(From Blackjack Forum<\/em> Volume VI #1, March 1986) [Last year, Steve forte game me a copy of a 24-page handbook he had authored titled \u201cAdvantage Playing: the Ultimate Way to Play Winning Blackjack.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not something that I\u2019m selling,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of a seminar I\u2019ve put together to teach blackjack players legitimate and powerful methods of beating the game without counting cards. I don\u2019t know if you can get much out of this booklet without the seminar. Most of the topics in here are just sketchy outlines that coincide with the live demonstration I do.\u201d<\/p>\n Within a week, I\u2019d called Steve about the possibility of publishing a section of his handbook. \u201cThis chapter on tells is fantastic,\u201d I told him. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this in print. Playing tells has always been a mystery to me. You\u2019ve got more useable information on this subject in four pages than I knew existed.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve was discouraging. He wasn\u2019t at all satisfied with the material \u201cas is.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s just an outline,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got 40 pages of notes that explain that stuff. Maybe I could get my notes into some kind of legible form and send them to you.\u201d<\/p>\n The first typed, single-spaced 22 pages of Steve\u2019s \u201cnotes\u201d arrived a couple of months later, with a promise of more to come. Reading this material, I felt that same way I had felt when I\u2019d first seen Steve\u2019s unparalleled Poker Protection – Cheating and the World of Poker<\/em> books and videotapes on how dealers cheat. This was potent, hitherto secret information that had never before been made available to the general public.<\/p>\n In his treatise on tells, Steve demolishes many of the long-held myths about the arcane subject of tell play.<\/p>\n Myth #1:<\/strong> You can\u2019t be taught to recognize and exploit tells. Finding tells is a natural psychological ability that most people just don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n Steve shatters that myth. \u201cI learned a lot about playing tells from real pros who have been doing it for years,\u201d he told me. \u201cAnd I developed a lot of this knowledge from my own years of observation. This is a science like anything else. There\u2019s nothing magical or mystical about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Myth #2: <\/strong>Dealers with readable tells are hard to find, so only Vegas or Reno locals, who observe the same dealers day in and day out, can exploit tells.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just not true,\u201d Steve says. \u201cA good tell player can walk into casinos anywhere in the world, where the dealers check their hole cards, and exploit tells. Tell players create tells in dealers. They don\u2019t wait for them to appear.\u201d<\/p>\n Myth #3:<\/strong> You have to play at high stakes in order to get dealers involved enough so that they\u2019ll exhibit tells.<\/p>\n Not so. Big money and tokes may be important factors in involving a dealer in the outcome of a hand. Steve won\u2019t be the first person to tell you that. But dealers are just human beings. As long as a dealer either likes or dislikes you, he can become involved in your hand. It\u2019s always the person at the table, not just the money, that involves the dealer.<\/p>\n Myth #4: <\/strong>You have to be an outgoing personality type to play tells. If you\u2019re just a quiet, regular player, you\u2019ll never run into sufficient dealer involvement to generate a tell.<\/p>\n Steve destroys that myth with a whole section on \u201cGhost Tells,\u201d \u2013 tells that dealers are already subconsciously exhibiting because of some other player or players at the table. If the dealer is coddling up to some lavish-tipping high roller, or burning up about some obnoxious drunk, you\u2019re liable to find \u201cghost tells.\u201d<\/p>\n Myth #5: <\/strong>Tells are barely visible, subconscious, unique little quirks that are almost impossible to see.<\/p>\n Fact: tells may be subconsciously generated, but they are far from invisible, nor are they \u201cunique.\u201d Many tells are blatant. Most can be categorized and analyzed. Most players don\u2019t notice even the most obvious tells because tells appear natural. If they were unusual postures or movements, everyone would notice them.<\/p>\n I expect to have the remainder of Steve\u2019s treatise on this subject edited by next month. I\u2019m very proud to present here just a small portion of what Steve has already sent me on this subject. Steve\u2019s comprehensive report on tells, titled Read the Dealer, will be published next month.<\/p>\n [If you think tell playing is too esoteric and complicated for you, I suggest you read the following excerpt from Read The Dealer<\/em>. \u2013Arnold Snyder]<\/p>\n A tell is a form of nonverbal communication. Tells are signs and body signals that tell us something about the person we are observing. You can use the science of body language in many ways to gain an advantage in the game of blackjack.<\/p>\n Tells can be used to detect a pit boss who is suspicious of your play. This could give you the opportunity to \u201cpull up\u201d (leave the casino) and possibly avoid getting backed off or barred. Tells will also let you know when pit supervisors are completely unaware of your presence. This will allow you to get away with bigger bet spreads and more aggressive playing strategies than normal.