Can You Really Read the Table in Online Poker?

Over the past few years, online poker has exploded in popularity. In the past, you’d have to head to a casino or host a poker night at home if you wanted to play. Today, you can hop online and join a game with players from around the world.

However, there are some differences between online poker and traditional in-person poker. Rather than staring your opponents in the face from across the felt of the table, you’ll instead be looking at a screen, often with no idea what your opponents look like. Can you still read the table in online poker? Find out here.

What Does Reading the Table Mean?

There is a commonly held misconception that poker is a game purely based on luck. While luck certainly plays a part, as you never know what cards you or your opponents will be dealt, it’s also a game that requires skill, guile and craft if you want to succeed.

Before you do anything in poker, be that call, raise or fold, you need to try to figure out what your opponents are up to. Obviously, you can’t see their cards, but this doesn’t mean you can’t work out what they’re thinking or what they’re planning.

By studying and analysing the game as it unfolds, you can make informed guesses about the cards your opponents are holding and then adjust your game plan and strategy accordingly. This is called reading the table. It’s a skill players develop over time and can be extremely effective if implemented correctly.

Let’s look at an example. If you’re playing Texas Hold’Em at a provider like Unibet PL and the flop reveals three red cards, a player betting heavily could suggest that they have a flush. If your hand is weaker than a flush, your best course of action would be to check or fold.

What About Tells?

While you can read the table by studying cards and betting patterns, you can also read the body language of other players to deduce what cards they are holding.

Bluffing is an important part of poker. It’s when a player pretends that they have a strong hand to encourage other players to fold. However, people give off unconscious non-verbal signals all the time that reveal our true thoughts and intentions. If you understand body language that can indicate that someone is lying, you can work when someone is bluffing and call them on it.

If you feel like someone is bluffing, pay close attention to their body language. If they do anything out of the ordinary and it turns out they were indeed bluffing, they could well repeat this behaviour if they attempt another bluff in the future.

Reading the Table in Online Poker

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s perfectly possible to read the table in a game of online poker. You’ll still be able to observe betting behaviours and patterns of play, allowing you to draw up conclusions about the hands and intentions of your opponents.

The key difference in online poker is that you can’t see other players. However, you can still pick up on their tells. While you won’t be able to read their body language, tells can also manifest in betting patterns, so keep a close eye on how much and when your opponents are placing wagers.

Conclusion

Online poker has really taken off in recent years and is now one of the most popular ways for people to play the game. Critics have often maintained that reading the table is impossible in online poker, but that simply isn’t the case. While you might not be able to read the body language of your opponents, you can still effectively read the table by observing and analysing the betting patterns taking place.