Any validity to this online tell?

[fatdave]

Over the past few days I've been thinking about this and am wondering if it has any usefullness online:

Whenever a player is in late position, and it's folded around to him, if he folds he automatically folds, meaning he had the "Fold" button checked. This means that he was not waiting around to see the early/mid position action before he decided to fold his hand*. This means that he is likely not raising in late position with sub-par hands to steal the blinds, and when he does raise in late position, somewhat stronger credit can be given.


*(Obviously if there is an early position raise, and then a wait while other people fold, and then he immediately fold, that doesn't mean much because the action is pretty clear. But say we are waiting for a slow player under-the-gun to fold, and as soon as he folds, the action is immediately folded all the way around, including the person in question.)

Additionally, perhaps the reverse is true. If the folding action frequently stops to a particular late position player, it may be because he is waiting for the action before he decides to raise with a lesser hand.

I realize that it is a smart thing to never check the pre-action buttons, because you do actually want to wait until the action gets to you before you decide. This is what I personally do, 95% of the time. However, some people are lazy and don't think about the repercussions.

Any thoughts?

[gulebjorn]

[ QUOTE ]
Whenever a player is in late position, and it's folded around to him

[/ QUOTE ]

I play small stakes, so this never happens.

[wall_st]

I think that a tell like this would come in more handy in a tournament situation than it would in a cash game. However I think that in any game where the players are tight and the blinds are substantial you may want to look for this.

I was actually considering the same thing today. I was playing several tables of 100 NL and noticed that at one table the folds were occuring very fast and in succession. I ended up changing my style at this table and got very aggressive, only folding when shown aggression from other players. It worked quite well.

[SoftcoreRevolt]

I would definately consider this valid if he seemed to only make use of the preaction buttons. If he folds and raises the same way, he's definately not deciding based on the action before him.

[Nathan183]

Something I've noticed is that often in an unraised pot, the BB will check immediately. If you assume that the reason is that they have clicked the "Check/Fold" button, it is pretty easy to bet them off of a high card flop.

[RunDownHouse]

If I notice the player immediately to my right often uses the "check/fold" button in the SB/BB, I'll steal with just about any two.

[StacysMom]

this could mean that they arent stealin with complete trach. i auto fold hands like 82o, but wait to see a limper before i fold K rag S. So i dont think it has much value.

[jedi]

I use "Check" more often than "Check/Fold." I dunno if that makes any difference though.

[PygmyHero]

I definitely think this tell is of value, even at small stakes. Hilger talks about online tells a little bit in ITH and they are fairly reliable. What you have to watch out for is the intelligent players who KNOW these tells and throw in reverse tells.

Also, I think it is worth mentioning that a lot of players use those 'act in turn' button because they are on so many tables. I will often use them even if I am only on two tables. Generally I'm not willing to give my opponents enough credit to be able to take advantage of this.

[Yads]

[ QUOTE ]
this could mean that they arent stealin with complete trach. i auto fold hands like 82o, but wait to see a limper before i fold K rag S. So i dont think it has much value.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do this as well.