You’ve seen poker pros do it with regularity. Bluffs are picked off left and right on television and you’re left in awe. How did they do that? How did they know that someone was bluffing? Let’s check out a few tips to determine whether someone has the goods or is trying to pull a fast one on you.

Speed of Bet

One thing to look for is the pace with which your opponent bets. Are they immediately reaching for chips out of position? If so, then they probably have you beat. Did they immediately look down at their chip stack to calculate what bet you’d call? If so, then you’re probably in poor shape as well. Did they sheepishly place together a bet with trembling hands and then push it into the center of the table? If you see someone doing this, then it’d be a good time to call.

The key to avoid giving off tells with respect to your bet amount is to go through the same motions every time. If this means counting to ten in your head before stacking your chips or betting, then go ahead and do so. One player who has made a trademark out of taking his time to bet, and thus avoiding any tells related to speed, is the Full Tilt Pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan. On episodes of “High Stakes Poker” that he’s appeared in, Dwan takes a considerable amount of flak from tablemates like Daniel Negreanu for taking a while to bet. The same has been said about John “The Razor” Phan. However, their delay is premeditated and designed to keep their opponents off guard.

Size of Bet

An infamous episode of the G4 online poker reality show “2 Months, $2 Million” focused on cast member Jay Rosenkrantz overcoming a disastrous streak versus high-stakes cash game pro David “Viffer” Peat. The tipping point came when Rosenkrantz and the rest of the crew discovered that Peat bet pot when he bluffed. Therefore, if Rosenkrantz saw Peat fire out a pot-sized bet, it was likely that the seasoned veteran was bluffing. Peat repeated the act several times, leading to Rosenkrantz turning around a losing session.

The key is to mix up the size of your bet. Don’t always bet pot with air. Don’t always bet half of the pot when you have a hand. Remember, just as you’re calculating the proper bet sizes in your head, your opponents are also observing your every move and looking for any kind of tell they can find. Mix up your bet amounts just as you mix up your play.

Physical Tells

We could spend hours talking about physical tells in poker. However, make sure to check out whether a player is shaking when they make a bet, check, or call. As crazy as it might sound, people shaking in poker when they’re nervous is quite common. What you need to decide is whether their trepidation is the result of bluffing or actually having a monster hand. In addition, look for subtle physical tells like sweating, swallowing, and players covering their mouths with their hands. All of these tells, as obvious as they seem, occur constantly at the poker table.

Chatty Cathy

A player talking constantly likely has a hand. If you notice an opponent sit back confidently and carry on discussion at the tables, then they’re likely holding the stone cold nuts and you should release your hand. Contrastingly, a person not talking, but instead looking at the pot anxiously, may be trying to pull a fast one on you. This is why you’ll see poker pros attempting to induce conversation from opponents, as it can be a sure-fire way to figure out whether a player is bluffing.