The Art Of The Poker Face And How To Pull It Off

Poker is a game of skill where luck plays a huge role. Luck is when you have a 9 and a 4 and you beat a hand of pocket aces. Skill is when you read what cards are on the table and gauge how well your hand stacks up against the competition. It also takes a special skill to lure your opponents into betting more and more in a hand that you have a big chance of winning. Pulling off a good poker face is also one skill that you must have if you want to be a successful player.

You see more and more poker players on TV wearing shades indoors playing with their hoods pulled so low. Not to knock them off but that's close to cheating. Sure, the rules of poker do not prohibit players from wearing those but poker has been traditionally played without them and it was more fun. It was fun because the players had to work on their poker faces. Something they need to do to belie how good or bad the hands they are holding.

Perfecting the poker face is not an easy task nor is it next to impossible. There are several ways you can pull it off and one technique that one person is using might not be suitable for you. Essentially, you have to work on your poker face on your own. To help you out though, here are some techniques you can try.

Keep in mind that the more you think about your card, the more readable your expression would be. So if you can do it, try not to think too much about your cards until it is time to do so. The big advantage of doing this is that you would have more time to focus on what other players are doing. In fact, you can put a spin on this technique by focusing on what others are doing until you are on the clock.

A poker face is not a stone-faced one. It is also about misleading your opponents and the best liars would tell you the truth and convince you that it is a lie. You can use this technique to mislead other players. If you have a great hand, act suspiciously happy. This would make them think that you might be bluffing it and walk right into your trap.

Showing just one emotion can also work great. You can try the happiness route or the depression route. If you are a naturally easy-going person, the former would be best suited for you. If you are the more serious type, you can pull off the depressed look convincingly keeping a good hand secret to your opponents.

So there you go, some techniques you can try to develop your poker face that will help you play better.