Tell me more .... Click and tell; Victor Chandler Poker survey identifies online poker tells.
Click and tell; Victor Chandler Poker survey identifies online poker tells.
QUOTING http://www.vcpoker.com
Thanks to classic films such as Rounders and The Cincinnati Kid that have dramatized the world of high-stakes poker, the gaming world has always been fascinated with the psychology of the game.
And a large part of that psychology is the ability to read your opponents, to pick up on the subconscious tells that every player gives. Whether it’s the way they stack their chips or look at their cards, many a poker player has been sent home broke after a tell has let slip the strength of their hand.
The rise of online poker, where the only contact between players was via a computer screen, was thought to have removed the role of tells from the poker table. But new research from Victor Chandler Poker (www.vcpoker.com), Europe’s fastest growing online poker room, suggests that a new set of tells are being discovered in the online game.
Offline and online poker tells
Victor Chandler Poker surveyed regular online poker players and asked them about both offline and online poker tells. In the physical world, the most common tells were a player’s eyes (it seems they really are the windows to the soul), facial expressions and playing with chips. The top three online poker tells were:
Quickness to respond, reported by 76% of respondents – a very fast check can indicate a weak hand, quick bets on the turn or river can often indicate a strong hand.
Slowness to respond, reported by 73% of respondents – a pause followed by a check can often indicate weakness, while a delay followed by a raise often indicates strength.
Automatic play, reported by 68% of respondents – a lazy approach to the auto buttons lets a player slip into a set pattern of play. Any breaks in this pattern are clear tells.
Online poker players are relaxed
But the survey also indicated that online poker players were more relaxed about tells, with only 31% of players actively looking for tells in their online opponents; yet, if playing offline poker, 58% said they would actively look for tells.
Respondents also had some advise for online poker players:
“The good players vary their responses and leave you guessing as to what they really have – online and offline.”
“I keep a book on everyone I play against. The beauty of online play is that you can accumulate all of this information and refer back to it time and again.”
“Anyone called ‘Imgonnabluff’ will probably never bluff and only plays very strong hands!”.
Getting an edge; pick up on tells and avoid giving them out.
According to Simon Prodger, product marketing manager at Victor Chandler Poker, "… poker is an endlessly fascinating game. You’re not just playing the cards you’re dealt, you’re also playing against your opponent – and they’re human even if you are playing over the web. The small clues that can be picked up add to the fun of the game and can really give an edge to players who take the trouble to look."
Prodger goes on to give three golden rules for all online poker players hoping to get this edge: "Number one, always pay attention whether you’re involved in a hand or not, as you’ll learn a lot about your opponent’s game and temperament. Two, make notes on the players you see regularly in the card room, and use these to guide your play against each player. And three, always look to vary your game; by doing so you’ll avoid becoming predictable and giving out information about yourself."
QUOTING http://www.vcpoker.com/news/Online-Poker-Tells.doc
Introduction
A lot has been written about poker tells – the subconscious clues that indicate to other players, the strength or weakness of a player’s hand.
But do poker tells exist online?
In an earlier issue of our monthly newsletter, Big Slick, we explored some ideas on online poker tells. The article generated some debate among our readers so we decided to conduct a formal survey and see what they really thought. The research was conducted by email and online survey during June 2004.
To give perspective, we asked respondents about both offline and online poker tells.
Results
Question 1: How often do you play ONLINE poker?
Respondents were frequent online poker players with 72% playing between 4-7 times per week.
95% of respondents played online poker at least once per week.
Question 2: How often do you play OFFLINE poker?
Offline poker playing, for example in a casino card room or a home game with friends, was not as popular with respondents.
22% of respondents never played offline poker. 48% of respondents played offline poker at least once a month.
Looking for tells played a significant part in most players’ strategy with 58% saying that they actively looked for tells in other players when involved in an offline game. A further 28% said they would notice and react if someone did something strange. 14% said they just concentrated on their own game.
Question 4: What do you think are the three most common tells in offline poker
Players were asked to report their top 3 from 6 recognized poker tells:
• The eyes – the length of time a player stares at his cards, his willingness to look you in the eye, his eye pupil dilation
• Facial expression – does a player show a noticeable tic, or obvious unhappiness when a hand is weak, obvious confidence when a hand is strong?
• Weak is strong, strong is weak – with a strong hand a player tries to look disinterested, with a weak hand a player tries to appear intimidating
• Anxiety – physical clues such as flexing of muscles, changes in voice, chest expanding
• Trembling hands – showing nervousness by hands shaking, usually indicating a strong hand.
• Glancing or playing with chips – Indicating a player is already planning his attack.
The most common of these were ‘weak is strong’, ‘the eyes’ and ‘glancing or playing with chips’.
Question 5: Thinking about your own poker game offline, what tells do you worry about showing to other players?
