Online poker tells

How do you spot a poker tell? Well, in 'real life poker' the answer is by watching your opponents eyes, facial expressions, anxiety etc, but how about online poker?

Well... although you cannot actually see your opponents there are some things you should think about.

Here are some examples of online poker tells:

Nicknames

Can you draw any conclusions about the nicknames of your opponents? For example, imagine if you are at an online poker table with 2 opponents. One is named "Shrek" and one is named "GusHansen". Can you draw any conclusion on who is the better player just by this information? The correct answer is, no!. The conclusion you can draw is that one of the players is a fan of animated movies and the other knows a bit about professional poker players. However, (and this is my personal opinion), I would think the "GusHansen" player is the weakest of the two. The reason is that I generally think an experienced player wants a more personal and creative nickname than that. I would rather think this is a beginner, signing up after wathing the WPT television shows.

Response time

If one player constantly use more response time than the others, this could mean the following:

1. The player does not pay attention to the game. Maybe he is bored and simultaneously is cleaning the apartment, has an ongoing telephone call or maybe plays another table simultaneously.

2. The player is a weak player who needs the time to think about every move.

3. The player has a slow connection or a slow computer and needs the time.

I think the (1) alternative above is the most likely. The reason is that a weak player does not usually think of every move, and slow connection online poker players are rare. Either way, use this information and adapt your play.

Chat

Almost every online poker room has a chat feature. Most often it is used for comments like "gg" (good game), "nh" (nice hand) and so on. However, it is also often used by players to express their anger or disappointment of other players play. Comments like "you moron" and "idiot" aint that rare. If a player is angry or upset, his play is probably going to be weak. A player who is upset for losing a hand likely wants revenge, and tends to bet more money into average or weak hands. If you are up against this kind of player, slow-play him and he will probably try to bet you away from the pot. BUT make sure you have a strong hand because otherwise it is gonna cost you.

Do not beleive everything you read in the chat box. If a person writes "I'm so drunk" or "Please call me..", do not use this information in your decision making.

Stack size

When enter an online poker room, check the stack size of your opponent. If the maximum limit of money to bring to the table is 25$, and player #1 has 56$, player #2 has 13$ and player #3 has 3.13$ you can draw the following conclusions:

Player #1 is strong since he has more than doubled his stack. You may not want to bluff him, since he has the power to call you even with an average hand.

Player #2 you cannot draw any conclusions about. He might have lost just one hand, or he did not bring the maximum amount to the poker table.

Player #3 is probably a weak player since he is low stack. In fact he will probably go all-in on any average or above hand, or maybe every ace-high hand he catches. Usually slow-playing tilting players are profitable.

Location and time-of-day

On most poker rooms you can get information about where your opponents are located. If you for example are located in Europe during the morning and you play against american opponents, you should keep in mind that they are playing at night. Also weekends often means more loose games.

It could be a good idea to check if 2 people are from the same (small) city. Collusion is prohibited, but if you are suspicious watch out.

Play making

A poker tell could be how the player has played previous hands. For example, imagine if a person tend to check the pre-action button "bet pot" in all heads-up situations. This means he will probably do it to you too if you do a check. This information is very useful in tournament play. If you are among the last 3 players in a tournament, many heads-up situations will occur. ALWAYS slow-play an aggresive player in these situations!

Imagine the following situation. A player who has been very aggresive raise big on the flop and you call. He raises before the turn aswell, and you still call since you have the highest pair with, at least, a great kicker. If the opponent now checks, this probably means he has not made his hand, and knows you got something. Do not give him another card for free. Instead, make a significant raise. Unless he has got 'the nuts' he will probably fold. However, if you strongly suspect he has got 'the nuts', just check.

Note your opponents

Pay attention to the game even if you are not playing the hand yourself. This will give you plenty of information about how your opponents play their hands. Use this information to adapt your play. Do not forget to note players, even if they lose the tournament and leaves. If a player puts himself in an all-in situation with 10, Q offsuit this information will be useful the next time you encounter him.