Referral Code Full Tilt

Ok so we know that body language is important, and we know that there are a lot of physical idiosyncrasies that can give a player away in a face to face game, but what about on-line poker? Well now you have to rely more heavily on their betting patterns, and this is something that also applies to face to face poker as well.

We know that position is important, but that can be overcome, purely by ‘living right,’ and establishing a good reputation at the table. Being able to control your emotions and betting patterns helps you establish this, but it does help to have decent pocket cards to back you up. It’s like a nuclear arms race, you may not need to use your WMD’s but you want people to know you have them.

On-line it’s a good idea to watch a persons habits before tangling with them too much, if they don’t bet often, then alarm bells should be going if they are suddenly in a hand after remaining quiet for the last 10 hands, it’s common sense, the person is only playing good hands, they are probably looking at an AA, AK, A10 etc.

Instantly you know you should respect this person, but often you will find if they don’t make their high pair, say they have AK and the flop show’s a 2, 5 10 for instance – they won’t bet, unless they are bluffing. In a hand like this, unless someone has gone in with a  2 and a 5 (possibly on a blind – or trying their luck) no-one will. If any high card comes up after this, and someone finally bets, chances are they have made a pair (or possibly a triple). If no-one bets or the bets are low you can be pretty sure most people are staying in to see if they make a high card. It’s never a glorious win, but wouldn’t you rather get your chips back, just because you had an Ace or King and no-one else made anything with their 10 and a Queen?

As you’re probably becoming aware there is always a reverse to the rule, someone you are playing has called at the beginning, A, Q, 9 comes on the flop. No-one bets, a 10 comes up, still no-one bets, then suddenly, after the river reveals a 2, someone has gone all-in or raised significantly. What normally happens is everyone else folds. The person betting has told everyone he has a high card or has made the straight, but, this bet has come out of the blue. It’s one of the easiest ways of bluffing. I liken it to being at a tea party and there is one last slice of cake, no-one wants to claim it, because they are scared how people will react – so no-one does until the last minute – and that person will get away with it scot-free, unless challenged.

The truth is just because someone does bet a lot towards the end might mean they are bluffing in this way, or it might be that they have been waiting for someone to bet so they can re-raise. Again this can be balanced out by previous play, have you seen them fishing and being caught out, are they desperate for chips or have they had a long standing history of only playing picture cards. The other clue is if someone raises they are at risk of scaring you off, but if they have the hand surely they want to keep you in, so an extreme raise can be a clue that their bluffing. Don’t worry, your head will hurt just as much actually playing sometimes, but in time you will gain the confidence to know what to do.