Making reads online

[Tyreece24]

Hey,
was wondering if there were any frequent/common tendency's, online players tend to do (or not do) that how helps you make good calls/folds in tough spots.
I understand making reads during live poker is a lot easier, but was wondering if I could use any tips to help decipher where exactly I am in a hand.
Any tips are appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[Kenzie 96]

I am unaware of any online reads that can reliably be depended on across the board, note taking as you repeatedly sit at the table with an opponent is the only thing that works for me & obviously this requires updating notes on a regular basis. Hard to generalize about almost anything as you can't even be sure an opponent is even at the table.

 

[machinm19]

Timing is sometimes a tell online but obviously this will vary from player to player. It can be helpful to study how long your opponents take to bet at different stages of a hand etc.

 

[044hero]

notes are usefull weapon and must be used consistantly)

 

[Risto234]

notes are usefull weapon and must be used consistantly)

Guess that's why i have never used these

 

[jordanbillie]

Understanding which players are mutli-tabling and also getting long term results in the notes can help significantly. Use sharkscope to your advantage and look up the results of players whom you perceive to be sharks/fish. Try to get good an knowing before the results even show, whether a player is winning or losing. By doing this, you'll start to attribute certain playing styles/tactics to winning and losing poker. This all will lead you to an intuition of knowing why certain players are making the specific plays they are making, thus giving you a "read" on how to respond.

 

[Duxflux]

Hey,
was wondering if there were any frequent/common tendency's, online players tend to do (or not do) that how helps you make good calls/folds in tough spots.
I understand making reads during live poker is a lot easier, but was wondering if I could use any tips to help decipher where exactly I am in a hand.
Any tips are appreciated, thanks in advance!

I think it comes from a lot of experience. Example: If you learn to mark players by their style (maniacs red, tight passive players blue...) and assign them to a game cathegory accordingly, that can already help a lot with your decisions. After that, I think many many games and bad decisions will lead to getting better. That's why I find the freerolls from the CC an important experience and unavoidable for beginners.

 

[Poker Orifice]

the long slow pause on the river, followed by a bet = STRONG. I don't really know wtf they are thinking or what they think their opponent is thinking they are thinking.. but their efforts at trying to fool someone is typically just fooling themselves (how do I know this if I'm not looking them up when they do this... well I watch how hands play out after I've folded). *The slow check-raise on the river = even STRONGER hand.

 

[lauestla]

It's more difficult to read tells online than live. Sometimes the timing can help but some players are simply multitabling and that's why they take time to play. So well, a HUD can help to take notes about players at your table ... and recognize them next time

 

[fundiver199]

I dont think, tells are to important in online poker. But I do agree, that tanking on the river and then coming back over the top is usually a strong hand. Thats also a known live poker tell. However for me the most reliable tell, is if someone insta-check the flop or turn, after it checks to them. This mean, they have marked the "check/fold" box, which mean, they are completely disinterested in their hand.

Other than that betting patterns are important. If someone min-bet for 10% of the pot, that does not look strong, so depending on your hand and previous action you should strongly consider to either call or raise as a bluff. If on the other hand they took a passive or neutral action on the earlier streets and now bet full pot on the river, thats usually a strong hand, and often something they were slowplaying on the earlier streets.

And finally its important to pay attention to, whats going on at the table, even if you multitable. I regularly see people giving a walk to someone, who is sitting out, and thats rather obviously not a good play. Or failing to defend your big blind, when you are so short, you are priced in to call with any two. And so on and so forth

 

[fundiver199]

So well, a HUD can help to take notes about players at your table ... and recognize them next time

HUD-data is definitely more usefull than tells. If someone have stats like VPIP 18 / PFR 12 / 3-bet 4 over 863 hands, then you can just fold anything but premiums or setmining hands to their 3-bet. Or if someone have stats like VPIP 36 / PFR 4 over 79 hands, and now they open to 3,5BB, you can just fold hands like KJ, that would be a standard defend from BB against someone with a balanced range making a smaller open.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Depends on the player, but timing tells are common simply because other things such as physical tells are impossible to determine online. What this "timing" means varies from player to player though.

 

[Eduard0Felipe]

It's not as difficult as it seems, logically you won't be able to have all the same readings that you have live, but being attentive to the game, the table, the cards shown at the end, you'll be able to easily read your opponents, taking notes is also very important. Consider the possibility of acquiring a HUD, it will do the readings for you, knowing how to use it helps a lot too.

 

[RustyRed83]

I look for betting patterns. Betting time can also be significant tells if read properly for a specific opponent. Over-betting is another i keep an eye on, as well as donk betting (leading out of position, after calling 3/4 bets) Constant limping is another, that attracts my attention.

 

[DonSeppi]

In principle, I never pay attention to timing tells, because it is just a guessing game whether someone is thinking for a long time or just has a difficult decision on another table.

I would focus mostly on hands going to showdown. From this you can often read very well what type of player it is.

 

[pescaofish]

Look, If some pklayer just drops after the flop it means he has a bad hand, if he tribet once in a while is the bluffing strategy!

 

[TeUnit]

Timing and bet sizing can be tells. Software like notecaddy can point out some unusual plays also.

 

[Baldy86]

i dont want to sound bigheaded but i have good reading abilities even online and have often called a big bet or even all in with a meh hand because i thought my opponent was bluffing or didnt have much of a hand and most of the time i was right and it was not obvious at all and many people would have folded

you have to look at the bet pattern of your opponents . did he/she raise preflop ? how big is the c-bet on the flop ? is there any bet at all on the flop ? when you call the bet on the flop . does he / she check quickly on the turn ? that is often a sign of weakness .

i will give you an example : opponent raises preflop from mid position and you call with A_8 o . flop comes J-8-2 rainbow . opponent c bets half the pot . you call (i would actually raise here but lets say you call) . turn comes a 4 . opponent quickly checks . you can assume now that he/she has AK or AQ or something along those lines and your pair of 8 is most likely good here . at this point you want to bet a decent amount and make him/her fold because you dont want to check and let him/her get his/her K or Q


or another example :

you raise preflop with A-T of heartgs and get called by 1 player . flop comes 10 - 3 - 3 . 2 diamonds 1 spade . you c-bet your 10 and get called . turn is a 4 of hearts . you bet again half the pot or a little above and he/she calls . river is an 8 of hearts . now you slow down and check . opponent thinks a little and decides to make a big bet . now you have to go a little by gut feeling but it is likely that your opponent was on a flush draw and missed it . it depends on your gut feeling + how the opponent has played the whole time + how long he / she took time to make the calls/bet etc. .


to be honest i personally often go by my gut . i have the ability to "feel" people ....i have had this ability all my life . and it works also in poker often . but sometimes it doesnt . oh well ....

 

[Tadi]

Hey
I wondered if there are common/common tendencies, online players tend to do (or not do) how it helps you to call/give up well in difficult situations.
I understand that reading during live poker is much easier, but I was wondering if I could use some tips that would help me decipher exactly where I am in my hand.
Any advice is welcome, thank you in advance!

I take notes and follow the game to gather information about players e.g. how often they play, on what cards, whether their bets are proportional to the strength of the cards...

 

[yetbam]

A good way is to observe the game mode of each opponent at the table, take some notes if you can, and then know how each one plays, that helps to a great extent to understand how they play and to better manage your hands against For them, personally it has helped me to watch training videos to know how to play post and pre flop.

 

[MTCashman]

You can get information from bet sizing and on how long it takes them to make a decision. Also make notes if you can, they can impact future decisions vs that opponent.