You don’t have to play live poker to figure out your opponent’s poker moves at the table. Online poker is different. Your opponent’s expressions, movements and actions are not visible to you or other players. However, you can still get valuable information from your opponent. This information can be used to determine what online poker is telling you to look for, and to make informed decisions that will improve your poker bankroll as well as your win rate.
The most useful and common online poker tells are “Timing Tells”. Your opponent will take some time before deciding to act on his hand. Instant bets are the first sign of bad timing. This is when your opponent acts without taking the time to evaluate his hand, the flop and his opponents hands. Instant bets can be large and often larger than the pot, especially if you are playing online poker.
It’s a sign that the player placed his bet immediately. It is very likely that he has a large hand (AA or QQ, KK, JJ, KK) or a draw. It is important to remember that the instant bettors poker style is always to place continuation bets. However, if three players see the flop, and the third person bets immediately, then he almost certainly has a better hand. To get a better understanding about your opponents’ play style, you will need to play some hands with them.
Instant bet telling is even more reliable when players face a bet and raise almost immediately. The poker tell is so easy because the raiser has no time to analyze the action or work out his opponents’ stack sizes. He can then calculate how much he could win or lose in the hand. If it beats all the other hands, he will usually have an over pair or straight draw/flush.
This tell can be a sign that you need to play only your best hands and fold the rest. Keep in mind, however, that some players will be addicted to action and just instinctively place bets quickly. You need to make sure the instant bettor you are playing against isn’t one such player.
Pay attention to your opponent’s speed in calling a bet. These “instant calls” are often made by players who have already checked the flop. This player will hold decent hands, but not great hands (flush, second pair or top pair with weak kickers), will check the flop and see a wager, then instantly call the bet without having to think about his pot odds or outs. This poker player will not fold or raise his hand. He just wants to call every size bet.
Poker players who prefer to slow-play large hands such as over sets and pairs will often take time to consider their hand before calling a bet. However, with second pair, most new or amateur poker players will just call the bet immediately without taking time to calculate their pot odds and outs.
Instant calls can be beaten by applying pressure to the turn. You can value-bet any top pair and bluff with a wide range of hands. Although it might take three attempts, you can usually force instant calling players into folding.
The buy-in tell is another tell. The buy-in tell is another indicator of weak poker players. An inexperienced player will have a stack size that is between the maximum and minimum buy-in. This can be used to your cbcpnews.com advantage when you play pot odds and win big pots against these players.
If a player is multi-tabling (playing at more than one table at a time) and seems to have a big chip stack at each table then it can be an indication that he is most likely a player with a good strategy for Winning Online Poker. Multi-table players are usually experienced players who have had great success at online poker tables. Online poker pros will use a lot of their bankroll to play. If you have an opponent that is playing at more than one table, treat him like a regular player and give him your best shot.