Relative to live
poker, there are far
fewer tells that you can
pick up on to find out
whether or not your
opponent is bluffing, especially in online Texas Holdem.
This is for the obvious
reason that you are
unable to physically see
who you are playing
against. Nevertheless, this can
be positive for your game
because you can focus on
the tactical side of your
game and learn how to
play different situations
with improved skill.
However, there are still a number of tells that you can look out for online that can give away the strength of your opponent's hand. Below is a list of the top tells you can look
out for whilst playing
online:
Long Wait and Check
This shows that your
opponent is weak, because
he wants to make you
think that he is
considering to make a
move with his hand when
really he wont be holding
much at all. Consider
raising when in position,
even if you don’t have much of a hand
yourself.
Long Wait and
Bet/Raise
This is the opposite
of what was mentioned
above. This action shows
strength, as your opponent
wants to make you think
they are deliberating a
check because they have a
weak hand, but in actual fact they are holding a strong hand.
If you think about it, if you are
holding a monster you will not
want to bet quickly and show confidence in your bet, which may scare your opponents out of the pot. So
be prepared to fold a
decent hand in this
situation.
 |
Check/Call, Bet
You are in position, your opponent checks the flop, you bet, opponent calls your bet, and then your opponent bets out a relatively small amount when the turn comes. In this situation you can comfortably put your opponent on a certain basket of hands; a draw or a mediocre hand like middle pair. What your opponent is trying to do is stop you making a large bet on the turn that he won't like to call (because they may have a weak hand or a draw), and so is attempting to show a little strength by betting first and not having to call a bet from you. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘stop bet’ because your opponent is trying to stop you from putting in that big bet. So try re-raising in these situations to prevent them from improving their hand.
Instant
Bet/Check
Almost every site
will have action tabs
that you can select
before the action gets to
you. This means that you
will act instantaneously
when it is your turn. It
is not a wise idea to use
these buttons for the
following reasons:
- When
you see someone insta-check,
it shows great
weakness because they
are so disinterested
with the hand that
they decide to check
before the action gets
to them.
- Therefore
insta-betting/raising
shows strength, as
your opponent is happy
to put more money into
the pot before seeing
what other players do
and before the action
reaches him or her.
Time
Out – ‘Sorry’
Because of how easy
it is to play poker
online (in ease of use
terms), many players will
not have their full
attention on the game.
They may be involved in
other activities such as
talking on a messenger or
browsing the net. This
means that they
occasionally will not
realise it is their turn
and time out, and then
apologise for wasting
time in the chat box.
This means that due to
their lack of focus, they
will be playing basic
poker – raising with
good hands and
checking/folding bad
hands. You can be
confident that your
opponent won’t be
pulling any moves on you
to win the hand. So if
they bet, make sure you
have a good hand to call
with, or fold. If they
check, try raising to win
the pot. If they do call
when you bet, they may be
on a draw.
These
are the most useful tells
that I have been able to
pick up on in my time of
playing online poker.
Obviously as you can see
there is not a lot that
you can go on apart from
the time a player takes
to act in deciding what
kind of hand they have.
But remember that you
should not just rely on
little ticks and tells to
find out if your opponent
is bluffing.
The
more you play the more
you will understand the logistics of the game and
be able to read people by
their betting patterns.
This is by far the best
way to pick up on the
strength of your
opponent’s hand.
Remember
that the best tell of all
is a player’s betting
pattern.
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