Playing online poker varies from traditional casino poker in a number of ways and player tells, actions that help you read opponents, are among them.  Online you don’t have the ability to physically see your opponents and how they are reacting to the cards as well as what their body language is telling you.  However, online poker presents new ways to read the other players and increase your odds of winning against them.             

But first some time should be given to examining how to prepare yourself for reading your opponents and taking notes to make the information useful for the future.  First off, you have to understand that poker is a mental sport.  That means it demands concentration and focus to best your opponents and take the pot, and nothing could be more true when you’re trying to read tells.  Before you enter the game mentally prepare yourself for it and examine the table and player information you’re given before you select where you’ll sit.

Pay attention to the decisions that other players are making and their reactions even if you’ve folded your hand.  This is actually the best time to study your opponents.  They’ll be busy with playing their hand while you’re free to pay attention to the table rather than the cards.

When there are no other distractions you’re more likely to take accurate notes.  Basically all online poker rooms offer a note taking feature, something you’re not going to find in the casinos.  There are various ways to use the note taking function depending on what online poker room you’re in, such as having a notes section that you can access or functions where you can click on a player directly to make notes on them in particular.  Some sites are now offering ways to color code players into certain types to make reading your notes even easier.     

For affective notes you should organize the information so that it’s both basic and quick as well as detailed.  That way you can process the notes speedily if the situation calls for it, or take your time and really read into it for better insight.  Notes in this fashion will serve you well in your future online poker games since it’s likely you’ll come across the same player more than once.  And with thousands of players out there your only real way of keeping track of them all is with detailed notes.

Any kind of notes are better than none, but the more specific the information you jot down the more it will help during play.  Also realize that your notes aren’t set in stone.  They are working documents that will be continuously changing and added on to as you follow your opponents.  Just like yourself, they’ll be working to improve their game and notes need to be made if they do.

Now that you’re clued in as to how to take proper notes, you need to understand what needs to be noted.  There are many types of players out there and tells reveal where a particular player falls on the spectrum of playing styles.  Once you’ve figured out a player’s type it’s easier to make decisions on how you’re going to play against them and alter your game to take control of the situation.

At the very least you need to keep track of whether players have a loose or tight playing style depending on what you’re getting from their tells.  This is the door leading to the rest of their decisions.  Pay attention to how they react from different positions around the table, how they played a good hand and how they protect their blinds.  Determining whether a player is loose or tight is the foundation for beginning to build your understanding as to how they play and how to beat them.

One thing to keep in mind is that just as you’re reading other players they are trying to read you.  To thwart your competition make sure to watch out for patterns in your own playing.  Switch up your playing style from time to time to keep them on their toes and make them doubt their own notes.  You can also fake a tell to lead on other players.  If you see another player that seems to do the same make a note of that as well.  They are likely to be a strong player which you’ll need to know later on.

Your notes are your tell guidelines and there to serve you.  In this mental sport any little thing that can give you an edge is worth incorporating into your game.  We’ll now examine the tells of online poker playing so that you can identify them and understand what kind of information you can obtain from them.

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