How To Exploit Timing Tells | $200z Play & Explain

[@saulocostapoker]

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[@georgioskotenidis1609]

Most underrated skill in poker!! Even in high stakes! You did a great work with meta game too...also underrated!! well done!!

[@saulocostapoker]

Thank you Georgios!

[@errornotgonatel7185]

Loved the video for the most part just one question though. At 23:46 I understand that you think your opponent will have a super strong range when he snap 3 bets but wouldn’t that mean you have the implied odds to call because you could potentially hit a set? Especially when you’re a little deeper and he sized down a bit

[@thesneakingninja1]

This is an extremely epic video. I am taking a lot away from it and you are obviously way sharper a poker player than I will be for a long time. However, I think it is worth mentioning that in some of these lines, it seems like these same plays should be made regardless of timing tells because of MDA. At 1:11 shouldn't we delay anyway after a reg checks twice? And even if it wasn't overfolded, in theory they're usually folding, so I don't think it's that fair to give a +1 to timing tells. At 12:45 regardless of timing tells, isn't it reasonable to make these exact same assumptions regardless of timing tells when it checks to you on the turn? I would typically delay double with all my air here and play the same way with my SDV. At 15:05, check raise flop and continue is very underbluffed, so should K3s be folded regardless of timing? And I'd like to ask, at 19:20, if we're happy with our read, shouldn't we be bluffing? On this rainbow flop it's pretty hard for villain to convince themselves they have us beat. Finally thank you for making me a better poker player Mr saulo costa

[@saulocostapoker]

The best way to gauge whether a timing read worked or not is by looking at the showdown. But unfortunately not all hands go to showdown - in fact just a fraction of them. So we gotta settle for whether what we wanted worked or not. Not perfect but still relevant. I'm happy my videos have helped you become a better player my friend ❤️

[@thesneakingninja1]

@@saulocostapoker Thank you for your response! If you have time, can I ask if it's better to bluff our A-high at the 19:26 mark in the video? I think that's the option I would've taken.

[@saulocostapoker]

Seems excessive to bluff A high there, too much check back equity. Villain has to overfold a lot for it to be a thing to bluff such a high equity hand

[@FeloMB]

Saulo great content. Funny enough before seeing this video, I used to perceive snap calls/bets/raises as really strong and started overfolding. Works really good. And going a little bit beyond, i started reverse exploiting timing and works as well (for example if I have a semi bluff 3bet hand like A4suited I force myself to snap 3bet and generate more folds haha). When I have a really strong hand I force myself to tank. Works well too. Keep up the good work!

[@illyak7895]

Dude u made me think better about poker! Thanks to you I play fewer tables and can observe and get more information on my opponents and sometimes it feels like I can read their souls. Before that I was 8-12 tables autopiloting but now I understand that I have more $/h winrate if I play fewer tables and just focus more on hands. Of course its important to play a lot because of variance in poker but I better play less hands overall but more focused that masstable on autopilot.

[@saulocostapoker]

Nice, that's awesome to hear my friend! Yeah, I personally prefer a high winrate low volume approach rather than a low winrate high volume approach. But to each their own

[@glovozagreb6594]

8:05 Only hand you lose to JT? How about KQd? or 78 or 78d? Q8 d? overpairs slow played

[@saulocostapoker]

Q8 and KQ should just fold turn. 87 is a mixed call/fold, mostly folding too

[@pugdawg4787]

Hey bro, great content even for mtt players and other variants! One thing though, the 23:50 99 - you are deep enough to defend. And if you think his range is stronger, isn't that even better?

[@saulocostapoker]

How can his range being stronger be better for me?

