Timing Tells

[Reel Deal]

Thought it would be interesting to hear people's opinions on what type of timing tells they believe are relatively reliable. I understand that it might be difficult as I think there are some timing tells that probably apply to poor players (like a snap call = a draw), whereas the same might not apply to a decent player. So, for the sake of this discussion, lets divide the tells into two groups: poor players & decent players. Also, assume these are post flop actions and you're HU with the villain.

Categories - Poor Players:
1. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain snap calls
2. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta min raises
3. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta shoves
4. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and shoves
5. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down & smooth calls
6. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and raises
7. Villain insta donk bets
8. Villain times down and donk bets
9. HERO checks - Villain insta checks behind
10. HERO checks - Villain insta bets
11. HERO checks - Villain times down and checks
12. HERO checks - Villain times down and bets

Categories - Decent Players:
1. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain snap calls
2. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta min raises
3. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta shoves
4. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and shoves
5. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down & smooth calls
6. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and raises
7. Villain insta donk bets
8. Villain times down and donk bets
9. HERO checks - Villain insta checks behind
10. HERO checks - Villain insta bets
11. HERO checks - Villain times down and checks
12. HERO checks - Villain times down and bets

There might be some additional categories that I didn't list... feel free to add those to the discussion. And, feel free to only discuss those which you feel you've seen enough to make a reasonable assumption that such action is usually a reliable tell.

Have at it...

[Talking Poker]

This is a great idea for a thread. +Rep.

I'm going to reserve my comments for later, but I hope to see people responding here.

And I second the part about not responding to every situation - just respond to the ones that you think are at least 80% reliable.

[Zybomb]

Great idea for a thread

Categories - Poor Players:
1. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain snap calls: This is usually a draw
2. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta min raises: This is usually TP?K or some medium strength hand
3. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain insta shoves: Big draw?
4. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and shoves: Strong
5. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down & smooth calls: Varies I think. Can be a big hand (trying to make it seem like he didnt know what to do so u bet again) or weakness (really didnt know what to do)
6. Villain checks - HERO bets - Villain times down and raises: Very strong
7. Villain insta donk bets: Weak
8. Villain times down and donk bets: Weak
9. HERO checks - Villain insta checks behind: Super weak (clicked fold to any bet button)
10. HERO checks - Villain insta bets: Unknown
11. HERO checks - Villain times down and checks: Super weak/drawing and trying to get a check on the turn
12. HERO checks - Villain times down and bets: Hmmm.... unknown

Im gunna leave out the decent players section bc decent players shouldnt be using timing tells!

[Windbreaker]

Before you read too much into timing tells, you might want to know how many tables your villain is playing.

I heard Sorel Mizzi talking about one in particular before:

- You bet the flop, and villain insta min-raises. Sorel says that this is a great spot to shove. The villain rarely has a monster. If he did, he would have to taken some time to think of how to extract the most money from you. If you shove, you make it very hard for one pair or draws to call you.

[Wes]

I don't usually concern myself with timing tells from decent players unless I know otherwise. Mostly because they are usually playing a lot of other tables too so that basically negates any information you can gain from them.

As for fish, I think anything they do suddenly, whether that is snap calling or snap shoving/betting the river, is going to be far more weighted towards their weaker hands.

One timing tell that is pretty common among bad players is when they c/min raise. That is just about always some crap top pair hand (like A7 on A96 board) unless they are really passive then you have to be the fucking nutcracker because that's what you are going to have to do to win the hand.

[Reel Deal]

I thought this thread might get more action than this... so, bizump.