Hi all,

When someone asks you "how much did you start with?" Or "how much do you have left?" how do you respond? Many players do this to pick up live reads. Some simply want to know if they have implied odds to make a call pre.

So, what do you say in order to protect yourself from those fishing for tells? Verbal response, move your hand out of the way, other? Sometimes I vary my responses in order to give reverse tells too. Anyone else experiment with this?

Thanks,
DT

I just make sure my stack is visible. If I want to know how much an opponent has I always ask the dealer.

I'd like you to try saying, "how much do *you* have left", and see how that goes and report back. ty.

If someone asks me how much I have, I tell them.

I just act normal everytime this happens, and just answer with the amount i am playing. Nothing less,nothing more.

If its a player i know just asks this to gain time/try to pick up a tell i just keep being silent and lifting my hands so its easy to see for villain how much i got.

If you are uncomfortable, the best reaction is to count your chips out loud one by one like an 80 year old lady paying for her groceries in change.

Counting is a very calming task and you can regain control by focussing on that. A person is pretty much unreadable when their brain is locked in to a simple but engaging task like counting.

You will also experience a mild euphoria of task completion when you present your final total.

It also provokes two potential emotional imbalances in your opponent which can cause him to make a bad decision.

If he gets annoyed with your deliberate counting, he will probably cut you off, at which point he will feel compelled to act almost immediately, when he is slightly angry and frustrated = win for you.

The other reaction is he has to sit through your counting, during which time he will become slightly bored, embarrassed or disengaged = win for you.

this is actually a genius move. if someone started counting out 60+ chips in front of me one by one it would put me on tilt right away.

I think this belongs more in the poker tells/behavior forum than this one. Any heartache if I move it?

I just open my hands into the Buddha pose, and I do it that way every time to avoid giving off any real or perceived tells.

I almost never have my hands out in front of my chips so I almost never get asked that question. The rare times that it happens, I just lift my hands away from the table. They are entitled to a clear view of my chips so I give it to them.

"300 ish to start mate" or if I'm not sure I raise my hands. I have a very friendly and talkative table demeanor so if I were all of a sudden freeze up and be all nervous it'd be a big tell.

If you're not confident enough to answer without a voice crack or thinking you'll give off a tell just lift your hands so it's clearly visible.

Yeah, lets play stupid games and do whatever we can to slow the game down even more than it already is. NOT!

Just lets him see your chips so the rest of us can play the next hand.

My stack is always visible and I always keep my big chips up front or on top. (I cannot stand players who "hide" big chips.)

If someone asks, I move my hands or drink or anything that might be in the way and verbally tell them. I do it the same every time, so not sure what info they are gathering.

It's fun when I get to answer, "I have you covered." (Idiots.)

i just make my chips visible if my hands are in front of them. no need to tell them an amount, but you can if you want.

jfc. don't do this.

I rarely ask how much someone has left, but I will ask them to lift their hands if I can’t see their stack. If someone asks me the same question, I lift my hands and say nothing.

I just answer the question? I generally know within $25 how much I have at any time.

While you're not required to tell them, theres no reason to make it harder on people just becasue you can.

If you (or anyone) can't answer a simple question without giving away a tell, you probably need to work on other tells that you're giving away, becasue there's likely hundreds.

If player asks how much I have started with, I just act in the same way as if he had asked “what cards do you have?”.
Ignore it.

If he request for a count I just make it easy for him to count it himself or the dealer.

I used to respond, but I noted I have a voice tone tell that I’m working on. While I’m not secure that it has gone, I preffer not taking any chances.

Disagree.
There is a reason: you want to win and you should use everything in your power (that isn’t against ethics or the rules) to accomplish that.

What does this have to do with tells? Why should I count chips for someone when I’ve already taken the trouble to stack them correctly in plain view. Asking me for a count wastes my time and yours. There’s nothing rude about lifting my hands to provide a clear view. Your post is pretty needlessly rude though.

Completely disagree.
Most players know about how much money they have, or about how much each stack has.

Wasting time forcing another player to count your stack when we often know close to what we have is rude imo.


A simple "I believe I have around $500" or whatever is right saves a lot of time of forcing them to count.

And it seems like people are missing the point. If a player is asking you for a count they have already "wasted time". Answering the question when we know prevents more time from being wasted.

And refusing to speak to people when they ask you a perfectly reasonable question contributes to a generally less fun atmosphere.

You lift up your hands and show them your stack.

Creating a more tense/less fun atmosphere is one of the best arguments regarding just answering in a friendly manner.

Be overly concerned about giving off tells in a 1/2 or 2/5 game is kinda lol in my opinion.

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Just shove all in. That way the dealer gives them the exact count.

I stare at my chips, break a 20 chip stack into 4 x 5 and then back up again to show that all the stacks are the same height. I then move the stacks one by one so anyone who is watching could clearly count along with my actions. I don't say anything or look anywhere but my chips.
I have never had a time where I had to say anything. Every time the villain, dealer, or someone else at the table will say something like 'he has roughly X' by the time I was done.