Britain is a nation of 60 million 'liars'
British people don't just bluff when playing poker...they lie all the time, according to new research
| by The Suited Connector |  May, 24th 2011 |
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Above: British people can't resist telling whoppers, say researchers
Britons are the most dishonest people on the planet with 14% of people lying at least once a week to get their own way.
The entire country is suffering from a bluffing epidemic with both men and women nationwide telling endless whoppers to impress friends, family and colleagues, according to new research.
Women lie more than men with nearly half hiding the truth about their weight. Another third admitted they are routinely dishonest to their partners.
Men lied less, but when they did it was likely to be about their sexual prowess (14%), their sporting ability (15%) and to get a new job (20%).
The research, commissioned by Grosvenor Casinos to mark their 2011 Grosvenor UK Poker Tournament, also found that most people in the UK (58%) thought they would spot it if they were being lied, fibbed or bluffed to.
Body language expert Judi James said: "We do it to omit the truth to either get out of trouble, get something we want or to protect someone’s feelings.
"The most obvious signs to look out for when you are being bluffed are either an over or under-performance as people tend to either shut down on their body language signals (the classic poker face), or go over the top, gesticulating wildly and over-emphatically; eye-dart and an eye cut-off (we rightly think our eyes are the biggest give-aways of our real feelings); a long pause prior to the bluff as the person works to suppress their true response and overlay it, and minor signs of stress like swallowing hard, raised shoulders or increased self-comfort gestures.
"Bluffing is a much more difficult skill than most of us think. Guilt and pressure tend to get the better of us, making it hard to speak or gesticulate normally."
Poker pro Stuart Rutter added: "Bluffing is one of the key elements of poker and what makes it such a great game.
"If in every game of poker, every player knew every other player’s cards, the best hand would always win. What fun is that?
"Poker is a game of imperfect, incomplete information that makes it possible to win just by representing that you have the best hand - and getting the other players to believe you."
According to the research 62% of poker players look for facial expressions as ‘tells’ of bluffing, while 61% look at the player’s eyes.
