Examples of some odd or obvious poker tells you've seen

dompoker · Jun 9, 2026

Some signs that I have seen are when there are possibilities of ladder, or color, I have done it myself, not all the time the cards fall, sometimes I lose.

RomboPro777 · Jun 10, 2026

increased sazings, fish usually do this with their own hands, or different preflop bets

piic · Jun 10, 2026

One guy at my local casino would literally stop breathing whenever he was bluffing. It became impossible not to notice after a while.

JhonnyThe357 · Jun 11, 2026

In online poker, we don't have facial expressions, but bet sizes, timing, and repeated patterns end up telling stories too.
they're as obvious as a player shaking their hands at a live table. 😄

GrannySmit77 · Jun 13, 2026

I find poker tells depend on how professional or not a poker player is. Recreational players have more tells than professional players. Two of the most common tells that I see are: 1. when they look at their cards then down at their chip stack- they have a good hand and think about betting and 2. when they look around the room or seem not interested- they have a very strong hand.

BillyR23 · Jun 13, 2026

nabmom said:
Paying attention to other players' behavior at the poker table allows you to pick up on some really obvious or odd poker tells. And yes, there are tells in online poker too.

What are some of the clearest or oddest tells you have actually seen (or done?) playing poker?

It's a bit tricky if it's for online poker- I mean we can usually use only some (limited) data we have on our opponent... the chat used to be one of the best way to get important and free info- but most of the sites I play on, eliminated it (usually the smaller markets), so nowadays the most reliable one, and I have to agree with many community members, is timing tells, especially when the opponent plays very fast (like for example quick calls preflop/flop - the opponent tries to see one more card cheaply, usually it mean a medium strength hand* not a hand the opponent plans/wants to riks too many more chips, so even if we have a bad hand- we can try to win the hand by bluffing); bet sizing tells are 2nd on my list and to complete a short Top 3, I'll go with some classic player tells- for example limping a lot preflop, a clear indication that we deal with a passive/weak player...

bapfel · Jun 14, 2026

a pot bet on a small cards flop from the BB indicates often a high pair to avoid higher cards in further streets or a flush draw caling for completing the flush at the turn

Balou1982 · Jun 15, 2026

hi folks,

when im playing micro cash games there are many players try to dominate their villains with c-bets which are slightly too high and
this happens many times when players try to bluff with with weaker hands just to try out how often they can win without playing the cards.
sometimes i recognize the same style from different players who think they can play it hard with everyone @table - im waiting for spots and play it a bit slow and give myself a Calling-Station-Item (with holding a monster or very solid hand) till River is shown.

good Luck fellas

s0ftdumps · Jun 16, 2026

I think it's less of a tell and more of a psychological play. In live games, I've seen hyper-aggressive players say things like, "I'd fold if I were you," or "You probably don't want to call this one." A lot of the time they're trying to reverse psychology their opponent into making the call.

It's not really a physical tell, but it can be very effective because people start wondering why someone would say that. Sometimes the strongest players understand that what they say at the table can influence decisions just as much as their betting patterns.

riff_raff312 · Wednesday at 11:37 AM

ms_attack said:
A tell that I have observed many times is when a player raises pre-flop and then makes a continuation bet on the flop and you call, and then he checks on the turn, it shows the player's weakness and in most cases he has a hand that did not hit the board.

Sometimes i do this myself and then sometimes I'll get what i want a large bet on the turn and go allin good trap you might want to try it. Oh sometimes it don't work but when it dose whoo hoooo.

martinoni · Wednesday at 11:43 AM

Most of the times that in the online mode I get to ther river against a villain that takes some time using his time bank, he usually have the nuts of kinda...

How do I know? Most of the time I call I lose hahaha

riff_raff312 · Wednesday at 11:53 AM

Online is hard to pick up on a tell with some people,and the there are the ones that bet slow but the next hand snap bet on every street giving me the thoughts of a good hand and or a bad one. Then there are the ones who are just setting a trap so be careful because online poker is every different than live poker good luck and have fun.

Toruk Makto · Wednesday at 9:42 PM

I'm going to talk about online, for example: players who usually bluff in a certain position, this will certainly be repeated... And one thing I noticed too, if AK is losing frequently to any hand, don't get wrapped up in large pots with AK, or any hand that has given the same signals. It may seem crazy, but I always make these observations and they help me a lot. I even scored a tournament just by folding hands because I had information extracted through my eye observations.

