Poker is a complex game and unlike many other casino games, it is as much about playing the game itself as it is how you act and carry yourself. In fact in many cases the way in which you present yourself at the poker table is more important than the cards which you have in your hand, or the flop which has just determined your next move.

Personality therefore is a big deal when sat around the poker table and you will find a real mixed bag when it comes to those you’ll be sitting with. Some like to go over the top with loud voices and cracking jokes every 5 minutes, others prefer to remain quiet and pensive, and some fall in-between the two.

Whilst people can put up with loudmouths, something which every dislikes at the poker table is those with poor tones, those who dump on everyone’s bad decisions, bemoan their luck when things aren’t going well and who blame a ‘rigged’ game if they start to lose heavily.

Research

Some interesting studies from a university in Iceland have discovered that these men and women who have those awful tones at the table, are in fact the most truthful among us, and they have found a link between those who have rather obnoxious tells and tones when playing poker, and those who are telling the truth.

The studied followed a group of 30 people initially and eventually carried out the research on a further 45 poker players. They were given a simple lie detector test and they were then studied as they played the game with the others.

Big Mouth

Those who enjoy being loud on the poker table were seen to be those in the middle of the scale, they would lie on some issues but not on others, interestingly they found that they would easily lie about non-personal issues, and tell the truth when it came to person issues.

Quiet

It was the quiet poker players who were found to have been the biggest liars and almost everyone who kept the cards close to their chest when playing poker, were seen to be those who were happier to tell lies.

Shaping The Game

Being truthful is of course a wonderful quality to have but when it comes to the game of poker there really is no benefit to being honest, or even thinking in an honest way. With this in mind then, and taking those studies into account, it is clear that if you sit down for a game of Hold’em then it is the quiet one which you should always be aware of, because they are likely to be the ones giving fake tells, and looking to do whatever they can to throw you off the scent. Not only this, but they will be much more likely to bluff with nothing, so be careful out there.