As we know, poker is a game of incomplete information. The more we can fill in any missing gaps, the better we’ll fare in the game. So in the eternal pursuit of more poker information, consider the data we can glean from one innocuous little object — the poker chip. The exact manner in which a person handles poker chips can convey a great deal about the personality, and current state of mind, of that player.

Let’s begin by looking at how we arrange our chips on the table. This is important for two reasons, firstly because every single thing we do — including how arrange the space around us — says something very basic about our personalities. But more than that, chips are money.

Sure, the casinos make us trade our cash for poker chips, in the hopes that we’ll forget those little plastic tokens we’re throwing into the pot could actually be used to buy groceries. They want us to forget all about “money” and gambool. To a certain extent this works, especially online, but it’s also safe to say that most of us never truly forget (or at least not for long) that these chips are stand-ins for real cash. Roughly, all poker players can be divided into one of two categories when it comes to chip stacks: The well-organized neatniks, and the slobs.

Neatniks come in several varieties. Some like to arrange their chips exactly in columns of 10 or 20, simply to make it easier to count how much they have at any given time. Some like to build impossibly-tall towers with their chips (phallic symbolism, anyone?) to make their stacks appear as imposing as possible. Others veer into more anal-retentive territory, arranging their chip stacks precisely, so that all of the color bands on the side of the chips line up in a coordinated pattern.

Not surprisingly, the more orderly a player’s chip stack appears, the more likely that person is to play a tight game. More to the point, a tidy, well-kept stack signals that this person truly values their poker money, by virtue of the fact they are taking such tender loving care of those plastic stand-ins. When you witness a chip neatnik in action, this is a player who keeps track of every dime won or lost. And most likely, this is somebody who parts with his or her money quite grudgingly.

Also, many of these neat players will divide their chips into two noticeably distinct groups. The first group usually represents whatever money they bought in with, while the second group (which can be off to the side, or sometimes stacked on top of the main group) represents their winnings. Alternatively, the first group could be their “stop-loss” — money they really want to go home with — while the second group of chips is for playing. Either way, that main stack represents moolah they really don’t want to lose. If you notice a player like this in your game, and that “bonus” stack has dwindled down to a stub, thus putting them in danger of having to dip into the main stack if they suffer one more loss, it’s a pretty fair bet this player is now going to play extra-tight.

Conversely, players who simply let all their chips fall into one big messy heap are more liable to play loose. Again, those chips are money — and by showing such little regard for their chips, these same players are showing little respect for their money. Obviously, a haphazard pile of chips is impossible to count with any real precision, so sloppy players never have any good idea of how much they are ahead or behind. They don’t care. Well, not much anyway. These players are quite willing to throw their chips around — literally. (It’s also worth noting that, while rare, some skilled, sneaky players will purposely arrange their chips in a messy pile, to project the image of a loose gambler, when in fact they are anything but. However the reverse — sloppy, loose players arranging their chips neatly so as to falsely project a tight controlled image — virtually never happens.)

Moreover, how we place our chips into the pot can be quite meaningful. Going with the whole “strong means weak and weak means strong” poker mantra (it’s an oldie, but a classic), we find that players who put chips into the pot with any kind of exaggerated motions or extra emphasis are likely to be holding weak cards. Essentially, this person is trying to make his bet look more intimidating than it really is. Some examples would be a player who actively flings his chips into the pot, who extends his betting arm over the middle of the table as he puts the chips in, or who slams his chips onto the felt with a resounding thud.

And you can probably guess what’s coming next. Yup, any players who puts his chips into the pot softly, gently, unassumingly, is liable to be the proud owner of a very strong hand. Examples would be sliding his chips quietly into the pot, or just mildly placing them on the felt, a few inches past the betting line. He wants this bet to appear nonthreatening, almost invisible. When you see a player making a bet in this manner — especially if it’s inconsistent with his prior actions — a little red flag should definitely start waving in your mind.

What if you see a player whose hands are shaking as he puts his chips into the pot? In a word, run! Unless this person is very elderly, extremely drunk, or has some kind of medical condition, he almost surely holds a monster. Whether it’s from a release of tension, or just plain old excitement, this trembling is one of the most reliable tells in all of poker. The trembler has the nuts. Save your money and get out.

Another maneuver worth mentioning is the “fake chipgrab,” wherein a player starts to grab for his chips well before the action has gotten to him, while an opponent is still considering whether to bet, raise, check, etc. Unless this premature grabber is truly a brain-dead poker newbie, the chip-grab is almost always a ploy, a deliberately fake tell, designed to intimidate the still-trying-to-decide-what-todo opponent into taking a more passive action — checking instead of betting, most commonly. It’s actually quite remarkable how often this ploy works.

As with all poker tells, please keep in mind that this kind of information must constantly be put in context as the game goes on. These are general patterns of behavior, and where humans are concerned, no pattern is ever a one-size-fits-all. Some players always bet softly regardless of what they hold; a few players will put extra muscle into their betting motions when they in fact hold the nuts. Exceptions abound. But for the most part, these patterns hold true. Poker chips can tell a story — an illuminating tale about the person who holds them. Watch carefully, put your observations in context, and you can help to make sure that story has a happy ending.

This article originally appeared in Woman Poker Player Magazine print publication.