<\/p>\n You can use the proper body signals and actions to make dealers deal faster and deeper. You can also cause dealers to shuffle up the unfavorable decks if your body signals are strong enough.<\/p>\n The science of body language can even be used to get a player out of a favorable seat: a seat that might allow you a hole card play, a readable warp, or maybe just better position for the count game.<\/p>\n The most profitable way to gain an edge with tells is to read the dealer immediately after he checks his hole card. If you can learn to detect the various dealer body signals, if you can learn how to get a dealer emotionally involved in the game, and if you can understand what motivates a dealer to think and act the way he does, you can scientifically evaluate the strength of the dealer\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n Some of these observations and principles come from playing poker semi-professionally for a number of years. Poker experts Oswald Jacoby, John Fox and Mike Caro have some great material on tells in print. In particular, Mike Caro\u2019s new book, Caro’s Book of Poker Tells, is the most detailed book ever written on the subject.<\/p>\n All blackjack players are urged to study these authors, as virtually all the principles explained can be applied to the game of blackjack. Blackjack expert Stanford Wong\u2019s Winning Without Counting<\/em> and Ian Andersen\u2019s Turning the Tables on Las Vegas<\/em> both cover the art of playing tells, but they just touch the surface of what is available to the blackjack player.<\/p>\n Most of my ideas on tells were developed while using various advantage techniques that gave me hole card information. Playing warps, playing hole cards, applying key card location techniques and various card cutting ideas put me in a very unique situation. I often knew the dealer\u2019s hole card before the dealer even checked it. I was able to study the dealer\u2019s body signals to see if his actions agreed with or contradicted this information. This is probably the ultimate way to learn to read tells.<\/p>\n The biggest myth about playing tells is that they are difficult to find. Well, I have to agree that tells are extremely difficult to find. But the problem is in this approach: you don\u2019t find good tell games, you CREATE THEM.<\/p>\n Bu causing a dealer to get emotionally involved in the game, you will get reactions. These reactions are the body signals or \u201ctells\u201d that can be read and exploited by the knowledgeable blackjack players.<\/p>\n If the dealer is indifferent to whether you win or lose, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find profitable tells. The key is to force the dealer into rooting for you or against you. He must be on one side or the other; there can be no in between.<\/p>\n Remember, dealing blackjack can be an extremely boring job; probably one of the most monotonous and overrated factory jobs around today. In order to break a dealer out of his trance and his usual stone wall personality, you\u2019ll have to be creative and a little offbeat. Try to do something a little different than a dealer is accustomed to seeing in an eight-hour shift. Let\u2019s take a look at just a few ways to get dealers emotionally involved in the game.<\/p>\n When trying to get a dealer on your side and truly rooting for you to win, try:<\/p>\n 1. Compliments on dress, jewelry, dealer ability, etc. Tell the female dealer that the ring or the watch she\u2019s wearing is just like the one you bought your wife or girlfriend and she\u2019s crazy about it.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re playing with an obvious weak dealer who seems to be struggling, compliment him on his game. Tell him it\u2019s nice to play with a good dealer who takes his time, etc.<\/p>\n The best way to compliment a dealer is in the presence of a pit boss, shift boss, or casino manager.<\/p>\n Try lines to the pit supervisor like, \u201cIf you had 100 dealers like Jeannie here you\u2019d have the friendliest place in town,\u201d or \u201cI have a bunch of my friends from Minnesota staying across the street but if all the dealers here are like Jeannie, I\u2019ll bring them over tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Let the dealer know up front that if you get lucky he will also get lucky and have the opportunity to earn some money. This gives him a reason to root for you.<\/p>\n 3. Ask for advice. Make him feel like he\u2019s the expert. Now he has to root for you or make himself look bad.<\/p>\n I like to take an easy-to-play hand like two 8s or two aces against a small card, turn them face up innocently so the dealer can see the total and ask \u201cDo you split these?\u201d<\/p>\n Although dealers are not supposed to assist players in playing the hands, most dealers will give you some friendly advice to make the correct play. They don\u2019t know what they have in the hole and don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re out of line by helping you.<\/p>\n Naturally, if you win make a bet for the dealer for his \u201cexpert advice.\u201d But even if you lose you should make a bet for him and say \u201cThanks. Anyway, at least I know I played the hand the best way.\u201d You\u2019ve now shown the dealer that his advice will be rewarded. Next time you need a little help in playing a tough hand, make sure the dealer has a ten up.