In a live poker tournament, table talk can be a vital part of the game. It can give you an idea what opponents are thinking and what they think of you. You can sometimes even talk an opponent into giving you information about whether or not you should call or fold, or talk an opponent into calling or folding.

The online poker game is a little different. You can still talk through the online chat function, but you cannot necessarily maintain the same flow of conversation and you cannot see an opponent's reaction to what you are saying. Still, online chat can be useful in a number of ways.

Getting Information About a Player's Emotional State Through Online Chat

Often a player will make a remark that will let you know that he or she is angry, usually about a bad beat he or she has just taken. Often another player will take this opportunity to needle the first player, sometimes resulting in a profanity-laced back and forth between the two players. There is certainly no need for you to get involved in the altercation. However, this is a good indication that one of the players is on tilt.

You may want to take advantage of this by giving this player the maximum opportunity to make mistakes. You also may want to try to get involved if these two players are going up against each other in a pot. If you can sneak in with a big hand while two other egos are clashing with something to prove, you just might walk away with both of their stacks.

Getting Information About a Player's Tendencies Through Online Chat

If a player takes a beat and announces through chat something like "u r so bad, calling three bets with only eight outs in that pot," you know this is a player who is at least casually familiar with poker math. You want to play some unusual hands against this player, since she will expect you to play premium starting hands like she does and pay you off when one of your non-premium hands hits.

This is just one example of information you can get about how a opponent play poker by paying attention to their chat.

Getting Information About a Player's Environment Through Chat

If a player announces, "got to get to work in a few min." or "getting tired," this may be an indication that the player is under time constraints. This may mean that he or she is going to take some risks, especially if he or she is losing. WARNING: If a player says this immediately before moving all-in or making a big raise, it is often a "weak means strong" tell and you should usually fold unless you have a monster hand.

If a player says "sry, phone," or "back in one min," frequently he or she may have many distractions going on in his or her home and should be targeted as a player who may make some key mistakes.

As you see, the in online poker offers ways to learn more about your opponents.


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