Saw someone do this and I guessed it meant he had flopped big, or at least connected somewhat even if only with a draw

However, I found myself flinching for absolutely no reason last night when watching a flop come down. I hadn’t connected in any way with the flop. In fact, I flinched a fraction of a secind before I’d even seen the cards!

So I’ve concluded a flinch can mean nothing at all.

Anyone else had any experience of flinching in this spot?

I think the flop reaction stuff is very player-specific. And I also think in general any sort of attention-drawing reaction (maybe even flinching, depending on how obvious it is) when first looking at board cards weakens a range.

I think the main pattern for strength is to look away from a good board that's helped you (and that could be a subtle flinch), but obv not everyone does that, and it might only be a slight look away, so I don't think there are very many behaviors that'll be reliable reads of strength here.

I do think the staring-at-board-continually and board reactions can be very helpful, though; these things can often help you make your mind up if you're on the fence between bluffing/checking, or thinking about raising a bet.

All this is really only useful once you've watched a player for a bit to see what his general patterns are.

My simple interpretation would be when players anxiously expect the flop to come they might flinch when it's revealed. Maybe even when they see one connection card they get somewhat excited for a microsecond (for example they are holding 67s and the first card comes an 8 and they immediately think of a straight possibility)

Another theory could be that they completely missed and they begin to kinda distance themselves.from the cards or show distaste with the flop.

Doubt that a player who hits would have what looks like a nervous reaction or be riled up enough to imediatelly flinch. More like he would slowly sit up or something.

Interesting thread.

There is a lot you can gain from body language. You do need to be able to compare it to previous behavior in most cases. But in the case of a Flop Flinch you need to determine if it's because they hit, missed or if there is a difference between the two.

Player's with AA don't really like 8c8x9c Flops and may react to them. But they may also react the same way when Ax9y4z comes out as well. Both Flops have a shock factor to them. And in reality both of these Flops might be disappointing to the Player for different reasons, but they are both potentially action killing Flops and may garner the same reaction. GL