Online Poker Tells: Pauses, Frequent Flops and Frequent Folds

Online Poker, Poker Tells
June 17 2008

In part one of our look at online tells we examined how using checkboxes to pre-select your next move can give away strength or weakness in your hands. Here are three more tells to look for that can give you an edge over your opponent online.

Pauses – The amount of time a player takes from when it’s their turn to act and actually betting, checking or raising can give you a hint as to how good their hand might be. If a player takes a long time and then checks, this usually means they have a mediocre hand at best. However, if they take some time and come out with a bet or a raise, this usually means they’ve got a good hand. They’re taking the time to figure out if it’s good enough to win.

Frequent flops – This is more of a label than a tell, but with note-taking and the quick succession of hands online it’s sometimes easier to pick up than in a live game. If a player sees the flop a lot this is a tell or a sign that they are a loose player who will likely play mediocre and weak starting hands. These players can be more difficult to play against because even on horrible flops they can catch a winner because they play such a wide variety of hands.

Frequent folds – This is the exact opposite of frequent flops. A player that frequently folds pre-flop or under pressure is giving off a tell that they are a very tight player. These players are great to play against because they advertise when they have a hand and can be easily bluffed off a pot with a sizable bet.

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