Former FBI Agent Uncovers Mystery Of Tells Serious poker players who do battle face-to-face across the green felt have harbored a precious secret for a long time - something that ensured they would have a big edge over their competition. They didn't necessarily have a word for it but what they now refer to as tells, the rest of the world would eventually call body language.
From time to time, different players provided information about this powerful piece of ammunition in their arsenal. Caro's Book of Poker Tells; The Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells and Beyond Tells did a more-than-plausible job of introducing readers to this powerful weapon and now Joe Navarro, in cooperation with Phil Hellmuth, teaches players how to decode poker tells in Read 'Em and Reap.
What makes this book unique is that Navarro is a retired FBI agent has been studying and using his ability to read "non-verbal behaviors" to detect deception and solve cases involving criminals and terrorists for more than two decades with the FBI. Even more interesting is the fact he consults with top poker players worldwide letting them know what tells they project. (But if you're looking to see what those tells are, forget it. He does not reveal those specific tells to opponents).
Fifteen chapters, illustrations and a nice index to topics, along with a reasonable price make this one of the bargains of the year. Those chapters include learning to conceal, not reveal; high and low confi dence tells, tells of the hands, tells of the mouth and movement tells such as touching the neck the back of the neck, exhaling, face stroking and pacifying moves.
It doesn't matter what level you play, if this book teaches you one or two things to watch for or avoid doing yourself in a game, it has paid for itself immediately. It will pay for itself so it's a must-have book!
