Given that you don’t physically see your opponent when playing online, there are only a few things you can consider.
You should closely monitor bet sizing and how long your opponent takes to make decisions.
Let’s start with the first one.
Although probably the best indication of your opponent’s strength, this information is massively underused in games.
Players are unlikely to bet small as a bluff. Of course, they can do that with medium-strength hands, but you will rarely see complete air when facing such a bet. For the most part, they are simply trying to see a cheap showdown.
This is very player dependent but more often than not people try to choose over bets with strong holdings. This shouldn’t be applied against regulars who balance their ranges.
However, if you see someone using truly big sizing, especially on dry board, they are more likely to be value betting.
Most players understand that your range is polarized in these situations, where you either have a strong hand that is going to call no matter what or a weak one, which will be folding even to a smaller bet – so it makes no point to over bet as a bluff.
These are just guidelines but could be a good starting point when observing your opponents.
2. Observe how much time they spend making decisions
Many players leave a lot of valuable information on the table by not considering the timing of others.
Some actions can be a very good indication of your opponent’s hand strength:
Almost always an indication of a weak hand. It shows that your opponent didn’t have to spend any time to think through the decision, which is very unlikely to happen with a strong holding.
Can indicate strength, except for a c-bet. When a player instantly decides to continuation bet, they’re less likely to have a strong holding, but in most other cases you should be aware of this information.
Very unlikely to have a strong holding. From my experience, a bet in this situation will take down the most, the majority of the time.
Betting or raising after taking a lot of time
This is very strong. I rarely see players bluffing with this line, and the reason they take more time is to appear weak, so you shouldn’t be fooled by this action.
Generally indicates more strength. We can follow the same logic as in the previous point that players tend to take more time to look weaker and encourage another bet from you.
It goes without saying that this could change depending on the players, so you shouldn’t base your decision on this information alone but instead consider it along with other information.
Casino Games Real MoneyMoreover, some players may try to fake these tells and act the opposite, so observe your opponent and be open to adjusting your strategy.
How To Read Opponents In Live Poker Games
While there are only a few ways to read your opponents when playing online, you can get a lot of additional information in live games.
That being said, there’s not much difference between online and live games regarding sizing and timing tells, so the same logic applies as covered in the online section.
However, there are a lot of other factors to consider that I’ll split into two different parts – physical and verbal tells.
Player hesitates and then bets or raises
In my experience, a player is very unlikely to be bluffing with this line of action. Also, players rarely have suited hands when double-checking, so that’s worth noticing.
In my experience, a player is very unlikely to be bluffing with this line of action. Also, players rarely have suited hands when double-checking, so that’s worth noticing.
Playing with chips in an unusual way
Indicates that your opponent is relaxed and less likely to be bluffing. Of course, if they always play with chips in a specific way, ignore this, but if they usually sit quietly and out of nowhere start doing some tricks after betting, they’re probably not bluffing.
2. Physical tells that indicate weakness
The pretending-to-plan-to-bet-when-waiting act
Whenever you see players reaching for chips when you’re thinking of betting, you can be sure that they do not have a strong hand. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to fold to your bet but they’re very unlikely to have better than a one pair hand, so you can continue betting and barrel them off in most cases.
Counting chips for betting and then checking
Strong indication of a weak or medium-strength hand. By this action, your opponent tries to appear strong and discourage you from betting while most likely just hoping for a cheap showdown.
This attracts attention and indicates a weak hand. If you notice someone putting chips in the pot by slamming it hard, hear loud announcements of call or bet, see extra arms or shoulders movements, you could be facing a weak hand and an opponent who is just trying to look scary. This also includes shuffling cards or doing anything else that draws the attention you actually wouldn’t want when having a strong hand.
?? The 6 Most Common Poker Tells You Need To Know About