Bluffing Tells In Free Online Poker

The ability to read bluffing tells is an essential skill for all poker players, and that includes those  who play free online poker.  Strange as it may seem to talk about tells when you can't actually see your opponent, there are still things you can look out for.  This article will show you how to use a knowledge of bluffing tells in free online poker games - but first, a quick guide to the most obvious giveaways in face to face games.

Bluffing in Online Poker

Watch The Feet

People tend to be far less in control of their feet, possibly because they can't see them when they're sat down at a card table.  Look out and listen out for foot tapping or shuffling - it could be a tell that your opponent is bluffing.

Watch The Eyes

The window of the soul!  A sudden change in eye direction - glancing up to the left or right - is a classic bluffing tell (which is why many players wear sunglasses, of course).

Watch The Face

If you watch your opponent's face very carefully, you can begin to see what are known as "micro-expressions" - very fleeting glimpses of a change in expression that will let you know they are bluffing.  

Watch The Behavior

Physical tics, such as lip biting, trembling hands, scratching the head, shifting body posture, increased perspiration, repetitive betting patterns - these are often signs of the increased stress caused by bluffing.
When it comes to free online poker games, it is obviously impossible to look out for these physical bluffing tells.  Nevertheless, the signs are there, in just the same way that the old morse code telegraphers had their own "signature".  It's just a matter of practice and watching what's going on.  Look for patterns of behavior - anything that diverges from that pattern could be a bluffing tell.  Repetitive betting patterns or raising a hand with unusual speed are often  giveaways that your opponent is bluffing.
Individually, these tells mean nothing.  The key to reading bluffing tells, face to face or on free online poker sites, is to look for patterns of behavior over time.