Despite our effort to hide all aspects of tells and information from our opponents we are unable to mask the story that is told through the pattern of our bets. Fortunately our opponents also cannot mask their bets either which gives us a ready made stream of information. We therefore have numerous things to think about when we bet. We must firstly ensure that if we are betting a strong or weak hand we are telling a consistent story with our betting and do not fall into the trap of indicating the strength of our hand by making a bad play.
When you raise pre-flop you are indicating to your opponent that you hold a strong hand that you are happy to build a pot with. Your reaction to the flop gives out further information about whether you are happy with the texture of the flop in relation to your hand. A good player can further narrow down the potential hands that you hold. An important point here is that the decision on whether you or an opponent is bluffing is a separate decision, but certain bets that are “unexpected” given the action can go towards opponents deciding whether or not you are bluffing.
Let’s look at an example. You hold 88 and make a pre-flop raise of three times the big blind. You receive one caller from the blinds and the flop comes down a rainbow A Q 9. Your opponent checks to you and you check, slightly worried about the over-cards. The turn is a 2. Your opponent checks again and you bet half the pot. What does this look like to your opponent? You raised pre-flop but checked the flop when checked to. Your opponent now knows you declined the continuation bet, so they can discount an Ace and pocket kings. It is unlikely you hold QQ or 22 so they may be ahead with their hand of 9 10 suited. Your range is now probably TT and lower pairs and they hold one of the tens and nines. They call. The river is a 7. You have shown no sign of betting and it is unlikely you would have checked twice with top pair or two pair. Your opponent makes a bet of half the pot on the river. What do you do? They have also not shown any real desire to take the pot and could be betting a busted draw, but could easily be sat on bottom pair which still beats you. Your opponent should give you credit for good starting hands but it is obvious the community cards did not improve your hand. A good opponent may put these down but there is a reasonable chance they would call given the action.
You must also think about what your opponent is thinking that you hold. There are many players who do not do this, but it can be really useful. For example, if you have won two hands so far in a tournament with AA then KK and you play another hand after one hour, you can expect that your opponent is thinking ‘this person only played two hands and they were really strong, therefore he/she is really tight so I must have a good hand to get involved with him’. Most players are not throwing chips away so if he continues to bet into us or raise us he must have something. Use your own image to help you work out your opponent’s range of hands.
Physical tells can be useful but most players understand that they should not be giving these away and are reasonably good at hiding them. Even if you do spot a physical tell it may be a deliberate physical bluff designed to mislead you. Online Texas poker relies heavily on betting tells and this is a skill much under utilized by inexperienced live players. This is perhaps a reason why skilled online players do so well live in the high stakes tournaments where players make less moves. Practice reading and interpreting the betting action so you are betting, raising and calling with more information.