In the world of online poker, one in which you cannot see the face of body language of your opposition, it might seem crazy to claim that, just like in a live action game, there are tells that can help give you an indication as to what your opponent is holding.
Crazy as it might seem, it is entirely possible to observe the actions and habits of an opponent online.
It is important to remember, that like a live game, it’s is also entirely possible for a player to be giving off a fake tell, or it may even be possible that it is a coincidence that the tell is perceived to exist during a hand.
So in what form do these digital slip ups show themselves?
The first comes in the form of Advance Action Buttons.
These can be useful be taking advantage of players who utilise those little checked boxes to tell the poker software what to do when their turn comes.
For instance it is possible to steal the blind of a person next to you who is instantly folding based on what hole cards they are dealt, these players are not creative in their play and should always be greeted with a raise if everyone else has folded to you.
Bet timing is another classic online poker tell.
This concerns how long it takes a player to act in order to pick up a clue from the strength of his hand, which is usually an indication that player is on a draw.
Table captaining is a third kind of online tell.
This is when a player in a game is constantly criticising the playing attempts of his opponents, blaming them for a bad session and generally thinking that the poker he plays his perfect.
There are rare exceptions to table captains but for the most part they are bad players and should be treated with your usual competent game.
A final tell tale sign is bizarre betting.
Players usually make nice clean bets, a multiple of the pot with even numbers, however, it could be the tell of a bad hand when a player makes a bet that seems messy.
The equivalent of a shop pricing an item at 9.99 instead of 10 to try and subtly mislead the customer.
