Read About Common Poker Tells (#8): Online Tells

Common Poker Tells (#8): Online Tells

There is, of course, much less information available to the online poker player then there is to the live player. This is not to say that there are not tells online, there are and they are worth noting.

First of all there are the tells that are the same online or live. Most common of these are the betting patterns. Players, in fact, get into even more betting patterns online because of the ease of making certain bets. If the “pot bet” is an automated button function in the site’s software, you will find player’s who resort to that easy option except when they have a big hand or a big bluff to make. “Pot” will be their default bet with all of their drawing and middle range hands.

The most obvious online tell is time. Again if players are using the automated buttons they will often pre-select their bet before the action is on them. Ninety-nine percent of the time this action will be a call and just as often this is a weak bet, just looking to see the flop. It is referred to online as the “Insta-Call” or the “Insta-Check” and it is a lazy tell. Obviously, the “Insta-Raise” should be consider a strong tell for the same reason, the player has hit the raise button without regard to what players acting ahead of him might do. A strong tell but still a lazy play.

Finally, there is the delaying tactic; where a player holds their action until just before they are timed out. Be careful with this one. Sometimes a player has a monster and wants you to think they are really struggling with their call. Other times the delay is used to put players on tilt, the online game moves much faster then the live game and purposely slowing it down can put some players on tilt faster then a slow cocktail waitress. And don’t forget, sometimes what looks like a delaying tactic is actually a slow internet connection and it means absolutely nothing as far as the poker game is concerned.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #109