Baseline
How a player normally behaves, which a possible tell has to be measured against.
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- What it means
- A baseline is a player's usual pace, posture, talk and bet sizes when nothing special is happening. A tell is a change from that baseline. The same behavior in two people can mean opposite things.
- How it is calculated
- Watch a player in hands you are not in. Note how long they usually take and how they usually bet. Only then does a departure stand out, and it still needs to repeat before you trust it.
- Worked example
- One player always bets within 2 seconds, so a fast bet from them means nothing. Another usually takes 8 seconds, so a 2 second bet from them is a change worth noting.
- Why it matters
- Reading a behavior without a baseline is how stereotypes get mistaken for reads. Nervous people are nervous with every hand.
See also: Tell, False tell, Reading villains