Reading Eyes for Poker Tells

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Reading Eyes for Poker Tells

With many online players now switching to live play since Black Friday, I figured that they may need a little hand with a few things to prep them for live play.


My son triggered this post last night when I swore he was telling me tales. I looked deep into his eyes and asked him to tell me the truth. His eyes veered to the left as he replied "Tyrone said I could". Now that was one hellava lie! I knew Tyrone (his step dad) would never say he could. It made me think of the left eye movement and what it meant.



Usually I can tell when my kids are telling tales. I didn't need eye movement to tell me this kid was full of shit. I thought about poker (of course) during all of this, I came to the realization that many people alike me would know if their loved ones lied. What about players at the poker table though? Could people get tells from eye movements? Only one way to know. Get everyone who reads my blog to test it this theory.


Ok, so let me start with that left movement my son made, also called AC (Auditory Constructed).

I asked my son " Tell me who said you could do that, who gave you permission?", His eyes moved to the left (according to scientific facts) as this is the direction the eyes move as a person thinks about the question they have been asked as they "Auditory Construct" a sound that they have never heard. Of course Tyrone never would tell him "he could". He was at that very moment thinking of Tyrone actually saying it. This look is definitely a look of deception and make believe (remember that to YOU they will be looking the opposite direction - this is their face looking straight on:


I told my son he was grounded for telling me tales. Which brings me to AI (Internal Dialog). The next eye indicator.



He sat there talking to himself (kind of so I would hear but to himself non the less). He was cussing under his breath and whining how bad his life was. As he did this he looked down and to the right. This is the direction someones eyes move as they talk to themselves.

I suddenly found myself into this subject and went looking for my eye tell tale signs. Not because anyone was doing them, simply because I wanted to to educate myself on eye movement and lie detection. I knew it would certainly help me in the future at one time in my life, likely with the kids but also with poker!

The next eye movement tell would be (If I was continue what has become alphabetical) AR (Auditory Remembering).



If i asked (or you ask) your child to remember what his dads voice sounds like. The eyes will automatically move to the right as they think about the question and Auditory Remember the sound of the voice. Alike little AR below:


The next eye movement tell would be F (Feeling / Kinesthetic). Or in my words FAWK! I do F a lot since my house burnt down!



If you asked me "Can you remember the smell of your house when it was burning? ", my eyes would move down and to the left while thinking about the question as I used recalled that smell. F also applies to feeling, or taste. Remembering a feeling or taste my eyes would move the same way. Here is Mr Fawk:



Eye movements up and to the left, also known as VC (Visually Constructed Images) are next on the eye mapping agenda!



If you asked someone to "Imagine a green road with a pink lizard on it", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Visually Constructed" a green road with a pink lizard on it in their mind.

Lastly we have VR (Visually remembered) eye movements on the list. It is the last of the eye movements i could find.



If you asked anyone "What color was the first car that they owned?" or a child "What did the first pet they have look like?" the eyes would move up and to the right while they were thinking about the question as they "Visually Remembered" the color of the car or in the case of the child, remembered what the first pet looked like.



Lastly, other things to consider are:



Left-handed players would have the opposite meanings for their eye-directions, they would look the opposite way (typically). Make sure you know if a person is left handed otherwise you will confuse yourself!



If the a person is trying to remember something that was recent then his eyes may not go to any direction and just stay in the middle



Some people tend to remember by focusing and refocusing without having their eye move into any direction, you cant read anything in this case (ultimate poker eyes!)



The mind has hundreds of thoughts happening within at most times, many thoughts could run into the mind in one second and so the eye may move into any direction depending on one of these thoughts. This will give you false clues, and since you cant read the other person's thoughts you can get false results

As with other signs of lying, you should first establish and understand a persons behavior before concluding they are lying by the direction of their eyes.

Last thoughts, get sunglasses to avoid having your eyes read at a poker table.