Leandro6803 · Wednesday at 10:17 PM

I see it when a player opens with a high raise and limps with a weak hand; I see many players doing this.

leomarinho · Thursday at 9:03 PM

A hand that I still remember from when I was a complete beginner happened in a low limit game. I received A ♦ 2 ♦ and decided to pay the pre-flop because, at that time, any Ace of the same suit seemed like a monstrous hand to me.

The flop came J ♠ J ♥ 2 ♣. My opponent made a continuation bet, and I paid because I had hit a pair of 2. Looking back, I wasn't thinking about ranges or hand strength — I was just glad I got something right.

On the turn came another 2, leaving J ♠ J ♥ 2 ♣ 2 ♦. Suddenly I had a full house! My opponent bet even higher this time, and I was thrilled. In my beginner's mind, a full house was practically unbeatable.

Without thinking too much, I went all-in. My opponent called instantly and showed a J, which gave him a bigger full house. It was at that moment that I learned a painful but valuable lesson: not all full house is the same!

Today that seems obvious, but back then I really thought I had the best possible hand. 😂

Toruk Makto · Saturday at 3:22 PM

Clearly, most players are unable to let go of their cards, out of sheer whim and vanity!!

bronwen777 · Saturday at 3:43 PM

Alex Houngan said:
One of the most obvious online poker tells I’ve noticed is when a player has auto check/fold enabled. If they instantly check the flop, they’ll usually fold to even a small continuation bet unless they hit something decent. Another common tell is players suddenly taking extra time before making a strong river raise, trying to look unsure. I’ve also seen people spam fast bets with weak hands but tank forever when they actually have the nuts.

yup, Ive seen the same.. also like when a flush draw comes up, it's like people take a few seconds longer to act, almost like they have it/dont have it. I must admit, i also play somewhat similar at times. if I really just dont want to commit to my handd. but then maybe you were the big blind and didnt put anything in and say you check/fold.. and then a 2 pops op, giving you a bottom paid. its painful cause u think the oponent is trying to take the pot for knowing you check/folded. anyway, for hands I dont want/care for. Im just trying to get out of the game.

Rmi · Saturday at 3:53 PM

What I have noticed the most is when they have premium, since they do limp in first position and then all in

armoko · Sunday at 5:29 AM

A classic tell for me is when someone flops the absolute nuts and suddenly becomes very chatty. They start saying things like “This is a tough spot” or “I don’t even know where I’m at in this hand.” That’s often an attempt to look weak and induce action. The stronger they act confused,the more likely they are to have it.

Sebbour · Sunday at 6:14 AM

The most obvious poker tell online is when by someones avatar is written "sitting out". Then I'm sure that he isn't there.

Jokes aside, I don't think there are many (if any) good and certain online poker tells. There is also another possibility, that I don't know to recognize them.

Skot_Gy · Sunday at 6:25 AM

The most annoying fairly frequent tell i encounter is when a player waits every last second to pass for every hand, nomatter if good or bad hand. Such annoyance

margmilo44 · Sunday at 11:08 AM

The funny thing is that a tell is only valuable once you've seen the pattern repeat. A lot of behaviors can mean different things for different players. I've found betting patterns and timing tells tend to be more reliable than one-off physical tells, especially online.

The strangest tell I ever noticed was a player who became unusually quiet whenever he had a monster hand. Most of the time he was chatting nonstop, so the sudden silence was a giveaway.

Examples of some odd or obvious poker tells you've seen

dompoker

Legend

RomboPro777

Enthusiast

piic

Enthusiast

JhonnyThe357

Rock Star

GrannySmit77

Visionary

BillyR23

Legend

bapfel

Legend

Balou1982

Legend

s0ftdumps

Visionary

riff_raff312

Legend

martinoni

Visionary

riff_raff312

Legend

Toruk Makto

Legend

Leandro6803

Visionary

leomarinho

Rock Star

Toruk Makto

Legend

bronwen777

Enthusiast

Rmi

Visionary

armoko

Legend

Sebbour

Legend

Skot_Gy

Visionary

margmilo44

Rock Star

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