Dealer Tells in Blackjack; What Are They?

What’s a tell? Basically, in online casino gambling, a tell is known as a cue given without talking. It provides a hint that can be acted upon about hole cards' values. No doubt, that it's normal for casino games with rules that require at least one card faced down when dealing.

Hence, the cards' values are only known by the hand holder or dealers and are revealed to others later in the game. This, however, stirs up uncertainty, which in most cases incites players to act upon estimates based on probability till all the hand's values are revealed.

People are easily influenced by doubt; hence, they try to remove this doubt by any means possible. In simple words, the question on all the players' minds is, “What does my opponent have that I don’t.” This is where we use tells.

How Reliable is Body Language?

Often, adept people, through watching the relation of what we say to how our body behaves, can read other people as one would read a book. Without even saying it, it is easy to deduce that such skills are of high importance in casinos.

This is particularly so in a game like poker since many of the game’s decisions are made off the fact that others know while you don’t. For example, an opponent’s show of weakness or boldness can affect either you should stay in the game or not.

The ability to read and accurately interpret body language cues is a vital skill in spotting a player’s proper emotional response to a strong hand or a weak hand. It also helps in detecting bluffs.

What Does Research Say?

However, recent researches claim that not all people are good at detecting liars, and the act of lying isn’t easily spotted. After several studies, psychologists have started denouncing the trusted and wholly accepted non-verbal clues. For instance, it is believed that liars tend to avoid eye contact.

A recent examination was done on courtroom footage, and it pointed out that liars maintain eye contact with those who question them. Another survey revealed that people who intentionally lie aren’t likely to display the non-verbal cues connected to lying. And the reason is quite simple; liars know the questioner will watch out for the incongruence between their speech and body language. Hence, when lying, they try to feign a behaviour that says otherwise based on what they know you expect.

The Role of Context

Another essential factor is the context. A good number of unconscious body gestures and non-verbal cues don’t have the same meaning in all situations. A notable example is that of the crossed hands. The meaning depends on the situation on ground. Like, in some cases, it can be a defensive position or could mean the person is cold.

This is not an actual science, and accurate rules are rare. It a shaky ground, and a lot of misinterpretation can occur. It is still believed that the most reliable way to tell when something is out of place is to know the person well. Hence, it would help if you got to observe your opponents so as to spot discrepancies easily.