Small Bets Online
Playing poker online means breaking away form a lot of the usual literature’s method of playing. There are no more visual tells to look for, all you can look for are tells that released in a player’s betting. Much of the inconsistency in betting can be found in all levels of playing, but the most are usually found in the lower limit tournaments and cash games. Since less bluffing occurs in the lower limits, small bets mean exactly, what they are, weakness. There are of course the good players who are using reverse psychology and using small bets as value bets and looking for you to raise them, but they are rare, and just paying careful attention will reveal whether the player is actually a good or bad player.
Small best are usually defined in relation to the size of the blinds and the pot. Betting by a good player is usually at least three times the blinds and at least half to three quarters of the pot whenever it is post flop. The small bets on the button whenever play is checked to the button signal that the button is fishing to see whether there are players who have hit, but clearly have not hit. The move to counter that is a nice healthy check raise of the size of the pot should send the button to a fold. If the button, reraises however, it is best to lay down a marginal hand since they are signalling that they have a hand.
Small bets on the turn and the river are also looking to be exploited. Again reraises or check raises are good tools to use to take advantage of such bad play. Always look to use position and always target a player who is capable of folding if you are going to bully a player with nothing.
