Poker - Reads

[Castle7]

Just curious what the rest of you think about this. I personally have a much harder time reading online players than players in a live game.

[MNBridge]

I see I'm the only one who voted for On line. So I guess I'll explain.

On line the tempo is very fast and more consistent. It is easier (for me) to see the disruption in flow in an online game than in a live game. i.e. They are trying to decide (do I slow play?, Do i bet my draw, etc. BUt you know they have something, and their preflop betting can give a good indication as to what)

Live games you have to deal with people who are distracted by, other tables yelling, girls walking by, how they are going to explain their loss to the wife, etc.
Also due to the slowness of a live game people do not pay as much attention.

Note: With that said there are live players that are VERY easy to read. And in these extreme cases I would agree with the live players. (You may get a bunch of these at 2/4 but a 15/30 table or above with 2 players who are easy to read is very rare (And often a gold mine :D )

[PatsFan12]

you can't always read online either. I get up numerous times during a tournament to either go to the bathroom or head out to the kitchen for a snack. I hear the beeping that it's my bet and race back in. So if you see me pause in a situation like that you're going to read it incorrectly. It's not that I'm thinking about it, just that I wasn't at my computer when the bet came to me. I like live games, especially when you are playing people you know. I'm not the greatest at reading people but I know by not giving anything away myself I'm getting at least a slight advantage over others.

[MNBridge]

Once I see that XXX has 20 seconds to respond I assume they were away and not pay attention to the hesitation.

[foghorn]

There are many times when I act (fold, call, check or raise) and there is a few seconds hesitation before I actually see the action take effect. I'm not sure how my opponents are seeing it though.