Betting the Big Stack (and Other Online Trends)

In the poker world, certain plays have been "fashionable" for a while, only to fall out of favor. In time, I think this phenomenon will also occur in online poker. Virtual cardrooms have been around for only about five years, but in that brief time, I've seen a few trendy plays develop. How long they will remain in vogue is another question.

Here are four plays (some would also call them tells or reverse tells) that have become fashionable for online play.

Or, a $4 bet instead of $5; the same with $9 instead of $10. All of these bet variations have the same thing in common - they require a greater number of chips. A $24 bet requires four $5 chips and four $1 chips. Therefore, on the computer screen it appears as an eight-chip bet, which creates a nice-size stack, as opposed to the single chip that would appear if someone were betting $25. Players do this as a form of intimidation. They hope the player deciding whether or not to call will see the large stack bet at them and lean toward folding. When players take this concept to the extreme, you'll see $49 bet instead of $50, and $99 rather than $100. I even saw someone go through the trouble of betting $49.75, which put three 25-cent chips on top of the pile to make it even bigger than it already was! Luckily for him, I was not involved in the hand, as I would have called in an instant if I had any semblance of a hand.

For the most part, this continues to be a fairly reliable tell. Players have to go out of their way to bet such odd amounts, so there is usually a reason for it, and that reason is to scare opponents. The only problem is, when experienced opponents are facing one another, they might bet an odd amount as a reverse tell. They hope their well-versed foe might misread the large bet stack as a sign of weakness, when instead they have a strong hand. However, if I'm facing an opponent I've never seen before, and he bets $49, my first instinct is that his hand couldn't stand a raise.

This is simply the opposite of play No. 1. When players want action on their hand, they purposely make one-chip bets. When players bet $5, $25, or $100, they know it appears small to their opponents. They are hoping their opponents will see a single chip out there and be more prone to call.

To some extent, this is a less reliable tell. The sliding bar that produces your bet size in online no-limit games offers round-numbered bets as a default (whereas you have to type in the bet amount if you prefer an odd-sized bet amount). Therefore, when you see a single-chip bet, it could mean the player wants a call, or it could just mean the player doesn't want to go through the trouble of typing in some other amount. However, if I had a close decision to make and saw a single-chip bet placed by my opponent, I'd lean toward folding. The bet appears weak, so I'll assume he is strong.

This is similar to what some players do in live casino games. They have a strong hand, but to make it seem like they have a tough decision, they take their time before betting or raising. In online games, you have a limited amount of time to act on your hand. Usually, when you have 10 or 15 seconds left, the site will remind you that it is your turn and that your time is running out. Some players will purposely wait until that point before acting on their hand. If the same player does this every time, all that means is that he has a slow Internet connection.

However, when it is an isolated incident, it becomes one of the stronger online tells you'll see. A player who takes that much time and then comes out with an aggressive action usually has a big hand. He wouldn't want to appear indecisive if he truly were.

This is basically the opposite of play No. 3. It is clear when a player has employed the "bet in turn" button, since his bet comes out instantaneously. He wants it to appear that he had an easy decision, and that his hand was so strong that he was going to bet no matter what. Even though the quick bet can sometimes be intimidating, don't let it get to you. Take a step back, and decide if he is strong, or merely appearing to be strong.

As with play No. 3, it is necessary to track your opponents, and to see if they do the same thing every time. If a player is always betting in turn, you no longer have a reliable tell. But, if he comes out with a "bet in turn" once in a while, it's usually meant as an intimidation factor, and it rarely means that his hand is strong.

Players have come to recognize them. I'm the one writing about them, but I'd guess that hundreds of online players would be able to identify the plays I've described. As I said before, certain players will purposely exhibit a reverse tell when they are playing against experienced online opponents. They will sometimes bet a big stack when they want a call, and make a one-chip bet when they are bluffing. They will take a long time with what is truly a marginal hand, and they will bet quickly when they have the nuts.

Eventually, a larger percentage of online players will be seasoned veterans, and they will probably exhibit these reverse tells from time to time. At that point, the plays I described will give you information only if you have knowledge of the individual who made the play. You will no longer be able to make general assumptions that strong means weak and vice versa. As for the odd-sized bets, I think players will get tired of the $49 and $99 nonsense, and will stick to round numbers when betting. That will result more from laziness than anything else. But, hey, we poker players are a pretty lazy bunch.

None of this will happen right away, but I have a feeling it will happen down the road. Only time will tell.

Matt Lessinger's "Bet With Less" column appears in Card Player magazine. He can be reached at mlessinger@hotmail.com.