Caro's Book of Poker Tells: The Psychology and Body Language of Poker [Paperback]

Mike Caro (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 18, 2003

One of the ten greatest books written on poker, this must-have book should be in every player's library.  If you're serious about winning, you'll realize that most of the profit comes from being able to read your opponents.  Caro reveals the secrets of interpreting tells - physical reactions that reveal information about a player's cards - such as shrugs, sighs, shaky hands, eye contact, and many more.  Learn when opponents are bluffing, when they aren't and why - based solely on their mannerisms.  Over 170 photos of players in action and play-by-play examples show the actual tells.  These powerful ideas will give you the decisive edge.  320 pages

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza; Original edition (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580420826
• ISBN-13: 978-1580420822
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Poker

More About the Author

Mike Caro (born May 16, 1944 in Joplin, MO) is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, and author of poker books.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall, a "good" book - useful, and interesting reading March 1, 2005

By M. Grapenthien

Format:Paperback

A classic, and one of the most well known books on poker, it's been published again and again under different publishers with very slight changes over the years.

It's one of the only books on tells, or body language in poker - a bit surprising, considering the hundreds of poker books in print, and the popular conception that tells are a huge part of the game.

Caro, also known as "the Mad Genius of Poker," is a top-level poker player, credited as the best draw player in the world. Or was, at least - draw poker all but died out when other forms became legal in California, and he hasn't been heard from as much since then. Regardless, he's still extremely smart, a great teacher, and is always entertaining reading.

The book covers around fifty different "tells," of various types. Some are general profiling, such as what you can infer about an unfamiliar opponent's style by the way they dress or stack their chips. Most are behavioral - what it means when someone acts immediately, without pausing to think, when someone glances down at their chips after the flop, when they "splash" chips into the pot instead of stacking them, etc. A common theme is that "strong means weak" and "weak means strong" - when they sigh and shrug their shoulders as they raise, get out. It seems so basic, but often holds true even at relatively high levels. There are logical tells too, like when a conservative player bets without looking at his last card in stud, he already has a made hand.

One tell I've found very useful is when a player's hand starts to shake uncontrollably as he or she bets on the last round. Most people's initial thought would be that they're nervous and bluffing. In reality, it usually means they have a nearly unbeatable hand. The shaking is a release of tension; a natural, involuntary response as the nervous uncertainty of the hand's outcome is resolved. The shaking is most likely to occur when the stakes are very meaningful to the player. Sometimes this one is visible even on the WPT or WSOP coverage on TV. Even those who play for thousands every day can't control their reactions when they're suddenly playing for millions.

On the downside, the book's age shows. The pictures are grainy and black-and-white, and highlight fashion trends of the 1980s. Several of the tells are specific to draw poker, like determining whether a player who draws one has two pair or a four-flush; not very useful anymore, but still interesting.

For each tell, the text estimates how many weak, average, and strong players will exhibit the specific behavior, and gives a value for how much you can gain by understanding it and being observant. These are useful as generalizations, such as which will rarely apply in a higher limit game against more experienced players, but the "value per hour" figures are crazy. At the $100 limit, various tells are supposedly worth $11/hour, $96, $43, $128, etc. If that were true, a break-even player who studied this book would suddenly be making thousands per hour.

Reading people's body language isn't nearly that big a part of poker. Most decisions at the table are fairly clear based on the cards and logic. Only in borderline situations do tells become valuable, and even then, you have to be pretty sure your read is accurate; if you fold the best hand on the end based on a read you thought was accurate, when you would have called otherwise, you've just cost yourself the whole pot.

Lots of people have bought this book, or similar material, with the idea of studying it and suddenly making a killing, with no more than a basic understanding of poker. This is misguided, and probably not possible. Technical skill and a solid understanding of poker theory and game situations are far more important. Reading people is a useful and interesting supplement to that, not a replacement for playing well.

That said, I'd recommend this book to anyone. Even casual, kitchen table players will find it readable, interesting, and useful - maybe more so than more experienced players since their opponents will have a lot of obvious tells to be read.

215 of 237 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Will bring your game to the next level....and beyond June 30, 2004

By M. Milliken

Format:Paperback

I have been playing NL poker online and limit poker in casinos for about two years. My preferred game is single table tournaments and after a year of success online I decided to put my skills to the test. This book really breaks down the art of poker (that is, the ability to read people)into simple categories of tells understandable and recognizeable by anybody. Armed with my technically sound online skills and my newfound ability to understand the motives and intetnions of other live players, I journeyed to Atlantic City to try my first ever live tournament. My first tournament ever...I finished in first place at the Borgata. I played in one more tournament and took 2nd place. It may sound unbelievable, but with a bit of luck and a powerfull arsenal of reads on common poker tells at my disposal, I walked away with over $10,000 on a total investment of $200.

I am not saying that this book will win you the world series, but it will give you a huge edge over your competition. The reason is this: Without a knowledge of tells, you really only win the pots that your cards dictate. Yes, you can play better cards than your opponents and avoid trap hands, but with a knowledge of tells, you can win 2 types of hands. 1) you win the hands your cards dictate. 2) you win the hands that your oponents cards don't merit. If you can pick up weakness in your opponents, you can win pots just by betting or raising at the right moment and salvage a pot where you might have folded. Similarly, you can better identify when your huge hand might be second best. Caro breaks tells down into 2 main categories. Tells from actors, and tells from those who are unaware. The most important are those from Actors. It is Caro's contention that all of us act at the poker table and in life, it is instinctive and largely subconscious. If you can pick up on these signals, discern what the player wants you to do, and then do the opposite, then you can truly, truly dominate the competition. This book is a MUST HAVE for the serious poker player.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful if Applied Correctly January 6, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is the original and still best book on poker tells, but there are others out there that have been published recently that you might be able to get for less. They all offer pretty much the same advice but they got their ideas from this book.

Several things are important when reading a book on tells. You need to know in what games they will help you. They will not help you beat a room full of experts...they know they tells so they won't exhibit them. Caro uses tables for each tell to let you know which ones are important where and this aspect of the book makes it a must-have.

Also you need to know how to look for tells. It is challenging and at times overwhelming to sit at a full table looking for body language. Caro does not cover this "art of observation" well in the book but does on his website: www.poker1.com

I can tell you this book has helped me a LOT at low-medium limits against players who often don't exhibit predictable or correct strategy...such otherwise difficult players to read (but not experienced, well educated players) become more easily beaten when you can spot tells.