Looking for Movement in the Grass

  There is an old Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon that shows a bunch of hawks sitting in a tree with dark glasses on and the caption "Birds of Prey Know They're Cool". A good part of what makes them so is that, well, most people get light headed after a brisk sprint through the Wal-Mart parking lot these birds can dive at a speed that would make even the reddest Ferrari green with envy. They also have the sort of eyesite that allows them to see the tell tale movement of a branch or blade of grass that tells them dinner is about to be served. They come in fast and silent, exploiting this tell, and snatch their prey before the confused rodent even knows what has happened. The Luftwaffe had nothing on these birds. A lot of poker players see themselves this way: spotting tells and exploiting this knowledge. Unfortunately, many players don't know what to do when the rat flops into the nest, starts basting itself, and points out where the tastiest meat is.  At any tournament, or in just about any casino cash game there will be players who give away their position without smiling at the wrong time or the sort of facial twitch that would suggest a white coat that ties in back may be in their future. They simply expose themselves by making mistakes.  Let's say you are playing against someone who has positon on you and an A/6/3 is flopped. When you opponent bets on this hand, they are hinting that they have a reason to stay in the pot. They either have a pair or something in those three cards have connected in some way to the cards in their hand. If they bet a King on the turn, this message is reinforced seeing as they have decided that they are willing to pay to see the next card. When a ten appears on the river, and they check, the palpable message that has just been sent to the rest of the table is that they have missed their hand, and either have nothing, or are having to settle for the second best hand that they can make with their cards.  In this case the opponent has an A/5, and has matched their Ace with the one on the board. The mistake that was made here was that with an A/K/10 on the board, a bet or raise from their late position seat would have signaled a straight. Seeing as everyone had checked before them on the river, it would seem that nobody else had the sort of cards they were willing to invest a final bet in. An aggressive move from the late position may have knocked out everyone left in the hand; negating the need for a showdown. Even if somebody did call, the pair of Aces is not a bad hand to go into this with, especially seeing as nobody was radiating any strength. You now know that this player is highly conservative and will give up when they have not made a hand that is a definite winner.  This whole hand was a moving blade of grass, and you as the hawk can now snatch this guy up and make a meal of him.