Mythos of online tells...

Well, to be sure there are tells online, but they can vary for so many reasons. Why not discuss some of the supposed tells that can trip us up if we aren't careful. Let's start with the classic: slow means strong/fast means weak. Not at microstakes at UB it doesn't .

Any more?

I don't think there are many tells online, i just try to take notes and remember hands that particular players have played and the way they bet, and use what i infer from such against them.

Yea, there really aren't any tells in online poker. The only thing as chainfire said from what you have to go from is betting patterns, his previous play and such things. I mean sometimes from weak players, they will bet small when they have a hand or may want to draw in a hand and they feel confident that they will hit and win so that they can build up the pot, where if they're bluffing, they might bet a little higher amount.

But the problem with that, is that some players either do it on purpose or they will understand that you're catching up to their strategy and they will use it against you. Plus, it's not really a Tell as it is Betting Patterns still.

When it comes to notes I'll generalize. Specific hands...??? I just put the generalized terms. Calling station, fish, rock, chicken/mouse, maniac, bomb, and (possible) shark. I generally put possible in parenthesis because sometimes a "lesser" player can make a sharky play. I put that + table type + whether they're loose or tight. If they're really tight I call them "Cameron " because if you stuck a lump of coal up their ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond.

Betting patterns aside, the only real "tell" (used loosely) you can get online is the time it takes a person to act.

You'd rate me as a shark then!

I do the same, i just take note of what they play when they win a show down, and remember if and what they pet pre-flop, the flop, turn, river etc. Of course i try my best to label the players and use their weak tendencies against them.

Auburngent said:

Betting patterns aside, the only real "tell" (used loosely) you can get online is the time it takes a person to act.

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This will only likely tell you how many tables they are playing.

tenbob said:

This will only likely tell you how many tables they are playing.

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And sharks play more tables, right?

I think names like PokerGawd, or Imafish, can tell you a lot about the player. Also anyone with 420 in their name.

tenbob said:

This will only likely tell you how many tables they are playing.

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Or if the phones ringing or his computer froze.

Very fast or very slow typically means very strong or very weak. I will (on purpose) sometimes let the time run down when I have a very strong hand. This is a great act. I will also bet quickly when bluffing. I have found some quick betters to be bluffers too. But it has to be taken into context.. if there is a straight on the board or flush possibility then I'm probably spending the time for real to consider what I want to do.

For many players at microstakes weak bets are strong and strong bets are weak BUT not all. I will often bet big when I have an unbeatable hand because I want to look like I'm drawing or trying to stop one from betting.

If a player is giving themselves free cards on a board then often they are searching for trips or they don't have anything and are not interested at all in the hand.

I try to give false tells with things like this. I have no idea if my opponents are picking up on them.

light65536 said:

Very fast or very slow typically means very strong or very weak. I will (on purpose) sometimes let the time run down when I have a very strong hand. This is a great act. I will also bet quickly when bluffing. I have found some quick betters to be bluffers too. But it has to be taken into context.. if there is a straight on the board or flush possibility then I'm probably spending the time for real to consider what I want to do.

For many players at microstakes weak bets are strong and strong bets are weak BUT not all. I will often bet big when I have an unbeatable hand because I want to look like I'm drawing or trying to stop one from betting.

If a player is giving themselves free cards on a board then often they are searching for trips or they don't have anything and are not interested at all in the hand.

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Ha, this is exactly what I meant.

i just use the old fashion study the player technique. just sit back and relax for a few hands and watch the ppl act around u. if ur lucky ul pick up a big tell of some1 just by watchin them play

Ideally i like to play all hands at the same speed not giving up anything.

I'm not so sure that there are any online tells, time taken to call, raise or whatever means nothing concrete unless a pattern is seen over many hands. How many times does the bloody phone ring when you're in a tourney, someone comes to your door, your AV update kicks in and hogs your CPU, if you have children in the house, add another 500 possibilities.....

If you play at the same levels most of the time and you start to see the same names, then note taking is the best possible weapon you can have IMHO.
Here I have to disagree with N.D. with regard to note taking, I include detailed summaries of specific hands in my notes and as much info as I can find as to a persons starting range with regard to their position, ok that's probably overkill at the micro level that I play at. But what I am attempting to do is define a range of possible starting hands for my opponent.

