Online Poker Tells Flashcards
Timing Tell: The Check Then Insta-Call
The check then insta-call is almost always a marginal hand that is planning to call one or two streets and then will likely give up if they don’t improve. If a person has a strong draw or a made hand, wouldn’t they think about it for a bit before calling?
Timing Tell: Tank-Calling
If an opponent thinks an inordinate amount of time before making a call, it is known as “tanking.” If a player calls after taking a long time, it could be a sign that he was considering all of his options before making a decision. While there is a wide range of possibilities that he could hold, we can be fairly certain his range will not often include a lot of really marginal hands or air. Players on a pure float will call fairly quickly or only take a few seconds since most floats are premeditated and don’t come on a whim.
Timing Tell: Tank-Checking
It typically means that an opponent really wants to see another card for cheap. As with all the other timing tells, this one can really help us narrow down ranges and optimize our betting lines.
Timing Tell: The Tank Then Big Raise
Anytime someone thinks (or pretends to think) a very long time before acting and then raises, unless it is a deep thinking really good player, we can count on our opponent having a nut hand.
Timing Tell: Tanking on Every Decision
As with any timing tell, make sure that we are paying attention to other information as well that could sometimes offset the information. For example, if a player is taking a long time on every single decision, we can throw any tell that includes timing out of the window. The player could be playing a ton of tables (the most common reason) or perhaps he is eating a ham sandwich.
Timing Tell: Timing Down Then Insta Checking Next Street
If an opponent instantly checks right after we act, whether on the current street or the next, this is possibly due to a lost internet connection.
Betting Tell: The Massive Overbet
An overbet is defined as any bet that is larger than the current size of the pot. When it happens during a poker game it can be rather puzzling and often seems to come out of nowhere. However, unless you have some kind of specific read on your opponent I find it’s best to err on the side of caution when faced with an oversized bet.
In my experience, a bet that is more than pot-sized is almost never a bluff. Typically, large overbets occur on the river and for one of two reasons. First, your opponent may have played his nut hand passively on prior streets and is now making a “make-up” bet. He hates that you didn’t put any money in the pot yet and is trying to make up for it. Secondly, a player might make a big bet with a strong hand while hoping it will be perceived as trying to buy the pot so that you will call.
The psychology behind overbetting makes sense if you think about it. If a player is bluffing and wants you to fold, it is human nature to only bet the minimum they think is necessary to get you to fold. Often, this falls in the 75% to pot-sized betting range. Most players will hesitate to chance losing so much money with complete air. Few have the guts to try such a bluff and even many weaker players understand that giant bets are polarizing. In other words, a large bet either means you have the nuts or nothing. In fact, bigger bet sizings sometimes get called more often than smaller ones in spots where a bettor’s range is heavily skewed toward bluffs.
Betting Tell: Typed In Bets
you will often see predictable bet sizings that fall in the common ranges. Half-pot, two-thirds, three-quarters, and pot-sized bets are typical. However, sometimes you will see players make oddball bets that were obviously well thought out and likely typed into the bet box. Something like 6.78, 8.88, or 9.99 bet into a $10 pot would be good examples.
More times than not, these odd bet sizings are value bets. Most players are not going to take the time to delay and type in a special bet when bluffing. Instead, they will quickly bang a hotkey and then hold their breath while you contemplate your decision. So the next time someone bets 69.69 into a $75 pot, you can skew their range more toward the top end.
Betting Tell: Donk Bets
A donk bet is when an out of position player leads into the person who was the aggressor on the prior street. This most often occurs on the flop and is one of the most annoying things in poker. Even so, if we understand how poker players think we can use this information to our advantage. To decipher what a donk bet means, you must first have a read on your opponent.
If he is an unskilled player, the lead is almost always really weak. Just raise all your air and expect to take it down often enough to show a profit. If a donk bet comes from a tight reg, it is often a value bet with a strong but vulnerable hand that does not want to give you a free card. This is a good spot to float with equity and either get paid when you improve or run a bluff on cards that complete obvious draws. If a strong and aggressive regular leads into you, there is a good chance that it is a nut hand trying to rep weakness. The reason they do this is that it works. I wish I had a dime for every time I’ve donk bet a set and been auto-raised by my opponent.
Now let’s talk about the most annoying type of donk bet; the min donk bet. Not much is more tilting that having an opponent bet the minimum into you. Against most players, a min donk bet is usually a hand they are not willing to fold but want to see more cards or try to get to showdown cheaply. I usually just treat a min donk bet as a check and use the information they have given to help me better narrow their range. Easy peasy.
Betting Tell: Limp-Calling In Early Position
Okay, this is not really a betting tell but more of a calling tell. Even so, this one is one of the most universally reliable online poker tells. When you see a player open limp in one of the first few positions and then just call a raise, it is fairly safe to go ahead and label them a bad player or fish.
One of the fundamentals of poker is to play in position with the initiative as much as possible. Going for the limp-call before the flop violates both of these principles and is guaranteed to be a losing or -EV play. Anyone who has read any poker strategy knows better. Therefore, anyone doing this is almost certainly a novice, recreational player, or fish.
Now let’s cover some tells that happen in the chat window.
