Personality Tells
online poker players look for ‘tells’ from their opponents – some sign that signals the type of hand a casino online opponent is holding. It’s these tells that have given rise to the ‘poker face’ trait where a player maintains a blank face while in a hand so as not to give off any emotional signals that indicate excitement or fear.
online poker player personalities can range from the most extroverted to the extremely introverted, and everywhere in-between. For those who are at either end of the spectrum, pulling off a poker face can be a challenge.
Some celebrity players, like Daniel Negreanu, are obvious extroverts. They talk continually and express their thoughts about the hands that are played. The key to these extroverts being able to mask their real feelings at the table is that they are consistently extroverted. Daniel chats while playing hand after hand, never giving away any nervousness or special excitement. He maintains a breezy attitude no matter what he is holding. His demeanor never changes or betrays his thinking.
Then there are the introverts, like Chris Ferguson, who always keeps cool by remaining perfectly still and taking the same amount of time to put out a bet for every hand. It makes him nearly impossible to read. Phil Helmuth displays both tendencies. Though usually quite verbal, once he’s in hand, he freezes up, putting his hands up to cover his lower face, and looking down, not moving a bit. He goes from being an extrovert to total introvert to keep from giving away any emotional tells.
