Articles on Online Tells

Well, for the last week or so, my poker game has ground to a halt in profitability. I do admit that I have a lot of personal and emotional baggage as of late. I know that plays into it. As such, I'm doing two things. First, as a piece of advice nearly every poker player gives, I'm taking a step away from poker for a bit (I'm not giving up by any stretch, just simply a break to clear the head). Actually I've been playing EA Sports NCAA Football '08. Second, and more importantly, I've taken this as a very humbling experience, and using it as an opportunity to learn and grow my game.

Upon game introspection, I realized one simple thing. My current issue is with how I play my game AFTER the flop. And in determining that, I keep hearing the phrase 'play the player, not the cards' ring in my head. And then suddenly, it was like a switch went off. Reading players. Specifically tells, which gives you that insight into what hand you're playing against.

The problem I've always had in the online world is trying to figure out the tells. At a live game, players can give many physical clues. I do find typically that in online poker, you're really disconnected from your opponents.

Enter my search results. Though I do not necessarily endorse any specific article linked to below, I have added the following links to at least give a good read and to get the ball rolling to improve reading, and responding to, tells in online poker.

Here are just some of the articles I stumbled upon:

Poker Tips - How to Bust Online Tells
Online Poker Tells - A guide to discerning your opponents poker tells
Poker Tells - How to Spot Online Tells
Common Tells in Online Poker

There are many more out there, but I do find a lot of parity. Most articles I've read to this point really highlight times to bet, auto call/check/fold boxes, analyzing bet amounts, fold/flop percentage, and chat boxes. My final to cents? I do find there are some subtle differences of opinion, but one message is clear. Take the time to study your opponents, especially in hands you are not playing. Using the criteria to analyze above, you should be able to make better, educated guesses as to your opponent's hand strength and improve your game after the flop.


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