An online poker room or tournament is a different environment from a brick-and-mortar casino. However, the absence of seeing a competitor in person does not mean that there are no ‘tells’ that will give you clues about whether they are bluffing or not.
When playing poker ‘live’, people can focus on physical habits and behaviors that can be ‘read’ to try to determine the strength of a player’s hand and the actions they might take after each card is dealt. This is not possible online, but tells still manifest in different ways that are unique to online poker.
Before you start analyzing rival players, you first need to sign up to an online casino site and select a relevant poker game. Poker Compare can help you get the best deals and bonuses when you sign up to make your initial deposit go further. You will also have the peace of mind that you have selected a safe and reputable casino.
When you begin playing poker online, you will notice that all the important information and game details are presented within the main head-up display. Here, you can see pot sizes, each player’s position and their current number of chips, among other things. You can use this information to your advantage when trying to pinpoint player tells.
Bluffing is still a big part of online poker. This happens when a player makes a bet or raises with a hand that either has no value or is very likely to be worse than an opponent’s hand. The objective is to make another player with a better hand fold before the final ‘showdown’.
You can decide whether a player is trying to bluff you by analyzing a range of different factors during the game. Tells to keep track of include bet sizing, how quickly or slowly a player makes a bet, a specific player’s betting history, and the board ‘texture’. You should also consider how your own actions may have influenced another player to take action.
For example, if you have been ‘passive’ with your bets in recent hands and betting infrequently, it is more likely that a player will take action, be aggressive, and perhaps attempt a bluff to apply pressure on you. However, you still need to consider other factors to come up with a ‘good read’ on your opponents.
In terms of board texture, a ‘dry’ board without any draws to a flush or straight is a perfect opportunity for someone to attempt a bluff. Bet sizing is also a tell. Small bets or ‘min betting’ online suggests that a player is weak. You can use this knowledge to perhaps raise the stakes and pressure an opponent to fold. Large bets can also be a red flag depending on how a player has bet previously.
Another major tell is how fast an opponent makes a bet. Slower bet times online are usually an indication that a player does not have a great hand, while faster or instant bets often betray excitement about a bigger hand. Finally, loose and aggressive players are more likely to bluff, while passive or conservative players are less likely to. However, you should always try to use a combination of tells to make a better final decision.
