The first word in the study of poker tells is undoubtedly Mike Caro's classic "Caro's Book of Poker Tells". Despite the phenomenal increase in the number of poker books, this area of study has received very little additional attention. The topic has received sporadic coverage, but no authors have directly taken on the task updating Caro's book. Burgess and Baldassarre address this topic head on in "Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells".
"Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells" owes a great deal to Caro's work, something the authors freely acknowledge. In many ways it builds upon the work Caro has already done. It isn't necessary to read Caro's book in order to understand what Burgess and Baldassarre are saying, but I expect that poker players who want to read "Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells" will also want to read Caro's book, so I'd recommend reading them in chronological order.
Burgess and Baldassarre provide considerable coverage of tells, although they don't catalogue them to the same extent that Caro did. They do, though, explore several other issues not discussed in "Caro's Book of Poker Tells". For example, in their chapter, "Becoming a Poker Psychic", the authors discuss ways in which players can become more effective in their observations at the poker table.
They also cite some interesting psychological research that is directly relevant to the book's subject. These topics provide good suggestions for poker players and they're worth reading.
The authors also spend an entire chapter discussing ways in which poker players can improve their self-awareness. Not only should poker players want to pick up on as many tells as possible, but they should also work to reduce the number of involuntary tells they exhibit. Burgess and Baldassarre also discuss some of the finer points of giving off false tells.
This is an interesting topic that has gotten very little coverage in the poker literature, and the discussion here is reasonably thorough.
On more than one occasion the authors aren't afraid to say they disagree with some of what Caro had previously written. It's my opinion that their arguments are well considered although each reader will have to decide for themselves who makes the better case in each instance.
Overall, I'm impressed with what Burgess and Baldassarre have accomplished in this book. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's a worthwhile addition to the poker literature. I would still have to say that "Caro's Book of Poker Tells" is the number one book on the subject, but "Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells" is a worthy update to Caro's classic. I would recommend that poker players who want to learn about tells read Caro's book first, but if they find themselves wanting to learn more about the the topic they should definitely check out this book.
