Double-Bracelet Winner David Bach on Tells at the Table
David Bach is off to a hot start in this year's 2017 World Series of Poker. The WSOP isn't even halfway over, and Bach has already become the first player this year to win two bracelets during the series.
Bach is a familiar face at the WSOP. After cashing several times and making numerous final tables at bracelet events over the years, he broke through in 2009 to win the prestigious $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, the tournament later renamed the Poker Players Championship.
After making more deep WSOP runs after that — including a couple of runner-up finishes (in 2011 and 2013) — Bach won two more mixed game events over the last couple of weeks at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
First he won Event #11 $15,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed, topping a 364-entry field to claim a $119,399 first prize.
Then this weekend he inspired lots of "Bach-to-Bach" puns by winning the very next WSOP event in which he cashed, the Event #30: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. In that one, Bach bested a 150-player field to win a bigger prize of $383,208.
Recently our Sarah Herring caught up with the player known as "Gunslinger" amid his bracelet collecting to discuss specifically the matter of reading tells at the table.
Commenting the testimony on ousted FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee a week-and-a-half ago, Bach talked about what traits tend to make a person seem more truthful when speaking.
From Bach's perspective, Comey's relaxed appearance and choice of language made him believable, much as a player at the table might seem less likely to be lying when acting similarly.
Bach also addresses "tells" like looking uncomfortable or avoiding eye contact that sometimes give away that a player isn't being forthright. Take a look:
For more on the subject of tells at the World Series of Poker, check out Zachary Elwood's recent article compiling clips from past WSOP Main Events and examining various player behaviors, "World Series of Poker Tells: Knowing When to Fold 'Em."
