Can we extract information from time it takes to act?

Is it a tell when someone spends a while thinking before acting. I would usually perceive weakness when someone hesitates then flat calls and when I take a while to steal blinds people seem to 3bet me and call more if its not my imagination...

One time I was drawing to a flush and the villain was betting aggressive with tptk. The flush hit river and he checked so I requested time to make it look like I didn't like the flush possibility either then bet half the pot. He then raised over me. Again maybe Im thinking too much into it ...

I think the only one you can reliably use is the quick call. It generally means the villain has a marginal hand pre-flop like AQ or a draw post flop. They aren't really thinking about doing anything except calling. I have FD, call call call.

Agree there is tells on line but if villain is multi tabling whats your thoughts then???

If they're multi-tabling regs then obv timing tells don't exist. It's usually one tabling fish that sometimes provide tells.

Its all playing a bit tricky for our levels mate, and will most likely cause us to out smart ourselves... A do notice certain players doing quick checks with either marginal hands... but at the same time ive met a few players who when they check fast are almost always trying to slow play me and end up coming over the top of me with a big reraise at some point..... so pretty unreliable method imo.

Time taken can be a tell on people in the long run, but like anything in poker there is no one size fits all motto.

My best advice is to never go into a table with a preconceived notion. Someone taking time can mean someone on a draw trying to think of odds and such. An instant check can be someone trying to make you think they have the check/fold box checked. You can't know any of this until you actually study the person and can tell he kind of does something, but it doesn't hurt to know what to look for.

One obvoius online timing tell that can be exploited is when opponents use the "check/fold" preselect action, which is obviouosly what they do if you see them insta-check within 0.1 second or so after the action is on them... here are 2 examples:
- I limp into a pot (for the sake of this example, don't ask why I do this ;-)), I'm the only limper, SB folds and BB insta-checks
- On the flop, multiway pot, nobody bets but some of the opponents insta-check when the action comes around to them

In both cases I'll be more inclined to bet with any two hole cards (and in the first case, any not-too-scary flop), since the opponents have sent a pretty strong signal that they have basically given up on the hand already and do not intend to play it any longer, so the chance to pick up the pot with a bet is high.

I think that timing can be a good tell, depending. Online, it's tough to get a read on what that means. I have found that, people who are usually responsive (acting within 2-4 sec) who pause for an extended period of time when a scare card hits (like 3 to a flush or straight) will often have it and are trying to make you "think" that they are scared of it.

One hand I played this weekend in a live game where the time it took to act played into my read. I had 78s on the button and raised, got a few callers. Flop comes TJ8 TJ are my suit. Checks to me and i CBet. He calls. Turn comes the 9c. I hit my straight so I bet 40$. He sits and thinks for a few min and just calls. The river is a blank and he has 60$ left and he thinks and thinks and then shoves on me. Now i'm thinking maybe hes got a K and I'm beat. I think back through the whole hand and also previous plays hes made. Hes a fish and doesn't play often. I really don't think hes sophisticated enough to Hollywood it on the turn if he had the K.

I make the call, and turn over my straight, he mucks. Had he called me more quickly on the turn I would have thought about letting go (and probably would have) of my low end of the straight.

There is not as much information to go on regarding online tells as in live games obviously. Certain players have their own distinct betting patterns that sometimes betrays the stregth of their hand. How long a player takes to act is definetly something to watch out for. These pauses or lack of pauses would have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. Ex: One player might fire of a bet really quickly where as another might have a pause as he figures out a good bluff bet size. Once again these situations depend on your opponents proclivities.

I feel I was at one time giving away information as I would fire at a pot quickly when weak. Now I always attempt to restrain myself from betting right away regardless of my strength. I try to have a consistent amount of time come down. I feel this built in delay has been a great help to me.

Obviously these situations are no good when multitabling or against an opponent who is multitabling.

Add my agreement to those who say, yes, on an individual basis. I have specific timing tells noted on several players that seem to continuously hold true. But I don't think it's something you can generalize very well. Some players stall when they have the nuts....others when on a draw and others when they have completely missed and are about to bluff all in. The last is my favorite. I have called the guy I am thinking of dozens of times now and he still seems to be clueless to the fact that I know he is bluffing. Good times.