Algorithems / Odds Checkers

I noticed that some people take ages and ages to then check or call, or fold. I get it that time use is important to the game and have even won some chips when I noticed someone was on Check / Fold.

However, are some using all this time to use online odds checkers?

Could be, but I doubt it. It’s much faster to do it in your head, and I don’t think there’s enough time to enter the cards, think about how this suggests a course of action, then still have time to make that action.

A lot of those who take a lot of time are playing more than one table.

It would be very odd for someone to use an odds calculator here. In all likelihood it is a function of playing more than 1 table or from computer lag. SPG was probably spot-on with his answer. As long as the topic of time was brought up though, I thought I’d add a little to it.

You brought up an important source of information in noticing the amount of time it takes players to make a decision. This is one of the most basic tells in online poker and if you can discern a pattern with a player in terms of hand strength vs time to make a decision, that can be exploited quite nicely. In fact, one of the cash game specialists I know has used time to action around different sites to become quite successful. As a very general and basic rule, people tend to respond most quickly to positions of strength and take more time for marginal to weak holdings.

I try to keep my response times to all decisions after the flop of equal duration so as to deprive anyone paying attention of a read. Some decisions take longer than others but for the most part I can keep my reaction times to the same length. It is something you may wish to consider adopting into your own play since you already seem to be conscious of it in others. Use it as a source of information for yourself and deprive that information to others.

Best of luck

Online timing tells are some of the easiest and most profitable to fake.

Instabets usually indicate weakness.

Waiting until the last possible moment to raise almost always indicates strength.

Both of these are rookie moves, and easy to spot.

More sophisticated timing fakes can tell a convincing story., even though the story is a lie. :slight_smile:
For example…

Flop the nut flush, delay 3 or 4 seconds, min bet. When raised, burn 1/2 of the clock, then “reluctantly” call. :yum:

On the turn, delay 5 or 6 seconds, check. When your guy bets, “agonize” for 1/3 of the clock, then call. You have to take a little less time on this action to be convincing. You’re selling the idea that you have already decided his flop bet was a bluff. Obviously, if you had him beat, you would act faster, at least in his mind. :grin:

Instabet 1/2 pot on river to look like a bluff. If you get raised, burn 1/2 the clock before moving in. Hey, it takes a little time to work up the nerve for a big bluff, right? :sweat:

SPG - Great follow-up BTW and probably worthy of more exploration. You jumped into more advanced concepts, which is great, but most people (95%+ easy) don’t even know this is a thing so I started with the very basics. Once you become aware of this, then you can start in with the game-theory. As a start though, it is good to look for patterns in others as well as to deprive others of reads on you. Here, when dealing with a population of players who do not have even the basics down (for the most part) simple recognition of patterns in time to act would give anyone willing to look for them an advantage.

Remembers Negranu on some show talking about playing against esfadiery … @ a certain point it becomes, I know , that he knows, that I know, that he knows, ect ect ect ect…

In online Poker there are so few tells, especially if the site does not add ways to emote play… There’s… time to bet , bet/raise size , chipstack, possibly chaty-ness…[quote=“SunPowerGuru, post:4, topic:5275”]
More sophisticated timing fakes can tell a convincing story., even though the story is a lie. :slight_smile:
[/quote]
SunPowerGuru is soooooo right, about telling a story right… and using time effectively.

Most of the time issues go right out window if you then have to add “was he just thinking, or was he betting/ect ect on another table or even does he just have a bad conn”…

Here is where this intersects another thread with AI in it. While I as a player can vary ( or try to ) my play to disguise from other ppl, big data will, over time, be able to pick out my real tendancies and patterns. ( How many people play live and only look @ tells they would see online… if you push out the clutter of tons of tells, can a very few … still work live ? )

I do not think anyone on ReplayPoker is using a short 20 second clock, to check any online odds sites.

4th person to reply and 4th vote for surprise at anyone at Replay crunching numbers in an odds checker during play, at least to an extent to slow down their response times enough for it to be noticeable.
Anyone savvy enough to want to get pot odds in a particular situation probably already has a fair idea of the odds and would have a set up where they are able to get the info they are after quite efficiently and not interrupt the game.
Pretty sure loads of Replay players have run hands through the Replayer and calculated odds after the game in order to prepare for the same situation to come up again.

Agreed. You either know your odds or you don’t. And if you don’t yu should probably fold.

Scratch

The rough probability of making your hand on the next card is 2X the number of outs. Who needs a calculator for that?

Some people take a long time in order to tilt other players. It is really annoying because it is a waste of time and reduces the amount of poker being played, but I have seen other players get really thrown off their game by getting into arguments with the slow player. I have even seen someone start playing slowly themselves as “retaliation” for other slow players!

On the other hand, another player once told me they were playing slowly because they are are truck driver and were somehow playing on Replay and driving at the same time. That would be a horrible and dangerous idea, but it also sounds like a lie (although they did provide a lot of detail about it).

Timing tells are really useful, although I wouldn’t make a read solely based on them. I like to value bet really quickly just so my opponent thinks I am bluffing or making a continuation bet, but I would bet just as quickly in either situation. I take a long time and act like I might fold when I have the nuts, but people rarely seem fooled by that. Another tell is that quick calls often indicate they are on a draw because they are not thinking about raising or folding.

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You’re taking too long then. Try 1/3 to 1/2 the clock.

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By the way, saying zzzzzzzzz or insisting someone hurry up never works. No really, NEVER.

Not only is it against Replay’s TOU, human nature is such that they will just take longer because they think it’s getting under your skin. Worse, other people will start playing slow too.

Better to say, “I usually play live poker, and this goes way too fast for me. I appreciate the extra time so I can think about what to do.”

Best though… say nothing.

In my experience, it is the multiple table players that are among the fastest players. Through practice they have become efficient at making the quick decision. I never complain about slow play because really how slow can it be with the timer? However since I play the majority of the time from work, I’m at times distracted thus leading to hands of slow play. But even under these circumstances no one has ever complained to me about slow play. ( mostly good people here) Because I play from work I tend to play the freeroll games and low stakes ring games in case I have to leave the game suddenly as often happens at work.

I use the clock as a form of “switching up” my play, for the most part. It’s one of the only ways to do this in online poker.

When they do this - I often stall the time just to put them on “tilt”…works pretty well actually.

LOL.

I was going to say the same thing Sun Power said…and that is most time its because players are playing more then one table at time.

All really great answers…thanks! I get it. One thing though. On Omaha Hi/Lo…I need the time to think it out!

C

I don’t believe this to be true

type in the players name to search on main page at the top. It will show you how many tables a player is on.Bet you find that the slow player is on more then one table.