In short, yes. Ok, so you’d think it’s not as blatant as a twitching eyebrow or Cheshire cat grin, but the virtual tell can contribute to spoiling your online play.

It can be easy to fall into routine while playing online. It’s made to be fast-paced, particularly with the use of the preset buttons to call, raise or fold. Cards are lightening fast and you are expected to act quickly. And here breeds the virtual tell…

Be wary of the speed you click your mouse, you could well be alerting your opposition to particularly tasty cards. It’s a misconception that, because you don’t have a physical presence to your opponents, you can’t be read.  However, the clues to interpret a user’s hand are still present.

A virtual tell is a subconscious action performed in a given situation that alerts your opposition to your hand, similarly to the traditional tell. Be conscious of your actions, particularly repeat behaviour. Using the automatic feature for strong hands, but stalling on weak ones is a common give away to strong players looking for prey.

Betting rhythms are amplified online due to the absence of other visual factors, so you need to be conscious of your speed to act on various hands. The key is to be broken with your play and vary your time to call. By mixing up your betting pattern, this will help to disguise the quality of your hands.

Remember; poker is cat and mouse and online play is no different. The trick is to keep your opponents guessing. Beware the rhythm, but also look for patterns from other players – YOU could be the one using the virtual tell to turn your game.

1. Playing to never go bust

This seems weird right? But it’s actually bad to play to always avoid going bust! This is something which fools both new and experienced players, so don’t worry if you’ve been following this rule… just stop now! Why? It is illogical; if you play to never go bust you will stick on low hands and the dealer will win. The dealer must stand on soft 17, and so if you’re sticking on 14 or other low hands then you have no chance of winning.

2. Not doubling down

This is a very useful tactic and is the best way to make money. Generally it is new blackjack players that avoid doubling down in fear of losing double the wager. Be careful id casino’s only let you double down on specific amounts, as these are likely to have the better house edge. But if you think you have a good chance of hitting your hand, double down and rake in more cash.

3. Tables where the dealer stands on soft 18

Avoid blackjack tables where a dealer stands on soft 18 at all costs! If a dealer has to stand on a soft 17 you gain an advantage: the house edge is 0.02% lower when a dealer stands on a soft 17 than when they hit. The percentage is very low, but with casino games the secret to winning is to shave the house edge as much as possible.

4. Splitting a good hand

Never split a decent hand into two separate hands. That would be crazy! This is a common mistake but not only does it lower your chance of winning; you also have to pay an extra wager for the pleasure! A simple rule which will get you started is to never split 10’s (including picture cards) or 5’s. If you split these cards you will either go bust or be forced to stand on a low total - and either of these mean you lose over time.

5. Counting cards

It’s a fallacy that counting cards will get you anywhere unless you’re a mathematical genius who has unlimited hours spare to sit at a blackjack table. If you try card counting in an online casino you’re going to be even more disappointed! Never heard of the Random Number Generator? It can’t be predicted or counted.

Alchemists Lab Slots - 3 reel single spin slots game.

Imagine having the ability to make your own gold!

You can have a taste of what it would be like with the 3 reel, single line slot Alchemist’s Lab. With test tubes, conical flasks, and potion books all around, you’ll get the feeling of being in a real laboratory.

This is a very traditional slot game. It really easy to use and the pay table structure are shown on an open potion book for convenience. To bet you press on the fire bellows and your wins and current bets are displayed on the flasks to the left and right of the reel.

It has an amazing bonus round that can payout up to 10,000 in coins. To get to the bonus round you need to match three of the alchemist’s potion books. You then have to choose three flasks which are mixed in a cauldron and the liquid gold is poured into a coin mould. The gold coin is then valued and that amount will be added to your balance.

With its ease of use and colourful graphics it’s easy to become attracted to this slot.

Seated at the blackjack table, a player and the dealer were arguing about whether dealers should receive tips.The player’s argument was this: “If I get bad cards and complain you say it’s not your fault. So if I get good cards it can’t be anything to do with you either! So why should I tip you?”

The dealer replied, “When you go to a restaurant, do you give the waiter tips?”

“Yes” replied the player.

“He serves you food, and I serve you cards. You tip him so you should tip me.”

The player smiled, and looked at his cards which totaled fourteen.

“Fine! The waiter gives me what I ask for. I’ll take a seven please!”

Famous for being partial to his fast cars and fancy gadgets, our introduction to the new bond man Daniel Craig, is slightly unconventional – his main weapon being Texas Hold’em Poker.

When Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre (a corrupt banker to the world of terrorists) is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale, MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organisation.

This latest Bond film brings Ian Fleming’s original 1953 novel bang up-to-date, switching Baccarat for the ever popular game of Texas Hold’em Poker.

The Game: No-limit Texas Hold’em Poker. Ten players, each buying in at $10 million, with a re-buy of a further $5 million. That means that should you be unlucky enough to lose all your cash early on (yeah, Mr Bond), then you have to put a cool $5 million back in the pot to continue the game. Winner takes all, potentially $150 million – not a bad little earner, eh?

The Main Opposition: Le Chiffre, referred to by M as “a mathematical genius who likes to prove it playing poker.” Evil banker, with typical villain scarred face, playing with other people’s blood money. “In poker, you never play your hand, you play the man across from you,” states 007 and he clearly has his eyes on Le Chiffre’s every move.

The Tell: Anyone can win in poker if they hold the best cards; the trick is to win when you don’t. That’s where tells come in—those subtle ways in which opponents betray themselves through body language, table talk, chip moves, eye contact, etc. Le Chiffre’s tell is a rather delightful pulsating vein in his forehead that he tries to surreptitiously cover with his finger. Beware getting played here. Bond losses a monster hand by banking on the tell being a dead cert. Two pairs (2Ks and 2Js) was a fair tasty hand too, but not as good as the four jacks of Le Chiffre, sneaky!

The Play: Unlike most casino games where you bet, get your cards, and then it’s all over, with Texas Hold’em you get some cards, make a bet, get some more cards, have another bet if you fancy and continue this process a few more times. You can leave the game at any point, which is known as folding. Although this does save you from having to put more money in, it also means that you lose any money that you have put in thus far, as you are choosing to leave the game.
And there’s a fair bit of folding in this match. The stakes are huge and the focus is on Bond and Le Chiffre, which often means they are playing ‘heads up’, i.e. the only two left, playing head to head.

For those that remain in the game to the end, the winner is the person with the best poker hand. This lucky person wins the pot (in this case, Mr Bond, given a lifeline from a CIA agent), sometimes minus a 5% rake (the commission taken by the casino). In Casino Royale there was no mention of a rake. With the stakes so high in this match and with it being a prestigious event, the plus for the casino would be the worldwide PR of such a match.

Also, it cannot be denied that the pull of the big screen, means showdowns with monster hands. That’s show business. So if you’re going to play like bond, be wary of reliance on very unlikely cards.

Oh and one last thing on Casino Royale; a bit of a plot hole. In the final hand of the poker game, everybody is all-in and Bond wins. However, LeChiffre has a greater value of chips, meaning that Bond can only win from each player up the amount he put into the pot. Any money in excess of this should have gone back to Le Chiffre and the game continued between him and Bond. In the movie, Bond wins everything. Never let the rules get in the way of a good plot, eh?