Players were asked about what clues they were worried about giving out. Facial expression and ‘the eyes’, were the top 2 worries.
In online poker, fewer players actively looked for tells – only 31% against 58% in offline poker. Indeed, 25% just concentrated on their own game against 14% offline.
Question 7: What do you think are the three most common tells in online poker?
Players were asked to report their top 3 from 5 suggested online poker tells:
• Automatic play – a lazy approach to the auto buttons lets a player slip into a set pattern of play – a break in that pattern is a clear tell
• Slowness to respond – a pause followed by a check can often indicate weakness, a delay followed by a raise often indicates a strong hand
• Quickness to respond – a very fast check can often indicate a weak hand, quick bets on the turn or the river can often indicate a strong hand.
• Chat panel - talk gives clues, silent types often play hard, holding good hands when they raise; chatty, friendly players tend to be looser.
• Player's names - screen names like 'The Gambler' and 'Mad Dog' tend to be loose and aggressive while players with names such as 'The Rock' tend to be tighter players.
The most common were ‘quickness to respond’, ‘slowness to respond’ and ‘automatic play’.
Our Conclusions
• Online poker tells do exist. The most recognized are related to the speed of play – ‘quickness to respond’ – 76%, ‘slowness to respond’ – 73%, and falling into the trap of ‘automatic play’ – 68% scored highly in our research.
“Beware, some players are slow to respond when they get a monster hand as they are indecisive how to play it and get the maximum amount from it - don't mistake this delay for having a weak hand. Also, watch each players’ reaction times whether they have good cards or not and note any difference from their norm.”
• Online tells such as the chat panel and players’ screen names did not score highly, 29% and 8% respectively. However, one player did report:
“I was once playing at a table and one of the other players wrote his hand in the chat screen by accident!” Another that, “anyone called Imgonnabluff will probably never bluff and play only very strong hands!”
• One respondent summed up the whole approach to poker psychology,
“The good players vary their responses and leave you guessing as to what they really have - online or offline.”
• Betting patterns also hold clues,
“I think the only real tells on online poker relate to the size and frequency of bets.”
• Collecting information was also important,
“For me the secret is keeping book on every one I play against. Even if its only a few hands, for me its still important to get an idea of how they play”
“The beauty of online play is that you can accumulate all of this information and refer back to it time and again. You simply cannot do this in bricks and mortar poker. Information and form is the secret I think.
• And finally, one player had a few sobering words to add,
“not really a tell, but I win most on Friday & Saturday nights, after closing time - people are more reckless drunk, obviously.”
QUOTING http://www.vcpoker.com
Thanks to classic films such as Rounders and The Cincinnati Kid that have dramatized the world of high-stakes poker, the gaming world has always been fascinated with the psychology of the game.
And a large part of that psychology is the ability to read your opponents, to pick up on the subconscious tells that every player gives. Whether it’s the way they stack their chips or look at their cards, many a poker player has been sent home broke after a tell has let slip the strength of their hand.
The rise of online poker, where the only contact between players was via a computer screen, was thought to have removed the role of tells from the poker table. But new research from Victor Chandler Poker (www.vcpoker.com), Europe’s fastest growing online poker room, suggests that a new set of tells are being discovered in the online game.
Offline and online poker tells
Victor Chandler Poker surveyed regular online poker players and asked them about both offline and online poker tells. In the physical world, the most common tells were a player’s eyes (it seems they really are the windows to the soul), facial expressions and playing with chips. The top three online poker tells were:
Quickness to respond, reported by 76% of respondents – a very fast check can indicate a weak hand, quick bets on the turn or river can often indicate a strong hand.
Slowness to respond, reported by 73% of respondents – a pause followed by a check can often indicate weakness, while a delay followed by a raise often indicates strength.
Automatic play, reported by 68% of respondents – a lazy approach to the auto buttons lets a player slip into a set pattern of play. Any breaks in this pattern are clear tells.
Online poker players are relaxed
But the survey also indicated that online poker players were more relaxed about tells, with only 31% of players actively looking for tells in their online opponents; yet, if playing offline poker, 58% said they would actively look for tells.
Respondents also had some advise for online poker players:
“The good players vary their responses and leave you guessing as to what they really have – online and offline.”
“I keep a book on everyone I play against. The beauty of online play is that you can accumulate all of this information and refer back to it time and again.”
“Anyone called ‘Imgonnabluff’ will probably never bluff and only plays very strong hands!”.
Getting an edge; pick up on tells and avoid giving them out.
According to Simon Prodger, product marketing manager at Victor Chandler Poker, "… poker is an endlessly fascinating game. You’re not just playing the cards you’re dealt, you’re also playing against your opponent – and they’re human even if you are playing over the web. The small clues that can be picked up add to the fun of the game and can really give an edge to players who take the trouble to look."
