Using online online casino tells to your advantage
A poker “tell” is a sign given by a online casino player that indicates what he might have in his hand. Often they will make the same eye movements for example when they have a good hand and good poker players can read these tells and use them to their advantage in the game.
But what about online poker, after all you can’t exactly watch for another player scratching his nose nervously every time he’s holding a premium hand. So what can you do?
There are several online poker tells that you can use to your advantage when playing poker on the internet. Although the online game is different in many respects, the way that people act and react can often be just as much of a clue to what cards they are holding as a tell at a poker table in a casino.
Online Poker Tell No.1 – How quickly the player makes his move
This is probably the clearest of the online poker tells, you can read a lot into the speed of the other player’s response. For example let’s look at checking. If your opponent takes a lot of time online casino before checking, it indicates that they have thought about it and decided not to bet. Conclusion? Their hand isn’t strong enough to bet on. This is a very weak move by an opponent and it is usually worth testing their resolve by raising the pot, they will nearly always fold.
You should also be aware of this yourself when you are playing, if you are going to check a mediocre hand do it quickly.
Generally speaking poker online is played at a fast pace and long pause for thought can indicate weakness.
Online Poker Tell No.2 – Using the chat service
If you’re spending all of your time chatting to other players and raking over and analyzing previous hands, then you certainly aren’t concentrating fully on the game. An opponent who likes to sound as if he’s just off the plane from the WSOP, while in reality he’s playing a $5 + 0.50 tournament is normally not a good player. Let him chat away and tell you why he should have won the last hand, meanwhile you concentrate on winning the next one.
Online Poker Tell No.3 – Over-betting every hand
This is a particular style of play in poker known as being a “maniac”. The maniac comes charging out at almost every hand with a big bet, often going all-in. This type of play is very hard to read as you never know whether the maniac actually has a good hand or not, so the best way to combat it is to wait until you get a TOP hand (AA, KK, AK suited) and go up against him. The chances are you’ll either double up or take the maniac out of the game altogether.
Online Poker Tell No.4 – The Check/Caller
This is a giveaway and very easy to spot. The check/caller will want to see every flop before deciding whether to bet and will only ever check or call a bet in order to see it. Once you’ve spotted him the check/caller is easy to deal with, just raise the pot and they will almost always fold. This type of player usually ends up getting “blinded out”, all of their chips go on blinds and calls and they limp out of the game early.
Beware of him betting though, as soon as he raises the pot he has told you that he has a great hand and you must fold unless you’ve got a great hand too.