PRO POKER SCHOOL Learn Before You Earn

Poker Review

Review by Jon Eaton

Mike Caro, the 'Mad Genius' of poker, is probably most well known for his Book Of Tells he put out more than 20 years ago. This 300-plus page book covers most of the common physical 'tells' players give off at the table. For the serious player, I feel this is another must-read.

The book covers the following sections of tells as broken down by Caro: tells from those who are unaware, tells from actors, some general tells, as well as a few other sections about this difficult-to-grasp art. The book is full of black-and-white images, all of which are telling of the age of the book. I wouldn't be surprised if someone wearing a 'Member's Only' jacket would have been considered fashionable at this time. While it's stood the test of time very well, I would sort of like to see an update to this classic (although it has nothing to do with the style of clothing-I feel that it's a little dated because so many people know this book so well).

That aside, there's much to be learned from this book. While a lot of these gestures and odd tells people give off will almost never be seen, the logic he has behind each tell is what you must acquire. You won't hardly ever see someone give off tells as obvious as the actors in these pictures, but again, all Caro is doing is getting you on the right track looking for oddities and strange things at the table.

If you can successfully decipher what each of these tells really means and remember it, then you will be much better off than those who haven't read it. Some people will intentionally give off false tells to those they believe have read this, so the counter-tells will have to be learned as well.

If you get one thing from this book, it should be the poker phrase that will never, ever be untrue: generally speaking, weak means strong, and strong means weak. If you can figure that much out, you're on your way to reading players like you can read this book.