Originally Published: December 29, 2011, 04:14 AM

Spotting Tells in Online Poker

Posted By Diego | Poker-Strategy News | December 29, 2011, 04:14 AM |

The myth of the poker “tell” has been around as long as the game itself. Hollywood has helped to fan the flames, with scenes from classic movies such as House Of Games and The Cincinnati Kid embedded in our cultural conscious. Though as the game made the transition from table to cyberspace these signs became harder to spot, with players hidden from view of each other and more able to relax. While many feared that the art of decoding tells of opponents would be lost and would change the game for the worse, there are still ways to spot poker tells even in the online game.

A classic poker tell is to look away from an opponent. The term “poker face” is defined as the ability to stare at an opponent with an impassive expression, showing no tells at all. A break in a player’s poker face, whether exaggerated, feigned or otherwise, is a quintessential example of a player hiding something. In the online game such reading is impossible, but card rooms have chat functions over which players can swap gaming banter. A break in this banter, or a substantial deviation from it, is a useful indication of a possible tell, with a player so eager to chase a casino bonus that he interrupts his regular chat practice.

According to Joe Navarro, poker tell expert and author of Read 'em and Reap: A Career FBI Agent's Guide to Decoding Poker Tells, the best method of detecting tells is simply through examination of the games of opponents. In online games, patterns of betting are the most revealing for other players eager to gain the upper hand. A player playing a tight game will occasionally make a suddenly large bet, perhaps even going all-in in an attempt to make the pages of igaming news sites across the web.

However true this may be, if that player was smart the move may ultimately prove to be a double bluff, attempting to bluff his opponents into believing he had a good hand when in actual fact he had nothing more than a pair of threes. Likewise, a smart opponent observing such betting patterns may herself hold a marginally better hand and spot the double bluff potential, holding her nerve and trumping her opponent at the showdown.

These wheels within wheels are what make games of poker so intriguing, and continue to make it the most popular of online casino games. In order for any player to progress as a player they must take note of Navarro’s methods and study the games of their opponents – a canny trick being to jot down notes on a pad when each opponent makes a move. Careful observation over time is the only way in which an online player will be able to spot the tells of opponents, and avoid making tells of their own.

Embed The myth of the poker “tell” has been around as long as the game itself. Hollywood has helped to fan the flames, with scenes from classic movies such as House Of Games and The Cincinnati Kid embedded in our cultural conscious. Though as the game made the transition from table to cyberspace these signs became harder to spot, with players hidden from view of each other and more able to relax. While many feared that the art of decoding tells of opponents would be lost and would change the game for the worse, there are still ways to spot poker tells even in the online game. <br><br> A classic poker tell is to look away from an opponent. The term “poker face” is defined as the ability to stare at an opponent with an impassive expression, showing no tells at all. A break in a player’s poker face, whether exaggerated, feigned or otherwise, is a quintessential example of a player hiding something. In the online game such reading is impossible, but card rooms have chat functions over which players can swap gaming banter. A break in this banter, or a substantial deviation from it, is a useful indication of a possible tell, with a player so eager to chase a <a href="http://www.onlinecasinobonus.co.uk/">casino bonus</a> that he interrupts his regular chat practice. <br><br> According to Joe Navarro, poker tell expert and author of Read 'em and Reap: A Career FBI Agent's Guide to Decoding Poker Tells, the best method of detecting tells is simply through examination of the games of opponents. In online games, patterns of betting are the most revealing for other players eager to gain the upper hand. A player playing a tight game will occasionally make a suddenly large bet, perhaps even going all-in in an attempt to make the pages of <a href="http://www.onlinecasinobonus.co.uk/news">igaming news</a> sites across the web. <br><br> However true this may be, if that player was smart the move may ultimately prove to be a double bluff, attempting to bluff his opponents into believing he had a good hand when in actual fact he had nothing more than a pair of threes. Likewise, a smart opponent observing such betting patterns may herself hold a marginally better hand and spot the double bluff potential, holding her nerve and trumping her opponent at the showdown. <br><br> These wheels within wheels are what make games of poker so intriguing, and continue to make it the most popular of online casino games. In order for any player to progress as a player they must take note of Navarro’s methods and study the games of their opponents – a canny trick being to jot down notes on a pad when each opponent makes a move. Careful observation over time is the only way in which an online player will be able to spot the tells of opponents, and avoid making tells of their own. <br /><a href='http://www.poker-playing.org'>Poker</a> | <a href='http://www.poker-playing.org/Poker-Strategy/Spotting-Tells-in-Online-Poker'>Spotting Tells in Online Poker</a>