Online poker tell #1

I want to start by saying that reading people in real life and online are clearly different however it can still be done with great success in fact I would say it is very possible that you can get a better read on an online players then a live one, and that using just a few key techniques can make you or save you enough money that your actual skill level is almost irrelevant. How is this possible? The secret is surprisingly simple, and that is that playing online encourages systems and patterns which if properly observed will tell you everything you need to know.

First I want to talk about the most obvious sign of strength. It is a tell that almost no one out there would realize that they are giving off, but is the best indicator of their strength. Would you have guessed that I am speaking about multi-tabling? Multi-tabling how is that a tell? Quite simply a busy man is a blunt man. It is not so surprising is it? Just think if you had tables popping up on screen every few seconds beeping and blinking demanding your attention. What would you do if you had to put up with that pressure or loose money? You would try your best to appease it if for no other reason then to shut it up. Now because money is a factor you’re not going to do anything rash like push all in with seven deuce so you could just have an excuse to shut it off. So what would you do in that situation? I’ll tell you what I would do and what most people do they keep it simple and avoid doing more work then they have to. Under these circumstances every time you stop or even slow down to play a hand you back up your work pile. This means quite simply that you want to avoid stopping as much as possible. Due to this players who are multi-tabling don't tend to make tricky plays or bluffs as they require some attention and planning that they simply don’t have time to plan out. Often times they don’t even have time to fully consider their situation before they have to decide and move on. So what does that mean to you? It means when you see them make a bet it is almost always legitimate or a continuation.

This little bit of information is one of the most useful peaces of information you can have on your opponent. Just compare it to a live game. If you knew that the man you were playing against never lied and never bet without a hand how would your play change towards this player? Now this has several advantages. The most obvious is stealing from him. If you know your opponent is not going to be try anything fancy I suggest you almost always raise their blinds if you are in a position to do so safely. Now this doesn’t always mean that they will just let you run them over all of the time. Often enough they will call just to be stubborn if that is the case don’t be afraid to put out a raise on the flop even if they beat you by raising first I suggest re-raising them. This is because of two simple facts. One if they really hand that strong of a hand they would of re-raised you pre-flop second many will put out a raise almost automatically as an attempt to force you to have a hand, but if you feel that is the case then simply re-raise them as many players expect a bluff from you, but will crumble under a re-bluff.

Now let me quickly add that the more tables they are playing the more obvious they will be, but it still holds true even if they are only playing two tables. I would not put some of the things I mentioned out of players abilities simply because they are playing two tables. However once a player chooses to play three or more tables it does become more and more of a negative influence on their game. I would in fact say that a player playing two tables is hardly affected other then the fact that he is more likely to pass on some medium or playable hands such as JT, AJ, 44 and so on because these are sometimes tricky to play and require more focus compared to hand like AA where you only really have to think about the how much you think they might call. However once they begin to play three tables or more players tend to avoid these hands all together as they seem less valuable simply by volume. Consider this if you were playing and got a premium hand once every forty hands. This circumstance if for no other reason then boredom would likely cause you to incorporate more hands. However if you now played 4 tables you would receive a premium hand in length of ten hands in a normal game. Though this rate does not affect each individual game that the user involved with it will change the user’s perception of the frequency of these hands as well as the fact he won’t have time to be bored. So in light of this consider anyone playing two tables to simply be more willing to fold on 50/50 decisions. Those playing three or four tables to be straight forward but still able to pick up on some blatant steal attempts, and anyone playing more then four table to be a robot essentially having no clue as to what is going on at the table and consider them to play only the most obvious styles of poker.
This situation however changes completely when they begin the action with a raise. In fact depending on how many tables they are playing if they were playing four tables I would not expect them to have anything less then AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or AK if they were to raise. If they should choose to call they likely have TT, 99, 88, AQ or something along those lines. It is hard to say what a players starting requirements are however as a rule the more tables they are playing the tighter the style of play. One thing is for sure when a multi-tabler chooses to raise you should be very picky on your hand requirements. I suggest that if they are playing 4 tables or more that you throw away anything other then AA, KK, QQ, AK and maybe even JJ depending on the player. Now that you know the only question is how do you know if someone is multi-tabling? The truth is that it depends mostly on just which site you are playing on. Some sites such as Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars for example have an option in the menu called “find a player” this was originally added so players could more easily find friends or find celebrity players to encourage a more enjoyable gaming experiences. This also allows you to follow around weak players or those you feel you have the best chance against. However even if this method does not exist there are still other methods available to you. The easiest is to simple talk to the other players. A player sitting at multiple tables will have little time to look over idle chat or reply to you. Therefore anyone you talk to likely is only playing 1-2 tables. Now while a player sitting out of a hand is likely to engage in talks with you if for no other reason then to kill time between hands. Some will choose to sit there quietly so if you are unable to get a response by making a joke or simple banter I suggest being a little rude. Make a slightly rude comment about someone’s play. While many people will ignore a nice man trying to be their friend almost none will ignore an insult. You do not have to go over board or swear, but a little jab to their pride will force them out of their shell. Remember poker is a war, and it is better to win with bad taste then say goodbye to your children (Chips).