Whereas in a live-action game, it is sometimes possible to pick up useful visual clues to help ascertain whether an opponent is strong or not, in the online game this element of the game is much less significant. Of course, in online play, just as in live-action games, it is possible to deduce some information about your opponents from their betting patterns, but online tells play a relatively small role overall. In this section we shall discuss the role of online tells - those tells which are unique to the online game.

Telling by Time
It is often argued that the amount of time that an opponent spends on a decision can indicate whether or not he is holding a good hand; hesitation before betting often being used to feign weakness and rapid bets made to try and muscle the pot, or, as Mike Caro puts it, ‘weak means strong’ and ’strong means weak’.
On the flop, a very quick call often suggest a drawing hand (typically a flush draw), whereas a quick raise often represents top pair with a decent kicker (or an overpair). A very slow call will often mean a mediocre hand (one which the player was seriously considering folding). It is always very unpleasant when someone first checks slowly and then check-raises immediately after you have bet, thereby representing a very strong hand, which is most likely what they are holding.

In general, if the first player makes a very fast bet after everyone has checked on the previous round then this may indicate a bluff to try and pick up this ‘orphan’ pot, whereas if that player pauses unduly before carrying out a bet (or everyone checks and the last player pauses before betting) then this may suggest that he has a very strong hand and is trying to induce calls through his apparent hesitation (which is sometimes known as the ’stall-bluff).

Players who take a long time over all of their decisions are usually either very new to the game, suffering from a poor Internet connection or playing multiple tables (or otherwise distracted). If you are familiar with the player and identify distraction as the cause, then they are a prime candidate for a well-timed bluff.

Here is a summary of these timing tells:
Pre-flop:
Instant ‘auto-raise’: High pair or big ace
Lots of instant folds: Tight player

Post-flop:
Quick raise: Probable good made hand
Slow check: Probable weak hand except:
Slow check followed by quick check-raise: Probable very big hand
Instant check: Likely very weak hand
Quick bet: May be trying to act strong
Slow bet (or raise): May be trying to act weak
Quick call: Likely drawing hand
Slow call: Marginal hand

Of course, these online tells cannot be applied across the board for all opponents (and they can easily be reversed by sophisticated opponents in any case). Some players will pause to calculate whether they have a reasonable chance of getting away with a bluff, whereas others will act slowly to pretend that they have a hand, in the hope of discouraging you from betting into them on the next round, and thereby gaining a free card. Slow action may also be completely neutral- it may simply be that your opponent was thinking about a decision at another table or was otherwise distracted, or indeed that either you or your opponent is experiencing a lag in their Internet connection (although usually connection problems are ongoing, so you may be able to ascertain whether the delay is likely to be connection-related or not).

A tell is only meaningful if it involves a deviation from your opponent’s normal behaviour. If you do spot a tell on your opponent, then it is important to make a note of it, in case you run into a similar situation with him in the future.

In principle, you should spend as much time on each decision as you need, varying the time you spend on your decisions if you feel you are becoming too predictable or alternatively seeking to take exactly the same amount of time before each action, regardless of whether you are betting a big hand or a marginal one. Indeed, if you stop to think too often you may take some of the fun element out of the game for the other players, encouraging them either to go elsewhere to gamble or to concentrate harder on their own decisions! Some of the best online games are those in which everyone else is enjoying themselves, chatting to one another, playing quickly and not paying a great deal of attention to the real action on the table.