[@pugdawg4787]

17:1 implied odds if we want to call purely for a set. If he has overpairs more often, we get better implied odds. You just made it look like a trivial fold, when I thought it was a trivial set mine. Maybe I'm somehow fundamentally wrong, that's why I was hoping for a comment :)

[@MTTExpert]

@@pugdawg4787100% agree

[@saulocostapoker]

Yeah you're fundamentally wrong. The EV of calling preflop doesn't come entirely from flopping a set. Facing a stronger range will just mean that the 82% of the time that you don't you simply can't make any money, as you'll be facing barrels against which you have to fold

[@MTTExpert]

@@saulocostapoker It’s not a problem that we have to fold vs barrels without set, because it works exactly like spots where villain is underbluffing post (we fold more and call less). And with such a decent potodds it’s not a problem that we will continue only with set against such timing. Though we actually won’t get 100% Cbet on the Flop and Turn anyway, occasional checks from opponent will happen and we can take one more free card, for example, which is beneficial for us.

[@TheVitalTiger]

Good stuff, still watching, but feel like maybe the 7:30 we might count as a fail, no? Although, not explicitly verified, I feel like he's folding 77, a small pair, a 9T, etc... All of the potential hands that we placed him on much quicker vs that river/bet/sizing...

[@Vvopat96]

I have used this almost at the start and I see many pretty new players using this as it's quite easy to figure out in my opinion. You quite quickly realize that you call faster when you have strong hand and you think when you are at the border will you call or not. There's a lot of over bluffers on noob tables how try to look strong as they snap raise every turn. I think it works better there where people actually calculate what they play. I have played like 3 months and you can't usually tell is my hand strong based on this or weak as I sometimes bluff raise instantly. Most of the times when I have strongest hand possible and someone raises I take a bit of time before I call. Sometimes I sure forget to manipulate that so you can tell.

[@iq0578]

I respect your style

[@tonyhlk8182]

8:05 He has 78s and could have offsuit combos as well though

[@saulocostapoker]

Those should mostly fold turn

[@kirilllosik7054]

fantastic content, thank you so much for sharing invaluable information! could you please share more content about HU play? (could be relevant for the following situations: 1. starting the table. 2. the table is falling apart because rec player got stacked and left).

[@andytan4055]

Hello Saulo, love your video. I agreed that usually if people instantly check, they are most likely to be weak. For taking longer times though, I think sometimes people are just multi tabling and thus taking longer time to act. I myself have taken quite a long time to raise aces and such as I have more urgent decisions to make

[@saulocostapoker]

Hey Andy. I don't think that's the proper way of thinking about it. The very fact that someone took longer to act because they are playing a different hand/table conveys information... If you want to understand more about it, subscribe to my newsletter at saulocosta.poker/newsletter. My next week post will be about timing tells.

[@susymay7831]

Do I understand the following correctly? We are concerned with very quick timings and very long timings. Taking extra long to Cbet is not top of range more than it should be: more bluff bets and raises produce extra folds. Quick calls are capped/ not top of range more than they should be. Preflop and flop are particularly useful.

[@saulocostapoker]

That is somewhat accurate, yes

[@susymay7831]

@@saulocostapokerLooking forward to more!

[@BobDuganFL]

Good stuff but if villains are multi-tabling I think you really need to discount timing tells. Personally I never insta-anything, always try to wait 3-5 seconds before clicking regardless of hand. But love timing tells against recs especially. Do you think snap call lean more heavily towards draws than A-high or under pairs as bluff catchers? Thank you for all your time and efforts Saulo.

[@saulocostapoker]

Hey Bob. I don't think that's the proper way of thinking about it. The very fact that someone took longer to act because they are playing a different hand/table conveys information... If you want to understand more about it, subscribe to my newsletter at saulocosta.poker/newsletter. My next week post will be about timing tells.

[@Zoggyboyzimmy]

Tanking is just super polarized soo it’s either the fake timebank with the nuts, or it’s a trash hand that folds to a tiny bet or tiny x/r

[@leoyuan3f]

How reliable are these timing tells vs regs? Sometimes they could be timing out tables, busy on their phone/spotify/whatever or even purposely trying to reverse timing tells like snap 3 betting weak hands. I try to never snap anything except situations where it doesn't give info away like RFIs and calling shoves or vs really bad fish who won't notice.

