Poker Communication

Human beings are very observant. We are able to converse in many different ways with one another. We can verbalize, we can use expressions, we can gesture and we may not do anything at all but these are all forms of communicating within themselves.

You realize that when you place a bet in poker at PokerStars.net you are communicating something to the other players? So to become a good poker player, you need to not only understand what you are communicating with your betting, but what the other players are communicating with their bets. By conquering this type of poker communications, you will find yourself becoming a difficult poker player to deal with at the tables. You can choose to ignore this communication, but you will always loose to the ones who do not.

Generally speaking when a player just calls, it means they want to see the next card as cheap as possible, with the hope of improving their hand. When a player checks, it means they’re not too happy with their current hand, and need to improve to consider any further action. Sure, check/raising and trapping could be a possibility but they are usually the exception not the rule. When a player bets, what they are saying is they like their hand and are willing to risk more chips in order to take control or just take the pot.

So the question becomes now: Whether these communications are the truth.

If you have played, seen or watched poker at all you understand that miscommunication is just as big a part of the game as anything. A good bluff is just a player being able to communicate in a different way than what the reality is.

Aggressive players at Poker Star tend to be dishonest in their communication and the other side is the tight player who tends to be very honest. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how honest the players are at your table in their communications. Learning to read these betting signals will be the ultimate skill and you’re game will start to show remarkable improvements.

Of course there is the flip side of that. Deciding how you are going to communicate with your betting signals. Pay close attention to this as you begin to learn the game and remember to not get into any one way of betting. The true professional will mix these signals up so the other players can’t get a good read on them. If you can learn the art of miscommunication and force other players to make mistakes against you, you will soon see your bankroll grow.