Prodger goes on to give three golden rules for all online poker players hoping to get this edge: "Number one, always pay attention whether you’re involved in a hand or not, as you’ll learn a lot about your opponent’s game and temperament. Two, make notes on the players you see regularly in the card room, and use these to guide your play against each player. And three, always look to vary your game; by doing so you’ll avoid becoming predictable and giving out information about yourself."
QUOTING http://www.vcpoker.com/news/Online-Poker-Tells.doc
Introduction
A lot has been written about poker tells – the subconscious clues that indicate to other players, the strength or weakness of a player’s hand.
But do poker tells exist online?
In an earlier issue of our monthly newsletter, Big Slick, we explored some ideas on online poker tells. The article generated some debate among our readers so we decided to conduct a formal survey and see what they really thought. The research was conducted by email and online survey during June 2004.
To give perspective, we asked respondents about both offline and online poker tells.
Results
Question 1: How often do you play ONLINE poker?
Respondents were frequent online poker players with 72% playing between 4-7 times per week.
95% of respondents played online poker at least once per week.
Question 2: How often do you play OFFLINE poker?
Offline poker playing, for example in a casino card room or a home game with friends, was not as popular with respondents.
22% of respondents never played offline poker. 48% of respondents played offline poker at least once a month.
Looking for tells played a significant part in most players’ strategy with 58% saying that they actively looked for tells in other players when involved in an offline game. A further 28% said they would notice and react if someone did something strange. 14% said they just concentrated on their own game.
Question 4: What do you think are the three most common tells in offline poker
Players were asked to report their top 3 from 6 recognized poker tells:
• The eyes – the length of time a player stares at his cards, his willingness to look you in the eye, his eye pupil dilation
• Facial expression – does a player show a noticeable tic, or obvious unhappiness when a hand is weak, obvious confidence when a hand is strong?
• Weak is strong, strong is weak – with a strong hand a player tries to look disinterested, with a weak hand a player tries to appear intimidating
• Anxiety – physical clues such as flexing of muscles, changes in voice, chest expanding
• Trembling hands – showing nervousness by hands shaking, usually indicating a strong hand.
• Glancing or playing with chips – Indicating a player is already planning his attack.
The most common of these were ‘weak is strong’, ‘the eyes’ and ‘glancing or playing with chips’.
Question 5: Thinking about your own poker game offline, what tells do you worry about showing to other players?
Players were asked about what clues they were worried about giving out. Facial expression and ‘the eyes’, were the top 2 worries.
In online poker, fewer players actively looked for tells – only 31% against 58% in offline poker. Indeed, 25% just concentrated on their own game against 14% offline.
Question 7: What do you think are the three most common tells in online poker?
Players were asked to report their top 3 from 5 suggested online poker tells:
• Automatic play – a lazy approach to the auto buttons lets a player slip into a set pattern of play – a break in that pattern is a clear tell
• Slowness to respond – a pause followed by a check can often indicate weakness, a delay followed by a raise often indicates a strong hand
• Quickness to respond – a very fast check can often indicate a weak hand, quick bets on the turn or the river can often indicate a strong hand.
• Chat panel - talk gives clues, silent types often play hard, holding good hands when they raise; chatty, friendly players tend to be looser.
• Player's names - screen names like 'The Gambler' and 'Mad Dog' tend to be loose and aggressive while players with names such as 'The Rock' tend to be tighter players.
The most common were ‘quickness to respond’, ‘slowness to respond’ and ‘automatic play’.
Our Conclusions
• Online poker tells do exist. The most recognized are related to the speed of play – ‘quickness to respond’ – 76%, ‘slowness to respond’ – 73%, and falling into the trap of ‘automatic play’ – 68% scored highly in our research.
“Beware, some players are slow to respond when they get a monster hand as they are indecisive how to play it and get the maximum amount from it - don't mistake this delay for having a weak hand. Also, watch each players’ reaction times whether they have good cards or not and note any difference from their norm.”
• Online tells such as the chat panel and players’ screen names did not score highly, 29% and 8% respectively. However, one player did report:
“I was once playing at a table and one of the other players wrote his hand in the chat screen by accident!” Another that, “anyone called Imgonnabluff will probably never bluff and play only very strong hands!”
• One respondent summed up the whole approach to poker psychology,
“The good players vary their responses and leave you guessing as to what they really have - online or offline.”
• Betting patterns also hold clues,
“I think the only real tells on online poker relate to the size and frequency of bets.”
• Collecting information was also important,
“For me the secret is keeping book on every one I play against. Even if its only a few hands, for me its still important to get an idea of how they play”
“The beauty of online play is that you can accumulate all of this information and refer back to it time and again. You simply cannot do this in bricks and mortar poker. Information and form is the secret I think.
• And finally, one player had a few sobering words to add,
“not really a tell, but I win most on Friday & Saturday nights, after closing time - people are more reckless drunk, obviously.”
posted by Angel The Gambler @ 6:05 PM
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