Poker1 Header

Poker tell: Her pot now; needs to stack it


Note: Not at the old Poker1 site. A version of this entry was originally published (1996) in Card Player magazine.

Rediscovered and added to Poker1 in 2014.


Think about what happens after you win a big pot All those chips and all that cash scattered in front of you, right? And what do you want to do? If you’re like most players, you want to stack those chips and put that cash into a neat little bundle.

Well, it takes time to stack chips and put cash into a neat bundle. Having to play another poker hand at this moment would be distracting, so you’d probably be less likely than usual to enter a pot with a weak hand or to run a bluff from scratch.

Understanding unstacked chips

In today’s picture, we’ll focus on the woman wearing the hat From Mike Caro’s Book of Tells -The Body Language of Poker:

Description: There is a great deal of chips scattered in front of the woman. That’s not because she isn’t organized. It’s because she just won a giant pot and hasn’t had time to stack it.

Motivation: Won last pot.

Discussion: Most players like to stack their chips before they get involved in another pot. This doesn’t mean they won’t play strong hands. A player even may toss in a few chips on medium-strength hands as a courtesy while sorting through the last pot. However, there’s one thing players will almost never do in this situation, and that’s run a bluff from scratch. True, they may end up bluffing, but when they enter pots, it’s almost always because their hands merit it.

Best Strategy: If this woman plays a hand while she’s still stacking a giant pot, give her credit for having at least medium power. Don’t invest money on the hope that she entered the pot bluffing.  — MC

Bad tournament advice — here’s why
General, Tournaments
Brunson: Don’t let weak opponents escape
Entries by others, Manipulation, Motivation, Tournaments
Chip leverage: The poker myth that won’t die
Image, POKER, Strategy, Tournaments
Do you really want to play poker full time?
Bankroll, Motivation, Tournaments
Everyone is not entitled to an opinion!
Life, POKER, Tournaments
Four-color deck: Update
Events, People, POKER, Tournaments
Is eliminating players from tournaments worthwhile?
ALL (newest first), POKER, Strategy, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 013 / Tournaments
Entries by others, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 014 / Tournament Play
Entries by others, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 023 / Bellagio, Part 1
Entries by others, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 024 / Bellagio, Part 2
Entries by others, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 037 / WPP Conference
Entries by others, General, Manipulation, Motivation, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 039 / WPP Conference III
Entries by others, General, Manipulation, Motivation, Other games, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 055 / WSOP 2005
Entries by others, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 064 / WPPC 2005
Entries by others, Hold 'em, Image, Manipulation, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 073 / Bounty tournament
Entries by others, General, Online, Tells, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 075 / Irish Seminar
Entries by others, Events, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 079 / Short stacks
Entries by others, General, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 081 / Four of a kind
Entries by others, Hold 'em, Motivation, Tournaments
McHaffie: MCU lesson 082 / Omaha Hi/Lo Split
Entries by others, General, Tournaments
1 2 3 5

MEGADEX | “Everything is everywhere!”
Any Poker1 page takes you anyplace you want to go!

Poker1 

Megadex

Poker1 universe —
all in one place.

→ Collections
Special Poker1 groups

Poker1 Megadex tools

— main navigation departments —

Collections

Related groups of Poker1 content

↓ Major collections ↓

Gambling  •  Hold 'em  •  Info  •  Life beyond poker

Poker (all)  •  Poker dictionary  •  Poker psychology

Poker statistics  •  Poker strategy  •  Poker tells

Prediction*  •  Shopping  •  Zone 2*

↓ Tip collections ↓

All*  •  Gambling*  •  Life*  •  Poker*  •  Various*

↓ Contributor collections ↓

Brunson  •  Caro  •  McHaffie  •  Wiesenberg  •  Others*

↓ More collections ↓

Poker1 FAQ  •  Poker-tell videos  •  Review of poker lessons

Sunday sessions*  •  Targeted poker quizzes  •  Tuesday sessions

* Any collection followed by an asterisk ( * ) has no entries yet.

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 everything

Browse alphabetically

 

[a-z-listing display=”posts” post-type=”post”]

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home

Poker1 library

Content in categories

A-to-Z     Library     Collections     Top     Home




≡ Content above: Poker1 Phase2a specification ≡

Published by

Mike Caro

Visit Mike on   → Twitter   ♠ OR ♠    → FaceBook

Known as the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Mike Caro is generally regarded as today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU). See full bio → HERE.