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Online Poker Tells
2009-12-29 13:07:56
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A tell is any habit that a player has that gives other players information on the card's they are holding. I'm not going to debate over whether or not online tells exist in this article, as it is obvious. Lets just say that, YES, it is possible to derive information by observing your opponents online. How you ask ? By paying attention to everything that happens. Timing Tells Lets first discuss timing tells. This is gaining information about the possible range of your opponents by observing the time it takes them to act. The most reliable timing tells are as follows. The insta-call of your c-bet - When a player calls your c-bet immediately it is likely that they have a weak calling hand. A stronger hand would need time to think about whether to raise or call. What you do - When your c-bet gets insta-called, if your hand is weak and behind the callers range you should fire close to a pot sized bet on the turn, and the 2nd barrel should be enough to get your opponent to fold the better hand. Any less of a bet might get your opponent to call the turn as well. If your hand is strong and ahead of your opponents range you should value bet on the turn for a small bet that your opponent will be tempted to call with his marginal holding. The delayed check: When a player takes a long time to check they could be attempting to hide weakness. They already know they are going to check, but they are afraid that checking too fast will look weak and induce the opponent to bet any two cards. So the player pretends to be thinking about whether to bet before checking. They don't want you to bet, they want to see the next card for free. What you do - You should usually bet ΒΎ of pot to full pot against a player who pauses long before checking, if they are otherwise playing fast. If your hand is weak then you should take the opportunity to bet and take down the pot.. If your hand is marginal or even strong but susceptible to being drawn out you should also bet the pot to give unfavorable odds to any type of weak draw. The only exception is when a player does the delayed check when your holding a made hand, you should then also do a delayed check back to them, and more often then not they will bet the next street (if there is one). The process there is that the player who just did the first delayed check will see your reciprocal delayed check as the same thing theirs was, weak. A reciprocal delayed check can have the effect of making it look like you were thinking about bluffing after your opponents check but then decided not to. They think that their original delayed check worked by getting you not to bet, so they take the opportunity to bluff the next street and you get the chips. The delayed bet: When an opponent who is otherwise playing regular speed, takes a long time to think and then makes a bet it can be a tell that they have a strong hand. They are taking time to figure out what bet sizing will get the most value out of their strong hand. They also want you to believe that the hesitation in making the bet is due to it being a tough decision on whether to bet. What you do - FOLD unless you are very strong. Warning " good players also use this as a reverse tell so be aware of who your opponent is when using this tell. If he is an online regular then it might not be the best time to use this tell. This tell works best against random unknowns. The insta-check from the big blind: A player sitting in the big blinds who uses the check/fold in turn option button obviously has a week hand. They are often multi-tabling and are trying to save time. What you do - If you limped in and the BB insta-checks you should bet at the pot, a half pot bet will work and you'll take it down the majority of the time. If there is another limper in the hand and you have position you should bet if he checks, and raise if he bets. You raise when he bets because he will be betting light. No strength has been shown, you limped after him and the BB insta-checked, so he will be betting often. You bet when he checks because duh you have position that's why you limped after him in position so you can bet any flop he checks to you on. Your ignoring the BB because you know he is super weak and was ready to fold preflop, if he hits huge he will likely make it very clear by c-raising and you can get away. If you open limped (in a cash game, don't open limp it mtts) and there is another limper in the hand as well as the BB, you should bet any flop and re-assess after that. The insta preflop 3-bet When you open raise and an opponent 3-bets automatically when its his turn, they will often have a very strong hand. It means QQ " AA and AK. If your opponent had JJ or worse then he would need to pause to think for at least a couple seconds on how to play the hand. What you do - If you or your opponent has less then 20M or you are out of position then you should fold which will be the majority of the time. If you and your opponent are over 20M deep and he is 3betting from the blinds, putting you in position after the flop, then you should call with any underpair to set-mine and suited connectors and gappers to try to flop huge. This is implied odds coming into play. If you hit a set or other big hand on the flop then you are fairly certain you are going to get paid off well. The insta c-bet When your opponent opens pre-flop and you call, then he instantly fires at the flop. He was already planning to bet any flop. If