When we refer to tells we actually mean words, emotions, acts, gestures and any other manner of behavior that a poker player does or executes while player and trying to cover the strong hand they are holding. Tells are usually done without the will of the one that acts them out, but no matter if they are consciously executed or not, the other player can interpret the meaning behind them. Many players have the same gesture or emotion whenever they try to hide their hand, but if you want to know exactly what they want to hide you have to learn to tell the exact signification of the gesture from one person to the other.
When we are talking about live poker rooms, players can look strangely at you, can throw chips around, can act as if they are weak, can say things to confuse you and many other actions that can betray their hand. But all of these actions are meaningless when playing online because online you cant actually see the opponents.
But, there are a few online tells that can be helpful and that can and usually are done by online poker players:
- -A player that calls within a split second of your bet. Usually when a player calls immediately it means they are trying to hide the fact that their hand is actually weak. If they call without thinking at all there are trying to bluff and make you think that they are holding a clearly strong hand.
- -They check after some hesitation. If a player check after quite some time of thinking before checking it does not usually mean that they have a weak hand. It means they want to see the next card and you shouldnt bet anymore.
- -They bet after a long thinking period. When a player does a delayed bet, it usually means that they have a strong hand and they are trying to hide t by betting late, making you think they are unsure of their hand and trying to determine you to raise or at least call.
- -When instantly calling or raising on the river. Theses players what you to think they bluff. But actually they are indeed holding a strong hand and they are betting so obviously so you will have doubts and decide they are bluffing.
- -When a player checks instantly. When a player checks instantly he is usually a player that plays at multiple tables and he is holding a weak hand. He tries to save some time by using the check buttons quickly.
- -When he bets on the turn after checking before. When a player first bests on the turn it means he is weak. They either have a draw or they are buffing or semi-bluffing so you should raise them usually even if you dont have the hand for it and you might be yourself bluffing if you do that.