What is a poker tell? It's an action made by a poker player that tips off the strength of his or her hand. Now we all make them in online poker, it's all about minimizing how much we tip others off. I'll begin by illustrating the tells, and finish by telling you how you can minimize these tells.-----------------------------------
Your online alias or name. This isn't the most reliable of tells, but if you have no other read or data on an opponent then you may as well try and use it for a little information. If a player's name is in all caps then chances are he is aggressive, loose, and a bit high strung. He's going to probably be bluffing his brains out, and will more than likely go on tilt easily. This also goes for names with a mix of upper and lower cases, such as tIrEur or something silly like that.
If a player's name is pristine simple and not out of the ordinary then they are probably conservative and straightforward with their poker play. This person is probably very careful about what their actions, enough to put some thought and effort into typing their alias into the sign up sheet.
If a player's name is in all lowercase, maybe with some typos, he's probably loose and passive. Doesn't really care too much, knows just enough to hang himself. Expect a lot of limping and chasing, but not much aggression unless he has the nuts or close there too. But may be hard to make fold a semi decent hand.
Again not the most reliable of tells, and this form of picking up on players tendencies is well known now and some more crafty players out there will make a name with the intent of making you think they are a loose when in reality they are tight.
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The speed of which someone bets, raises, or calls. Again this can be taken advantage of by crafty players and you can sometimes get misreads on players who are multi tabling and just can't make decisions quickly.
If someone hesitates to a big bet, they are probably relatively weak, but may have a drawing hand or just a good hand but fear the set or straight. This is a person who you may be able to bluff off on the next card with another shot if you feel they haven't made their draw.
An instant call or raise has widely been considered a sign of strength. But don't always be fooled, especially if you make a big raise and it's an instant call but not an instant all in or raise. People are aware of these online tells and may try and set you up for a future bluff with an instant call. Instant action usually portrays strength and confidence, and it may be enough for a bluff artist to convince you that he is trapping you.
Again not the most reliable of tells, and easily taken advantage of by crafty players. This includes the use of instant check/call/raise boxes. Again these boxes can be taken advantage of by crafty players, and beginners and amateurs alike don't use them often because they can't think that quickly for their hands, and at least understand that they don't want to give away their hand strength.
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Post the big blind or wait for the big blind? This online poker tell can be much more reliable. I for one used to never complete the big blind and will wait for it to come around. It saved me money and I was patient enough not to care if I play now or 15 minutes from now. Ever since realizing this online tell I no longer wait for the big blind ever.
It's a sign to players who are savvy enough to pick this up, that a player who pays the big blind to play early is often loose, looking for action and probably a fishy who isn't playing professionally or isn't playing to win in the long run. This is exactly the image I want at a table, I want my big hands to be paid off, I want people to call me down to the river with nothing more than top pair 2nd or 3rd kicker because they think I throw my chips away for action.
A first impression is important in poker, and it often takes a lot of good play to convince another player that you are in fact good, and by that time you probably already have a good portion of their bankroll in your pocket.
This is why I don't use this tell too much, it's too easy to get trapped into thinking another player is terrible. You have to stay humble in the game of poker and always reserve doubt for the skill of those around you. The reading of an opponent never stops as we are always learning, always getting better (or hope we are) and thus we must always readjust our reads.
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Betting patterns. This is the most important read for online poker and many would argue(as I would) that the most important read for any form of poker. The weakest link of most poker player's game is that they can't change gears, they don't adjust and they are set in their ways. The only time someone ever seems to change gears is when they get beat bad and throw themselves into tilt, this often results in the remaining tight players trapping you into giving away the rest of your bankroll.
Rule one: How often does someone see a flop? This will allow you to set a basic range of hands for this player. If he plays only a quarter or less of the time even from the blinds you can bet he only plays the premium hands, AA-99, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ and the very occasional suited connector from late position.
The exact opposite is true of someone who sees the flop half the time or more. You can't figure out what hand he has just because he plays a lot of flops. This makes it difficult for you to read him, but should mean that you should constantly bet into him and force this person to define his hand. Nothing helps a read more than pressuring your opponents, a lot of players don't consider paying the big blind to see a flop much of a decision, but paying 4 times the big blind to see a flop may make that decision a whole lot harder.
Rule Two: How often does this person bet and in what situations? If it's a tight player who bets a lot then you can expect that maybe 50% or more of the time he's betting with the best of it, but if he's betting a lot he must also be bluffing a lot. Doesn't matter how tight you are unless you only wait for hands like AA and KK, you will get unfavorable flops or flops that don't help your hand, but you would still like to claim that pot. Someone who bets a lot you can almost always guarantee is someone who bluffs a lot.
If someone bets very little, they are meek. They don't bluff often, and even when they have good hands they don't bet big. These guys are easy to stay away from, and easy to not pay off. You will only find yourself in trouble with these people when you have a huge hand and he has the nuts(also known as the best possible hand).
The person in between who seemingly bets a lot at one time but not another, becomes loose at one point then tightens at another instance is the scariest person. This is a person who knows how to change gears, someone who you can't get accurate reads on. This is the person you should strive to become, and probably the hardest to do so. This requires most of us to leap out of our comfort zone. If you are used to being tight aggressive it feels weird and uncomfortable to become loose aggressive. The maniacs out there just feel so bored when they change into tightwads and suddenly don't play a lot of hands. However if you can get over these mental blocks and switch your play up consistently then you can truly become a terror at the tables.
Fishes are victims of one of the more blatant of online poker tells. They make serious errors in bet sizing. If you identify one of these at your tables you can really narrow down their hand range. These players will often bet very little or check their good hands always trapping no matter if it's the nuts or just high pair, you punish these guys by not bluffing and getting your free cards to a better draw. These players will also over bet their draws and bluffs. If you are confident in this read you should either call or re raise, trap them or bluff back into them and scare them off the pot.
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These reads are no where near as good as the reads you can get at a live game in a casino or home game. It's hard even for the best players in the world to hide some of their tells, we all have them, but some are more blatant than the rest. If you can mix up your play in online poker, then you really have no tells. They can't see you twitching, your eye movement or body language over the internet.
I'm much less versed and experienced with real live poker tells, but after reading some literature on the subject I try to watch televised poker a little different now. I try and take those ideas from my readings and apply it to what I see on the television. For someone who doesn't have many chances to play real live poker it provides good practice to pick up on tells.
If you want to practice reading opponents from online poker even when you can't play any poker, go hang out in the many numerous poker strategy forums on the net. Read the hand examples and try and read the opponents based on their betting and post your opinions on what you think they had and what you think of that player's play. I plan on posting more hand examples as well in the near future to help my readers practice and analyze when they can't get to the felt.
Well I hope you all enjoyed this article, and put these ideas to good use. Remember to keep mixing up your play, keep focused in making good decisions, keep reading your opponents whether your in the hand or not, and above all keep having fun.
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