Say I've raised preflop with A, J off, one caller, flop comes 3, 6, 7 rainbow, I c-bet and the guy comes back all-in, if my notes tell me that he regularly plays 3,6 & 4,7 type hands, there's a pretty good chance that he's caught some if not a lot of that flop. He probably has at least one pair, he could have two or the straight or the straight draw, do I want to throw my whole stack in right there, and hope to hit an A or a J and possibly even still lose ?
My point is detailed notetaking, especially starting ranges I find to be more useful than notes that just say Donk!, complete spewtard etc.

I play low level games for fun against a friend who is a much better player and who taught me the game. I've also watched him play a lot so I can often name his hole cards pretty accurately (no I ain't Daniel, that man is a bloody GENIUS!), but for me, putting my opponents on a starting range/specific hand means I can often get away from hands that would have hurt me and also at times call donk raises when I have the best hand.

Also check hand histories, x mucks hand, straight into last hand/previous, what was he playing there, often it's a, holy crap he was playing 3c,5c on a diamond board with 3 overcards, valuable information and another note.

Oh, have I mentioned, I'm a fan of notetaking ?

Hand ranges, and betting tendencies ... I could really care how long it takes him to make his action, he might be multi-tabling or making a sandwich for all I know.

Also multi-tabling doesn't automatically mean the person's a shark. All it really proves is that they think they're good enough to play multiple tables at once. They aren't all that good, not at the lowest stakes. Maybe higher up they are, but not down low.

I wouldn't call them tells, it's more like trends. Online poker is about recognizing patterns.

I will tell you a another "tell" I spotted once. A player was consistently checking the flop and betting the turn. Every single time -- like he hit the turn. I figured he was stealing those pots. So, the next time I was with him and had nothing. Check the flop, bet the turn. I raise and he folds. He became too predictable.

my favorite tell are when noobs at the lower stakes ($1-10) (must be poorly rated player) min raise preflop or min raise your reraise preflop (and they don't ordinarily min raise - some noobs min raise all the time, doesn't work with these guys). i watch their cards very carefully because they are so often rockets. this is a very accurate tell - while often they are not, there is a HUGE proportion of times that they are. try it yourself.

Exactly its more about patterns. One pattern that I found pretty consistent is in heads up if I get an instant re-raise when there is a straight possibility on the board then about 75-90% of the time the other player has hit that straight. So, maybe I hit a pair or 2 pair and get instant re-raise then often I'll think he probably hit the straight simply because I've seen it so many times.

Again with players that bluff big they often raise small when they hit something big but players who value bet are just the opposite. A small bet can be a stop bet (to stop you from betting), a value bet, a test bet (I hit something but not sure if it is good), or the "I hit something huge bet".

What I try to do is test people to see how they respond to various bets. If I get a re-raise from a raise then that gives me an indication that next time with a big hand that I might want to try a re-raise to build a pot. If someone is more likely to fold to a re-raise it tells me I should re-raise on a bluff... but I never know what they have so its just one factor.

there are MANY tells online. you just need to know where to look.

I do not believe there is a way to get a read on a player. I know we can all answer as soon as we want to, the other players can't tell our facial expressions on here unless we all had webcams

N.D. said:

Also multi-tabling doesn't automatically mean the person's a shark. All it really proves is that they think they're good enough to play multiple tables at once. They aren't all that good, not at the lowest stakes. Maybe higher up they are, but not down low.

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Have to dissagree with this one ND, there are many reasons a player could be multi-tabling, I know ppl who do it to clear a bonus, rack up FPP's or other point incentives and a lot of ppl who do it because they play poker for a living though not deinatively as a "pro", more to supplement their income. As for the "time" comments, how do you read a player who regardless of check, raise, reraise or push all in, does it at exactly the same time, eg. as soon as the 15 secs left to act promp appears in the chat box, or on Carbon, when the clock reaches 1/4 past ect. You can be sure of one thing, their playing one game and concentrating. IMO