A “tell” is a mannerism that gives away what an opponent is likely to be holding. You should be VERY CAREFUL about attaching too much weight to a tell for the very obvious reason that they may be trying to act a certain way in order to deceive you. remember, everything at a poker table is a lie. Strong means weak and weak means strong.
There are a number of well known tells out there and the more experienced players will try to use them in reverse. But if your opponent is inexperienced, they may end up giving themselves away with one of the following tells:
If a player suddenly sits motionless, or very still during a hand, they are often bluffing. A good example is where a player who normally fiddles with their chips or taps their foot suddenly stops this motion. It will often mean that they do not have the hand that they are trying to represent. Opposite to this, if a players acts distracted or very casual at the table, they often have quite a strong hand. A motionless person is trying not to reveal ANYTHING that might signal they are bluffing and so they do not move at all. A person with a very strong hand is less likely to care what happens at the table as they are likely to win and so are more easily distraced and/or casual about the hand they are in.
Watch for signs of shaky hands. If someone puts a bet in with a shaky hand, they are trying to (badly) control the adrenaline pumping through their body as they hold a very strong hand.
A player leaning towards the flop when it is dealt often means they have missed. A player leaning away from the flop pas it is dealt will often have connected in some way.
Watch a players eyes as they look at their hole cards. If they flick towards their chip stack, then they like what they see and often intend to bet or raise.
online poker paul said
I read about some FBI spy catcher guy who turned his skills to poker and pretty much everything you said in this post is what I read in his article!
maybe (good) poker Players make good Spy Catchers!