by John Imamura

Created on: November 09, 2009   Last Updated: November 11, 2009

Having a good poker face is essential in becoming a successful poker player. What is a poker face? It is your ability to keep your opponents guessing on how strong or weak your hand is. If your opponent does not know what your hand is, then they can only play you with the hand they got, which means, you can usually outplay them with well timed bets when you have nothing and make them fold. Now, creating the right poker face at the right time is the key to being a successful player. Poker is played at the highest level when you can identify your opponents poker face. When you know your opponents tendencies or "tells", it really doesn't matter what they have, you just need to know how to get them to fold or call when you need them to.

If you seen the movie Rounders, Matt Damon's character had finally figured out John Makowich's tell, when that happened, he was able to put on a poker face, trick him, then pretty much own him the rest of the match. He figured out his tell, then played him in thinking that he had no clue and used that to his advantage. Cards will fall as they fall, and you won't win every hand, but if you know how to read a poker face and be able to keep yours, there will be a hand where everything lines up and you can take down a big pot.

How do you keep a poker face? Well remember that other good players know how to read body language that can give away your hand. Fidgeting, leg tapping, staring at your chips, looking back your cards, are all signs or "tells" that can reveal how strong your hand is, make sure you are aware of this actions and don't give away your hand. Read books about poker tells and learn to identify them. For example, some people cannot control their hands when they bet and have a monster hand, you will notice that their hands may be shaking or sweating. Huge tell, By doing this, you can also act like you have a weak or strong hand by doing this actions. Regardless of the skill level of your opponents, having a good poker face will reap you more profits. Study your opponents and watch them play other people at the table, watch their body language, betting patterns, and how aggressive they are. By doing this, you can create a poker face at the table that will frustrate your opponents in making bad decisions and maybe even get them to go on "tilt."

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