Q&A #71: Tilt, Poker on TV, and Are They Really Like That?
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Poker on TV has brought millions more players to the game, and it’s shaped their conception of it. The TV players bark, whine, and throw fits. They talk about “seeing into souls” and catching tells from the smallest things. Are they to be believed? Are they just hamming it up for an audience? What’s real and what’s made-for-TV? These questions are brought to us today by thatjimguy,
I was just wondering if pros really can go on tilt or is that just “good tv” when we see guys like Hellmuth blow up during a hand? Anymore, we all can tell that many “reality” programs encourage thier “actors” to liven things up for the sake of the show. Do pros tilt differently? Instead of blowing up do they just simmer? How about you Ed? How do you handle tilt?
How about guys like Mike Caro that talk about being able to read someone just based on how they dress or act. I figure that these could be true in low limit, where players are more touristy. But what about higher limit poker? Can you throw these kinds of tells out the window?
As far as talking to other players, do guys like David Negraneu really get a lot of information off of what you say and how you say it?
As far as “Off the table” reads go, what have you ever noticed when you are playing Ed? What have been the more common and realible ones you have come across?
Basically every poker player can tilt. Of the thousands of poker players I’ve known and played against, I’ve met perhaps one or two exceptions. High-limit players definitely tilt. In fact, high-limit players, in my experience and very generally speaking, tilt more and harder than low-limit players. They scream. They throw cards. They act out. They throw tantrums. In fact, in general I’d say they are typically better behaved on camera than off. If you’re interested in reading about how everyday cash game players misbehave, check out Table Tango, a “behind-the-scenes” writeup by a Bellagio poker dealer that is, perhaps, the longest-running blog I’ve ever heard about it (she started it in 1997 I believe).
So no, I don’t believe Phil Hellmuth is hamming for the cameras. He was like that before TV poker, and he’s like that off camera also. Obviously, some players will ham for the camera, but in general I think when they know they’re on camera, they’ll try to act out less, not more.
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Tags: bellagio, book-of-poker-tells, daniel-negreanu, mike-caro, phil-hellmuth, poker, poker-pros, steaming, strong-means-weak, table-tango, tilt, TV-poker, weak-means-strong
but it’s still working – a little bit worn off
“If a normally quiet player starts talking a lot after they’ve put a big bet out there, they have the nuts (or at least feel like they do). If someone sighs and says, “Well, I guess I’m ready to go home,” they have a good hand, and so forth.”
Minor mistake in your otherwise good article?