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4.1 Poker Tells
Poker Tells are anything that you can spot whilst observing your opponent which help you to work out what hand he is holding.
Tells play a big part in live games where you are face to face with your opponents, and can watch their mannerisms and actions. Online poker of course does not have that physical aspect as we can’t see our opponents in the same way our opponents can’t see us either.
However there are still a number of tells that we can use Online to help us work out what hand our opponent might have.
Fundamental Poker Tell rule
| “Weak means Strong, and Strong means Weak” |
This is the underlying fundamental rule to Poker Tells, when humans want to conceal their true intentions, they tend to act the opposite of what they really mean.
The Online Pause Tell
| A Long Pause followed by a check – usually means opponent has nothing or a weak hand A Long Pause followed by a bet – usually means opponent has a very strong hand. |
Bear in mind there are many reasons your opponent may pause such as bad internet connection or a quick visit to the bathroom etc however apart from these situations it is usually indicative of a subconscious action.
Long Pause followed by a check = My Hand is too weak or I don’t have odds to bet, or I am scared of your hand.
Long Pause followed by a bet or raise = I have given this a lot of thought and I think my hand is strong enough to win this pot, or my hand is better than yours I’m betting.
This isn’t always the case, and you should always be wary of a trap.
The Bet Size Tell
| Opponents who use the same bet size for certain situations |
Keep an eye out for players who have a significant betting pattern before the flop, some players will raise 2 times the big blind when they have a good hand (to try and ensure a call) and 4 times the big blind if they are trying to steal (to put more pressure on people to fold), some players will do the opposite of this and other players will have different sizes of bet for each.
But if you keep an eye on this you can sometimes spot this constant bet size pattern and use it as a tell to act accordingly.
The Talker Tell
| If someone says something about their hand mid way through a round, then 90% of the time they will be telling the truth. |
Now this is against what you naturally think, as your first thought is he has to be lying because otherwise he wouldn’t be telling it.
People that use this tactic know that most people think like this and only brag about a hand or give information about their hand away when they want other people not to believe them and call.
Its not too often you come across players who use this tactic, but if you do watch them and see if the above is correct, then next time it happens you can act appropriately using your tell.
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