he hit the flop at all he would have pauses to determine the best bet sizing for value. What you do - If your hand is weak you should raise and try to re-steal the c-bet. If your hand is strong you should smooth call and try to get him to 2nd barrel you. If your hand is marginal should also raise because you will be in a tough spot if she 2nd barrels you. Notice you never fold to the insta-cbet. * There is certain flop textures you might want to call with the marginal hand instead of raising but that is beyond the scope of this article. The insta river bet Your opponent insta bets the river, when a strong hand would take the time to get value and a marginal hand would need to take some time to decide whether to bet for value or to check-call.. The insta river bet is very often a bluff because they don't need time to think, they decided they were bluffing before the river card hit. What you do - If you have any hand capable of beating a complete bluff then call. There is not value in raising a total bluff, because its never calling. You win the same pot by calling without risking any more chips in the event your read was wrong. If you have something like king high and you cannot beat a complete bluff, then you can consider raising and taking the pot. WARNING ABOUT TIMING TELLS Timing tells are not as reliable as they once used to be, due to the amount of players multi-tabling but they still have relevance. Players playing slow and habitually delaying checks and bets is standard and not a tell for players who are multi-tabling several tournaments. The key is to target randoms and unknowns who are less likely to be playing several tournaments when using the "delayed" timing tells. The value in observing timing tells against regulars (or anyone) occurs when an opponent deviates from their usual patterns. For example, if a player has been playing fast for several orbits, but then suddenly delays, this will almost always be a tell. Conversely, if a player who has been playing slow insta-bets you , this also is a tell. Its not always going to mean the same thing, but you need to be aware of when your opponents behavior is out of character. Pattern Tells Pattern tells are identifiable and exploitable betting patterns that many players use. There are two types of pattern tells, common pattern tells that you can use on randoms and specific pattern tells that you should develop against regulars with note taking. In this article we will discuss a common pattern tell and a specific pattern tell in the same scenario. The out of position bet from the blinds. When the SB or BB call your initial opening raise from the blinds, and then bet into you on the flop, it much more often then not means a marginal holding like 2nd pair. This is usually a bet intended to "see where they are at" with a hand that's not strong but has some value. This is the common pattern tell. What you do - Tell them where they are at by re-raising the bet and they will usually determine that their hand is behind and fold. If your not already raising these bets, I consider that a huge leak. Give it a try and be pleasantly surprised how much it works. While many other "moves" become obsolete as the field catches up to how to counter them, this move has proven to have longevity and survived the knowledge explosion in online poker. Not enough players are using the move, for the counter-move to be very effective, which is to make the bet from the blinds with a strong hand to induce the move. The counter move does work great against specific players that you have determined are using the move. This is a specific pattern tell. If your in a pot with a player who you know will raise the "out of position blind bet" and you flop a monster in the BB then go ahead and try the counter move, just don't use it against randoms. Use the common pattern tell move itself of raising the out of position blind bet in your regular play against random unknowns, and the counter-move specific pattern tell of betting out of position from the blinds into the flop when you flop big against specific opponents you have a note on that they do the first move. Bet sizing tells Bet sizing tells are gaining information on what your opponent holds based on the size of his bets. Min or small pre-flop 3-bet When an unknown random player min or small 3-bets you then he usually has AA.. This is a common bet sizing tell. The player wants to raise but they want to keep you in the pot so they raise a small amount that they think you are sure to call. What you do - See the above timing tells section on insta 3-betting. The rules are the same here. Weak flop bet When an unknown or random player bets less then half the size of the pot it is usually weak. They are doing one of two things usually. They could be betting to "see where they are at" with a marginal holding so they can fold easily if they are raised. They also could be employing a post oak type of bluff, making a small bet that looks like its for value and wants a call. These bluffs don't need to succeed very often to be profitable so don't let them succeed against you. What you do - Raise or check-raise. If he is betting a marginal hand to see where hes at he will fold and the other times he is bluffing he will also fold. If you had a specific read and could narrow down when hes bluffing and when hes betting marginally I would say to just call on the times hes bluffing if you have a decent hand but you won't be able to make that distinction the vast majority of the time so raising is the safer play. The 999 bet When your