Core idea of the chapter
These are behaviors a player shows after they’ve bet or raised that tend to signal:
“I’m weak and I really don’t want you to call.”
Elwood stresses that you should only rely on these tells once you’ve seen them repeatedly from the same player and linked them to weak hands (correlation).
1. Stillness after betting
-
When people (and animals) are scared, they often freeze.
-
Many players do the same when they bluff: they become more still than usual.
-
You might see:
-
Hands frozen on chips or cards
-
Eyes locked in one place, or moving in tiny, stiff shifts
-
Slower or shallower breathing, or brief breath holding
-
Legs that usually bounce suddenly going motionless
-
How to use it:
-
First learn how the player behaves with strong hands (often looser and more relaxed).
-
Then compare that to spots where they’ve bet and suddenly become statue-like.
-
You can sometimes induce this tell by:
-
Reaching for chips as if you might call
-
Taking a thoughtful pause
→ movements stop or slow when they’re bluffing.
-
Good players often deliberately stay still with all hands, so this tell is more valuable vs. average or weak opponents.
2. Avoiding eye contact
-
Contrary to the “staring you down = bluff” cliché, most bluffers avoid your eyes.
-
After betting, a bluffer often:
-
Looks away or keeps gaze fixed somewhere safe (board, felt, random point)
-
If they do look at you, it’s brief and usually neutral or politely friendly.
-
Practical use:
-
In big pots, Elwood likes to wait a few seconds and watch.
-
Strong hands are more likely to engage: look at you, show mild irritation, or display confident body language.
-
Bluffers tend to stay neutral, quiet, and non-confrontational.
-
Some players are wired the opposite way (avoid eye contact when strong), so again you must correlate with past hands.
3. Silence
-
Bluffers often go quiet after betting; they don’t want attention.
-
This is particularly obvious with talkative players:
-
Chatty and lively when strong.
-
Suddenly shut down, or talk in a forced, unnatural way when bluffing.
-
Sometimes a talkative player will try to fake relaxation by:
-
Making superficial small talk with neighbors
-
Smiling or laughing in a way that feels slightly forced or “off”
Meanwhile, strong hands may be more willing to talk to you if you tank for a while (“Tough spot?” etc.), while bluffers stay clammed up unless pushed.
Good players versus good opposition tend to stay quiet regardless, but may use speech more deliberately against weak players.
4. Looking down during/after the bet
-
Many people instinctively lower their head or eyes when lying.
-
At the table, this often appears when someone:
-
Extends chips to bet and, at that moment, their head/eyes dip down toward their stack for a second or two.
-
A strong hand is more likely to keep head and eyes level while betting.
This tell is:
-
Not widely recognized, so many players don’t actively hide it.
-
Very useful in combination with:
-
Stillness
-
Avoiding eye contact
-
If you see all three together after a big bet, that often points to a bluff, especially in limit games where tells are rarer.
5. Fake smiles & the “little smile”
Fake smiles in general
-
Smiles are often used as a mask for other emotions.
-
A genuine smile typically:
-
Involves the eyes (narrowing, crow’s-feet, cheeks lifting)
-
Is more symmetrical
-
-
Fake/nervous smiles:
-
Are mostly mouth-only
-
Often lopsided
-
Feel disconnected from anything genuinely funny or pleasant
-
At the table:
-
A player with a weak hand might try to answer a joke or comment with a smile that doesn’t fully reach the eyes.
-
A strong hand might just laugh naturally and not bother suppressing genuine emotion.
The “little arrogant smile”
-
Some players, after firing a bluff, can’t resist a tiny, smug-looking smile:
-
Slight upward curl at the corners of the mouth
-
Often appears out of nowhere, not triggered by any joke or comment
-
Usually brief; they may quickly suppress it once they realize it’s there.
-
This “I’m totally fine” mini-smirk often actually means: they’re not fine and they know it.
6. Conciliatory actions
These are appeasing, non-threatening behaviors meant to keep you from “attacking” with a call or raise:
-
Staying extra polite, friendly, or neutral
-
Avoiding any aggressive words or tone
-
Nervous, “please don’t hurt me” smiles when you look at or question them
Examples:
-
You stare at the bettor and ask, “You have an overpair?”
-
A bluffer may respond with a silly, friendly smile and something vague like “I don’t know” while quickly breaking eye contact.
-
-
Under verbal aggression, a bluffer often:
-
Absorbs it quietly
-
Avoids snapping back or escalating
-
In contrast, a strong hand is more willing to:
-
Stand up to verbal jabs
-
Show irritation or challenge
You can sometimes provoke these conciliatory behaviors by:
-
Asking direct questions
-
Turning your body toward them
-
Holding eye contact a bit longer than usual
7. Staring at the board
-
After betting, some bluffers lock their gaze on the board:
-
It’s a “safe” place to look that doesn’t feel threatening.
-
They may add a thoughtful or puzzled expression, as if deeply analyzing the cards.
-
This is weaker than the waiting-for-action version of the same tell (staring at the board before you act), and many good players stare at the board all the time, so you need correlation to trust it.
8. Threatening to flip their hand over
-
A classic low-stakes “closing action” tell:
-
You go to call, and the bettor prepares to turn their cards face-up, or slightly lifts them as if ready to snap-show.
-
-
This is usually a last-ditch fake show of confidence from a player who expects to be called and is weak:
-
“Look how ready I am to show you the winner.”
-
A similar but opposite behavior:
-
Player casually holds their cards up higher in front of them in a relaxed, unconcerned way after betting—this often goes with real strength, not weakness.
9. Trying to talk you out of calling
-
When all else fails, a desperate bluffer sometimes literally tells you not to call:
-
“You sure you want to call that?”
-
“Come on, just fold, I’ve got it.”
-
This usually comes right as you’re reaching for chips and is rarely subtle. It’s very reliable when it happens, but doesn’t come up often and usually only once the call is almost already happening.
10. Grabbing chips defensively (post-bet version)
-
Similar to the earlier waiting-for-action tell:
-
After betting, the player grabs or holds chips in a way that suggests they’re ready to call a raise.
-
-
In reality, this often represents:
-
A bluff or vulnerable value hand, not a monster.
-
Someone with a truly strong hand rarely feels the need to stage how eager they are for more action.
11. Getting fidgety instead of still
A smaller, but important exception:
-
A few players get more animated when they bluff:
-
Extra hand movements, facial twitching, shifting in their seat
-
They almost overcompensate, trying to look loose and natural
-
These are often tight, ABC players who:
-
Know that “stillness = bluff” is a common idea
-
Don’t bluff often enough to be comfortable
-
So they overdo the “I’m relaxed” act and end up looking hyper instead.
If you spot someone who is unusually fidgety when they bluff but calmer with strong hands, that pattern can be gold.
12. Hands near the mouth
-
Covering or touching the mouth is widely associated with discomfort or lying.
-
In poker, though, Elwood finds it too mixed to use generically:
-
Some players do it when bluffing.
-
Others do it when they’re trying to hide excitement from a big hand.
-
Some deliberately mimic it to fake weakness.
-
So this tell is only useful once you’ve specifically mapped it to that player’s typical pattern (bluff vs. value).
Big-picture takeaway
Post-bet weakness tells mostly revolve around fear and the desire not to get called:
-
Freezing up
-
Avoiding eye contact
-
Going unusually quiet
-
Looking down
-
Nervous or appeasing smiles and words
Used properly—and only after correlating for that player—they can tilt close decisions (thin calls, thin folds, bluff-raises in marginal spots) in your favor over the long run.