Do You Know These Top 5 Tips for Spotting Online Poker Tells?

On the surface Poker is a card game, its probably the most successful card game of all time, and online poker has taken that and made it even more popular. But poker is more than cards, it is also a strategic game, a battle of wills between players. In fact, you can win hands of poker without having the best cards, just through having superior strategy than your opponents.

So, if poker is not just about the cards in your hand, but is also a strategic game that needs you to gain insight into other players behavior. That the ability to read poker players and to understand their gameplay, makes no-limit hold’em and other poker variants a study of the players themselves too. One of the best ways to gain that insight into your opponent’s strategies is through the repeated behavior they show, usually signifying a specific act. These are known as tells; i.e, they are things a player repeatedly does before they make a specific play, so they ‘tell’ you what that player is about to do.

Knowing what tells are and how to spot them is a crucial part of your poker journey and will dramatically improve your overall performance. Here are the top 5 tips for spotting tells in your next poker game.

Bet Timing Tells Help You Win 

Experienced players will often try to have consistency in their decision making, so that no matter what hand they have, they take a similar amount of time to make each play, but for newer players, and even experienced players who get a bit too enthusiastic with good hands, the time taken for each player’s move can be revealing.

If the player takes a long time to think before raising, they probably have a strong hand, while if they check or call almost immediately, then you can expect a much weaker hand. In a similar way, if a player has a consistent pattern of bet timing, then suddenly takes much less time to make the bet, it can be a sign of a player who is bluffing.

Its not just bets either, if a player has a relatively consistent approach then suddenly starts taking longer for each play on a new hand, that can also be a sign of bluffing, as they try top emphasize the tough choices supposedly being made.

Bet Sizing Patterns Are the most Common Poker Tells

Bets can tell you a lot, and not just in the timing of each move. Pay attention to how your opponent likes to bet, and make note of any sudden changes. For instance, if your opponent keeps the bet very small at the flop, they probably have a weak hand, but if you see them increase bet size significantly at the river, they probably have a winning hand.

These are obvious examples though, and in general, the tells are likely to be a bit more subtle. If a player remains relatively consistent in sticking to 3 or 4 times the big blind raises pre flop, then drops to 2 times BB, that likely shows a weaker hand, even though the change may not seem such a big one. It’s the same with bet increases, if a player established a betting pattern then goes upwards, even from 3-4 to 5 times BB, that can be a tell that they have a stringer hand and are feeling confident.

Chatbox Behavior can be a source of Top Tips for cash games and more

Never ignore the chatbox when playing online poker, it can reveal a lot about who you are playing the game with. While better players will ignore the chatbox, and likely disable it to focus on the game itself, new platers, or those just playing recreationally, will often use the chatbox to vent their frustrations about the game and look to start conversations with other players.

Watch out for what your opponents are doing, those using the chatbox are more prone to errors that can be exploited, as they are not fully focused on the game.

Stack Size and Auto-Rebuy are Perfect Online Poker Tips

You can use stack size and auto-rebuy to spot the kind of player you are up against. An experienced player who is looking for long-term poker success will always use the maximum buy-in, however to spot newer or recreational players, look for random buy-in values, especially smaller amounts.

Multi-Tabling Patterns can Shape your Strategy

Multi tabling is more common than you think, and is a strategy that is designed to help players make more money is the time they have that they could otherwise win. However, few players can do it well, and what happens is that they tend to lose focus on each game, and end up making generic plays that often seem out of sync with what is going on in the hand.

If you see a player just making generic calls through multiple hands, you can use that lack of focus to set up and exploit that player, knowing they are not fully paying attention.

Passive Play with Little Movement

One of the most common traits shared by the majority of recreational players is the reliance on passive play. That means an over-reliance on calling and folding to avoid the showdown, and a lack of aggressive betting such as four-raises.

If you see this, adopting a more aggressive style can force them to fold in situations where you don’t necessarily have the best hand, offering another route to success.

Conclusion

Understanding your opponents is a crucial aspect of online poker, and without the ability to see what they are doing physically, as you would at a casino for instance, we must find other ways to assess their strategies and mindset.

By looking for these variations in timings, behavior and more, it is possible to get valuable insight into how your opponents are thinking, and develop successful strategies to exploit any weaknesses that reveals.

FAQ:

Can you really spot tells in online poker without seeing the players?

Yes. While traditional poker tells often rely on human behavior, such as eye contact or how often they look at hole cards, things like bet sizing and timings can be just as informative and easily judged even online.

What’s the best way to exploit players who are multi-tabling?

Be aggressive with your play and constantly 3-bet them to force mistakes.

How important is bet sizing in identifying tells?

Changes in bet size are a great indicator that someone has a better or worse than average hand and give you an idea when your opponent is bluffing too.

Should I pay attention to the chat box during online poker games?

Yes! Inexperienced or recreational players can often provide insight into their strategies or concerns within the chatbox.