How much of a ‘tell’ is having a dry throat?
Having a really dry throat could give away a 'tell' in more than one way!.
Believe it or not there’s a whole physiology behind a nervous dry throat!
Unfortunately if you are taking a drink because you’re feeling nervous about the play – then you won’t be able to hide the fact that you’ve got a nervous dry throat by making out you’re just thirsty. A nervous dry throat is all part of the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome that anyone can experience when they feel threatened or unsure about something. Put more scientifically that means your dry throat is caused by an activation of the autonomic nervous system. Honestly!
The auto what’s’it explained.
Fight or flight syndrome is simply when you need to make a decision whether to stand your ground or possibly live to fight another day. All this goes back to the time of pre-historyl man and is simply part of the conditioning we’ve evolved with. Whilst you’re making your decision about fight or flight; your brain is actually preparing you for the flight option. In which case according to our primitive instincts, you won’t want to eat anything and, with a dry mouth you wouldn’t try. But that’s not the end of it. Your opponents at poker might not be able to tell if you’ve got a dry mouth; but along with the dry mouth amongst other things will also come dilating pupils. So unfortunately other poker players could literally see your nervous dry mouth in your eyes!
The solution?
One solution would be to drink constantly and wear shades!