Learn Texas Hold'em
Advanced no limit Holdem - False Tells
Anyone who has seen a poker movie or TV show where people play Texas Holdem (or maybe you've even tried playing it online since online texas holdem is the most popular online poker games in the world) is probably familiar with the concept of the tell. A tell is a clue that players subconsciously give opponents that tell observant opponents how much the player likes his or her hand. An example can be staring at the flop when you miss it, leaning forward in your chair when you are bluffing, or looking disinterested in the hand when you are strong. A tell can also be in your betting pattern, such as betting whenever you miss the flop if you have bet pre-flop, but checking whenever you hit the flop in that same situation. While most players start out trying to disguise their own tells or pick up opponent tells, more advanced players may want to try a bolder move: the false tell.
Just as people tend to confuse the reverse with the double reverse in football, it can be easy to confuse the tell and the false tell, that’s one of the most common mistakes poker players make. Looking disappointed whenever you get dealt pocket aces in the hopes that people will see you frowning, think you are unhappy with your hand and give you action is not a false tell, it is a regular tell. It is a tell that you have aces. If you sat up straight with your eyes wide every time you got dealt pocket rockets, this would be a regular tell too. If you got dealt aces three times, looked disappointed every time but made a big raise, causing everyone to fold, then showed your aces in disgust, then the fourth time you got aces, you sat up straight, eyes wide, yelled “I've got a monster!” and pushed all your chips in, this would be a false tell.
In brief, a tell, in texasholdem, is a consistent pattern of behavior that you unconsciously perform which gives information about your hand. A false tell is a consistent pattern of behavior that you consciously perform to communicate a piece of information that is not actually true, so you can entice opponents to make a poor decision based on misinformation when the pot is big.
In most games and situations, a false tell is too fancy a play to be worth doing, you have to keep in mind that this is an advanced texas holdem strategy. To make a false tell work, you have to be sure you are playing against opponents who are savvy enough to be observing your behavior rather than simply their own cards, but not skilled enough to recognize that they must wait for a full picture before acting on a perceived tell. Situations like this are not that common. However, when they arise, the false tell can win you a considerable sum. If you're interested in the game of Hold'em, visit Learn Texas Hold em which is a great resource with loads of articles.