When they grab / start counting their chips, take a small sip from your drink. Bonus points if the bottle is empty and you still try to drink.

+1

OP says he has tricks, does not share them, but wants to hear all of our best stuff? I actually have a google doc called "poker tricks" and a section called "To illicit a call..." There isn't much there yet but it is not empty.

It's weird how secretive people are with this stuff. Like ask them how they play a hand and they'll be up front with you, all them about speech tricks and everyone locks up.

Here's a simple one. Tell them to "take as much time as they need" in a friendly, yet confident way. You can even exaggerate it a bit too seem overconfident. This uses the principle that strong is perceived as weak, and vice versa.

It takes two to tango ... The 'same' speech play may have a different affect on the opponent. Delivery is a key for sure.

Using a stereotype as an example ... If you start to speech play a 'well-fit' Player they typically see this as a challenge and bite into a call in most cases. So make sure that's what you want. But a weak-passive Player will more often take you at your word ("You're beat") and fold out.

I probably use tells way more than I should but they have treated me well over the years. Yesterday an OMC tried the 'reach for chips' trick trying to get a free Showdown and I put out a bet that got snapped with a pretty weak holding. Not strong enough to bet with, but 'always' calling a reasonable bet on the River out of pride. GL

I once told a guy I wanna go home and mow the lawns after about 30 seconds of talking to him. He called my check/raise all in with second pair KJ and I had ATs 20BB deep on a KA7 board. I 3 bet preflop in the sb as well.

He has seen me on a different day a few months before hand (maybe he would remember this i dunno) 3 bet 93o pre check it all the way to the river while in position and hit trip 9s on the river and called my 3 bet river raise shove after he bet with his three pair. Why do they try and slowplay it beats me?

The best way to induce calls is to have the best hand and they also have a great hand that is normally best against your perceived range. I love playing absolute junk from time to time and having a image of a idiot and try and win pots based on things I notice. Showing bluffs with garbage based on postflop tells you pick up knowing they are weak even though you bet preflop with it which is stupid if it was online poker. Having a loose image can just annoy players into calling you as well which if you start running well you can go on a roll of accumulating chips most often ahead which sets you up for a deep finish in mtts.

Speaking of inducing calls, has anybody tried a fake call on the river (picking up the chips and starting the calling motion, only pulling back at the last moment as if changing your mind)? Sometimes your opponent will actually toss their cards in the muck, and other times they'll start to fake turning their cards over (as if to display the winning hand), which is almost always a sign of weakness. Good players of course won't fall for this trick.

False forward motion is pretty much frowned upon .. although it does look good on streams (Antonio Esfandiari has been doing this for years dating back to HSP).

While 'legal' in most rooms (to a degree) I'm sure that your Player Pool would zone in on and get pretty sick of this type of behavior very quickly. GL

Don't be too sure - I've been doing it for over six months without the slightest hint of protest. Could depend on your acting skills - I just try and make it look like I've had a last moment change of heart. You could say it's unethical, but who does the move profit from? Only bad players with weak hands who are trying to trick ME in return!

Oh, I'm sure without a doubt that it's being discussed between Regs when you aren't around and has become a mental note for most Regs at a minimum. I play in a Reg heavy environment so definitely I'm biased with my viewpoint.

Most rooms have done away with a hard betting line (courtesy line) and 'technically' chips aren't in the pot until released. But don't count on every Floor ruling in your favor if they're called over should a Player think you 'over' extended your pump fake.

It's generally the opinion that if you act in a manner that draws attention that Players will play better/tighter against you ... a pseudo target. A pump fake would definitely be a Top 5 'attention grabber' if you polled a typical Player Pool. GL

I love the pump-fakers.

Bluff them more.

During the pump-fake, just hit the table in front of you with a fist, as if you were unhappy with the call.

A true pump-faker will insta-fold.

File that in your memory bank.

They won't believe the "hit the table" next time - but you will have the goods next time.

A poker friend of mine discovered this and it seems to work, ...sometimes...with bad players, and its not something you want to repeat very often. The bad player still has to have a made hand of some sort or you are wasting your time.

It's based on this analogy. The dog ignores the cat who ignores the dog. The dog chases the cat who stares at the dog in fear. The dog chases the cat who runs from the dog.

So to induce, be a cat and focus on your opponent, stare at them a few seconds and then look away just as soon as they look at you. Never look back at them accept in quick glances. Move your hands around on top of the table, count your chips, stack them and restack them, if your chips didn't fully cross the line, push them in a bit further with just the tip of your finger, and then do the hand jive thing dealers do so that the cameras can see your empty hands, just keep moving, take a sip of your drink, put it down, pick it up immediately and sip again. If your drink is empty, suck on that straw and make some noise. Order another drink by waving your hand for the drink lady, adjust your chair.

Don't do any of that in a clownish manner and if you can't figure out how to not be clownish, then don't try it.

It's worked for me with semi-good players on rare occasional, but is better with drunks and poor rec players. A good target is the type that seems to think their every action is designed to maximize their TV time; they are looking to make a hero call to show everyone how smart they are. In the same vein, a good target is the obvious rec player who is very proud of his poker expertise. The proud but dumb players are easy to spot because they like to offer unsolicited advice to everyone. Truly good players don't tell you how good they are.

Does this work all the time? Definitely not. Because not all dogs chase cats and any competent opponent is going to see through that act, at worst after you've done it once. Then you have to be aware that in a future hand, observant opponents might read your lack of movement as a bluff tell.

On the 2/5 table I play with all regs, I never do any of this stuff. On the 1/2 tables, where every player is hugely bad or a complete unknown, it's an occasional thing I use.

Here's another stupid one that works...sometimes. Normally I only use this at fun tables where I've been telling bad jokes and most everyone else is enjoying the party except for maybe that one guy on the big tilt.

At 1/2 where my bets can have odd numbers, I announce the bets with a name. You've heard lots of people say "speed limit" when they bet 55. It's that sort of thing.

88= German Artillery
33 = one each green, red, blue, white = baby rainbow
66 = double rainbow
8 = baby rainbow
133 = the BIG rainbow
59 = "I'm going to break the speed limit but not enough to get a ticket"


Sport related ones work great
9 = Joe Burrow, the best college QB ever
48 = Jimmy Johnson, the best NASCAR driver ever
77 = two Mickey Mantles - use that one on the old farts

And some that make no sense at all or require an explanation

63 = Golden Unicorn = nonsense
60 = Ricky Ricardo = the year he divorced Lucy

Why do this? If your opponent is thinking, "what is that effing idiot saying now?" he's not thinking about poker.

What's the goal of all this nonsense? It gets the table focused on a conversation. Sometimes it's about how stupid/nerdy I am and I'm OK with that. Usually the convo launches into why someone else was better at whatever sport. If I'm trying to induce a call with a tilty player, the happiness of the table just made him more tilty. If I want a fold, I use it on a contemplative player who will be distracted by the joviality or sports debate going on all about him.

Whip it out and plop it on the poker table is what I always do.

One of the best posts in a long time. Thank you.