets, MP raises, fish goes all in and starts breathing heavy because he is excited and thinks his hand is strong.

Maybe not the best example, but my point is just that this tell isn't super reliable and you also need to consider that many live players over value alot of hands so just because they think they are strong doesn't mean they really are.

strong

Reminded of Jennifer Tilly in a hand against Antonius. I don't think too many people missed the heavy breathing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZli5THmqgc

Wow did ever miss out on a lot of value in that hand. She actually said " I thought you had pocket K's"..Really? wow

Ivey's face is priceless in that video

I think that typically a high heart rate or heavy breathing is a sign of a strong holding. I also very much agree that it occurs more often in 'larger than normal' pots/spots as well due to both anxiety and adrenaline. Putting any person in a spot they've never been before will create different, and possibly unreliable, indicators.

Some years ago Bryon Devonshire actually told a player that busted on Day 6/7 of WSOP ME about his carotid artery 'tell' that he had when he was BLUFFING. So for this person the stress surrounding potential loss of chips was causing an increased heart rate and blood pressure. GL

I disagree with most posts here. Depending on the player it can be either bluffing or value betting a very strong hand. I think a lot of players, especially inexperienced players, just get extremely nervous in large pots and can't control their breathing.

High blood pressure.

Polarized - either the nuts or nothing.

Either a strong hand or a heart attack.

The examples I've seen were so obvious it was painful. Quiet mousy guy sees a flop and suddenly sounds like he's run the Kentucky Derby.

Agreed. That and villain-dependent. But if I have to pick one I'd say it's more often the nuts, especially if it's a huge or all-in bet from an inexperienced player. This type of player would rarely make a huge bluff but is likely to be excited about having a big hand.

I think this is a somewhat strong tell that he has a strong-to-unbeatable hand. I make an effort to mess this tell up with occasional conscious breathing, because I think it's one that many give without knowing, or even caring. Get good at observing this one while not in a pot. $$$

Pay attention to what hit the board when the tell arrives too. I saw one today, the turn was another 8, and he started to breath heavily. I thought it was trips and he was going to raise. I was right. It increases the read if you can co-ordinate your read with the action. Another would be a flop with all diamonds, or something, and the tell shows up, this is somewhat more likely to be accurate since there is a plausible explanation. He flopped a flush.

it doesn't mean strong or weak. it means heightened emotional intensity.

I encountered a similar situation today in a live game. I had raised the pot with 99 and 3 players called. flop came A65 . First 2 players and i checked. Next player bet small 10$ maybe a quarter of the pot. Other 2 folded. The player to my direct left who bet was playing almost every hand and getting very bet happy whenever i check after raising pre so i called his 10$ planning to call down reasonable bets. The turn was another 6 and he kindof blinked/ twitched. I checked he bet 15 in rather sloppy manner. As i was thinking his breathing suddenly picked up and his heart was visibly pounding/racing. I ended up folding and after he mucked he said "good fold i had an ace" which i think further suggests he had the 6 given he had shown 0 hands to me whenever i had folded a d never said anything about his holdings.

This.

Strong. When players are bluffing they tend to hold their breath, as they desperately want to conceal information. With strong hands, there is a release of tension and excitement. Hands will be jittery, heavy breathing, lean back in chair, etc.

Generally strong. Personally I have a harder time controlling my own breathing when I'm very strong vs. bluffing. However this read is not as reliable in big pots as most people will have the adrenaline flowing regardless of holdings.

Strong hand IMO.

I find it easier to control my physical and emotional state when I'm bluffing than when I'm strong.

Shaking hands, heaving breathing, fumbling furiously with chips, all signs of a monster more often than a bluff.

Heavy breathing can be somewhat involuntary for people attempting to process a strong handed and how to get maximum off of it, which makes it a reliable tell, and very observable from the sidelines. I wouldn't necessarily like to read this one cold.

Typically strong, but as with all tells, you want supporting evidence. There are some players (as others said) who can't control their emotions in big pots or mask their nervousness. Which may or may not be card strength dependent.

I tend to agree that it is usually a strong hand. In the past, I used to catch myself breathing heavy with a very strong hand and literally not breathing at all when bluffing.