Many pros try to disguise their entire face by wearing a cap and looking downward. This is to avoid the classic stare-down that poker pros are famous for. They may try to study your face for nervousness (detecting a weak hand), or even look for repetitive characteristics like a body "tic". You may have obvious unhappiness in your face when your hand is weak, and conversely, you may show a contrasting show of confidence when your hand is strong.
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| The Rant | Many online poker tells are the result of bad players telling you that they are about to play even worse than normal. How nice of them. The most obvious of these announcements is The Rant. Flawed players go on tilt in all sorts of poker games, and online is no exception. The thing about online is loudmouths and bullies can't glare at, roll their eyes or do some other belittling physical action. But via the chatbox they CAN insult their opponents. They can't say "change the deck" but they can rant about software being rigged against their genius-level play.
Boiling it down to the basics, a player who goes on a rant about stupid opponents or rigged software might just as well paint themselves purple with ten inch letters: "I am on tilt". Besides obviously horrible opponents, ranters are THE players to target in any game, even more so than obvious multi-tablers. You want to play against people on tilt, but you also want to be sure you don't take them off tilt by playing a weak hand at them that helps them to calm down. Go ahead and goad abusive players in the chatbox. These are almost always players who think they are far better than they are, and play considerably worse when losing than when winning. They will often make the game. Treasure the ranters. To a large degree, winning poker is about defeating people who act stupidly. Ranters are at the top of the list. | N |
| exposed card | A card whose face has been deliberately or accidentally revealed to players normally not entitled to that information during the play of the game. Various games have different rules about how to handle this irregularity. Compare to "boxed card". | U |
| put on | To put someone on a hand is to deduce what hand they have based on their actions and your knowledge of their gameplay. See also tells. | U |
| starting hand | See starting hand. | U |
| super satellite | A multi-table poker tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to a satellite tournament or a tournament in which all the top finishers gain entrance to a larger tournament. | U |
| value bet | A bet made by a player who wants it to be called (as opposed to a bluff or protection bet). This is typically because he has a superior hand that he expects to win at showdown, or a very good draw for which he can increase his pot equity by more than the amount of his bet. See value (poker). | U |
| back in | To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else's open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers. | U |
| wake up | To "wake up with a hand" means to discover a strong starting hand, often when there has already been action in front of the player. | U |
| Anxiety | Anxiety typically occurs in people when they are confronted, or anticipating confrontation. Psychologists call this the "Fight or Flight" stimulus response, which links back to the days when we were cavemen/cavewomen. Physical changes happen including flexing of muscles, eye pupil dilation, palpitating heart rate, dry throat. In poker, when someone has a big hand they are typically ready for confrontation and can exhibit some of these characteristics. You may see the chest expanding abnormally, or you may notice the players voice become slightly higher as he makes a comment. Some of the top players in the game will stare at the vein on the top-side of your face for blood pressure changes. During a bluff, the player may demonstrate anxiety, but if he knows he will fold the hand if re-raised (non-confrontational end) may look quite comfortable. | U |
| splash the pot | To throw one's chips in the pot in a disorderly fashion. Not typically allowed, because the dealer can't tell how much has been bet. | U |