opponent bets a funny amount like 24,999, a mountain of chips appears on the table. Sometimes your opponent is doing this to make the bet look more then it is. It usually won't want a call. What you do - They usually don't want you to raise or call so you should disappoint them when you can. I would be careful with this tell, don't just raise any 2 over someone because they bet an amount like that, just use it to sway an otherwise close decision towards raising or calling but don't get too out of line. The post-flop overshove When your opponent re-raises you on the flop all-in for a significant amount. This is often a semi-bluff with a draw. The fold equity they gain and the outs they have when they are called make this a correct play for your opponents to make. What you do - Call with top pair and hold 1 time. Fold if you don't have at least top pair, as you wont have enough equity to make calling profitable with less. WARNING ABOUT BET SIZING TELLS These bet sizing tells are well-known by regulars and they often give reverse fake tells to deceive you. Be aware who you are playing against. Unless otherwise indicated, these tells work best against random unknown players and not so much against regulars. Chat tells Chat tells are when a player gives you information on his play by what he says in the chat box. Comments that indicate how clueless a player is will give you solid information to exploit. The tilt monkey mega ranter These are players who think they are far better than they are, and play much worse when losing. When they start going off at people at the table and freaking out, its just a bad player telling you that they are about to play even worse than normal What you do - Prey on their fears by betting scare cards, they'll think they've just been "screwed again' and give you the pot while typing "nice catch donkey". Play as many pots as you can with these players, they are usually dead money and will make all around spewy plays. The Gloater Players who like to gloat after winning a pot by typing "ty fish" or something similar are normally long-term weak-tight losers. Someone who regularly wins doesn't need to talk smack about it. Someone who rarely wins a pot and needs to draw attention to that fact will be insecure with their game and weak-tight. What you do " They are weak-tight so respect their raises and re-raises. Bluff them often when they show weakness. The "why do you raise every hand" whiner A player who doesn't know how to handle your constant pressure might say a thing like, "you really got it every time", or "keep raising every hand buddy". What you do " Run them over. They can't handle you so keep doing what your doing. If they finally reshove you, it could be that they got dealt a hand good enough to finally play back at you, or they could be blowing up from tilt. Err on the side of caution when they play back at you. The "you raised UTG with 86, what a donkey" whiner If an opponent comments on your starting hand selection being loose, it can be because he thinks he plays "the right way', which is ABC, tight/passive. What you do " Exploit him by betting when he checks. He is straightforward so his plays usually mean what they look like. When he enters the pot he has a good starting hand so narrow the range you put him on accordingly. The "professor" Your opponent is the type who says things in the chatbox like "why would you raise in that spot ever" or " I am never showing down anything less then a set there, what a bad call". Sometimes he is a good player and sometimes he is a bad player, you will be able to tell by the things he says. What you do - Agree with him whether he is right or wrong, engage him and he will keep telling you how he would of played every hand, and you can adjust your strategies against him accordingly. After you play a standard hand and show down, ask him how he would of played it, ask him if you played it "right". Reverse tells Like I indicated earlier, good players give off reverse tells to induce you to make mistakes. Be aware of who is capable of this and do not rely on these standard tells against them but develop specific tells for them pertaining to their game. Employ Reverse Tells into your own game to induce your opponent to make mistakes by doing these things I have listed as tells when you are against a knowledgeable opponent who is capable of reading the tell and acting on it. Now if your opponent knows that you are also knowledgeable he could realize your employing a reverse tell and adjust accordingly, and it can become a leveling game of rock,paper,scissors. If that's the case you should probably mix things up and not try to use obvious reverse tells against someone who knows what your doing. Many players might not know who you are though, and if that's the case, they won't think your capable of doing reverse tells, that's who you use them. To summarize, use reverse tells against good players who don't know your capable of using reverse tells. Be aware of other players who are capable of using reverse tells and avoid getting trapped by them. Implement these exploits into your game and you will see an improvement in your results. Against unknown random players you should exploit them in the proven, tried and tested methods. Exploit their standard habits and patterns over and over. Many online players are regulars. Their standard habits are still exploitable, but when they deviate from their normal patterns is what you should focus on. This article first appeared in Bluff Magazine. |
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