<\/p>\n 4. Be a good loser. This may sound crazy but it is by far one of the strongest approaches to get dealers on your side. When a dealer hits a miracle hand with a miracle card break up the tension and make him laugh. Try lines like \u201cDid you ever work with Siegfried and Roy?\u201d or \u201cKeep this up and you won\u2019t get a Christmas card from me this year.\u201d Dealers don\u2019t run into this type of player very often. The majority of players, including card counters, are sore losers. It is quite a relief and pleasure to deal to someone who doesn\u2019t take losing seriously.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a great way to take a losing session and create a plus and possibly a big edge for your next play. One of my favorite plays is to always keep a couple of $5 checks in one pocket and my session bankrolls in other pockets. After losing the last bet in a session bankroll, search your pockets as if looking for more money but only come out with the two $5 checks. Toss the $10 to the dealer, and tell him, \u201cWell, I guess I blew more than I thought, but if I have to lose all my money I\u2019m glad it was to you. At least I had some fun.\u201d Smile and walk away silently.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t make any difference if you have $20,000 on you. Just walk away from the table like you just blew your life savings, then gave the dealer the last $10 to your name.<\/p>\n Later on in the shift, take your jewelry off, open up your tie, and mess up your hair. This gives the appearance of having gone through the worst two hours of your life. Walk up to the same dealer and tell him that you\u2019ve just borrowed some money and put your jewelry up for collateral. But that\u2019s okay because now you have a chance to win enough money to get back home to see your wife and son! You know the little boy, he\u2019s the one that just had the leg amputated. He gets around pretty good though. The rubber leg works just fine.<\/p>\n Yes, I am laying it on a little thick but I want to show you how far this approach can be taken.<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s take a look at a few ways to get a dealer against you and rooting for you to lose:<\/p>\n 1. Complain about the hotel, restaurants, luck, etc. Dealers listen to players complaining all day and can become immune to it. It\u2019s really nothing new to hear a player piss and moan. In order for this approach to work try complaining about things you never hear a negative comment about. Breakfast at the Horseshoe, quite possibly the best breakfast in town, or the buffet at the Nugget, quite possibly the best buffet in town.<\/p>\n If you are lucky enough to get comped into a presidential suite at Caesars, complain about the room d\u00e9cor, etc., even though it hasn\u2019t cost you anything. Always complain about what the casino is most proud of and best known for. Don\u2019t forget to mumble a lot, dealers hate players who are always mumbling.<\/p>\n 2. Brag about how good you are. Tell everyone at the table how you won two million dollars last year. You should be betting from $5 to $15 when you make a statement like that. Tell other players how to play their hands. When a poor player would, for example, split tens, tell him, \u201cGood play. About time someone knows how to play around here.\u201d<\/p>\n If you see a player make an insurance bet tell him to take it back. Tell him you have been counting the picture cards and you know for a fact that they\u2019re all gone. Naturally, your count should be about a true 10. On the next hand when picture cards start popping up all over the place, you can expect some strange looks. Not only will you have a dealer trying to beat you, but you\u2019re liable to have three or four players rooting against you, too.<\/p>\n Ignore them and continue to be extremely overconfident. Let everybody know how unbeatable you are and how you beat this same dealer all the time even if you\u2019ve never seen the dealer before.<\/p>\n 3. Here are a couple of my favorites: Get change for a toke, then never make a bet for the dealer. This will leave him hanging and wondering why you asked for change in the first place. If you ever get questioned simply say, \u201cThat\u2019s how I keep score.\u201d<\/p>\n Try making a bet for the dealer that is small in comparison to your action. If you\u2019re an aggressive green or black check player and start out a session $500-$1000 winners, bet $1 for the dealer. There\u2019s no telling what kind of strange looks you\u2019ll get but one thing is for sure, you will get a reaction as the majority of dealers would consider this toke an insult. \u2660<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Playing Dealer Tells By Steve Forte (From Blackjack Forum Volume VI #1, March 1986) \u00a9 Blackjack Forum 1986 [Last year, Steve forte game me a copy of a 24-page handbook he had authored titled \u201cAdvantage Playing: the Ultimate Way to Play Winning Blackjack.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not something that I\u2019m selling,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of a seminar I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[631,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a9 Blackjack Forum 1986<\/p>\nMyths on Playing Dealer Tells<\/h5>\n
Definition of a Tell<\/h5>\n
Tells Come from Emotional Involvement<\/h5>\n
You Can Also Get Tells from People Who Hate You<\/h5>\n