When you play poker in Red Dead Redemption, is the "look around" option actually useful?

In Red Dead Redemption, during the poker game, you can look around at other people's faces. I assume there's a use of this option, but I wasn't able to get any hint when it may be. Does it actually have a purpose, or is it just for game immersion ?

Solution 1:

Well technically it has a purpose and also adds to game immersion ;)

In all seriousness the NPC players give off tells as well as change their tones/mannerisms slightly depending on past hands and their current hands. The look around option gives you a chance to watch for those tells and play accordingly. It can also give you a better idea of when to cheat, since most of the time the other players will catch you (if you're as bad at it as I am).