[@matheusstotti]

Salve Saulo! Quais outros conteúdos sem ser o seu sobre timing tell q vc recomenda? queria explorar outras fontes hehe

[@saulocostapoker]

Fala Matheus. Cara eu não conheço ninguém que fala sobre isso além de mim. A única fonte externa que eu acessei ao longo dos anos foram os artigos do timemojo. Mas acredito que o site foi retirado do ar recentemente

[@fongvang4646]

Thank you for this. Better waiting for this.

[@saulocostapoker]

My pleasure!

[@roberhartman]

Great video man! Like allways, very informative!

[@saulocostapoker]

Thanks mate!

[@Joe-Bourbon]

23:42 you don't set mine here esp knowing it's a strong range? I feel like the game has passed me by...

[@saulocostapoker]

No, gotta fold there

[@kodakiwc]

Thx so much for that video !! It improve my game so much 👍👍 i can catch bluff easy 😅👍

[@saulocostapoker]

Nice!

[@cyrus675]

Is AQ rly a snap fold against a snap 3 bet? You’re still flipping against hands like TT, JJ. 30% eq. against KK, and ahead hands like AJs and AT?

[@TooMuchInternetTMI]

Depends on positions it can be a 4b or fold UTGvHJ

[@jaredcarrick3468]

One of my most memorable hands was playing HU online. I’m tactically deliberate with the amount of time I take with each decision so as not to give away any time bank tells, unless I’m trying to sell weakness and really set up an exploitative player when I’m nutted. The hand in question I had baby suited connectors and called the preflop open. Flopped a baby flush. Donk led with a blocker sizing trying to rep very marginal 1 pair hands or strong flush draws. Villain snap calls. Clean turn so I insta check OOP and it’s checked back. Clean river so I deployed my favorite move of tanking before checking again knowing how weak it would look and likely look like I was just on a busted draw or a pair which was downgraded (the flop brought only 1 picture card but the turn and river brought a couple more broadway cards out there). Villain fires for value for around 2/3 pot. I tank again longer than usual and then put in a massive check raise overbet to make it look like I was turning a marginal made hand on the flop into a bluff or like I was bluffing with a busted flush draw on the end. Sure enough villain 3 bet jams for me and I snap it off and he shows me he rivered broadway. As soon as he saw how bad I pwned him with my flush, he immediately left the table rather than adding another bullet 😂

[@thesoltrain1383]

Great video as always. what if ppl are multi tabling? They will be tanking in most spots (we don't know if they are)

[@bparispoker]

these are great, thanks. Quick question about the nines fold hj vs bb - isn't it still worth calling this deep with position even against a strong range? Opponent still has a lot of AK/AQ and you can hit sets. I've mostly studied MTT ranges so I may be off here but found that one a bit surprising

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Yeah, I thought of timing tells also then dropped the idea cause so many player multi-table -is it a tell or is it villain is busy managing 4 games?

[@saulocostapoker]

One of the biggest reasons why timing tells exist is precisely because of multi-tabling. Check out this article from my newsletter where I explain Timing Tells in depth saulocosta.poker/6-timing-tells-made-simple/

[@jujuloopoker5883]

So on the ball! 👏

[@300ghackfesse4]

Love your Videos soooo much love to your work ! thank you !❤

[@jaredcarrick3468]

This video is why I love getting exploitative when I have the nuts with my time bank. When someone bets a street for me, I insta snap call so it will look like I’m just on a decent draw. I also enjoy tanking for longer than usual before checking when OOP on later streets, as everyone pretty much always reads that as weakness and will blast off for me when I have the nuts. I think time bank tells are actually more exploitable playing live compared to online. Bet sizing tells are a more reliable exploit IMO.

[@TooMuchInternetTMI]

Charlie carrel reads it as the opposite postflop when people tank they can have nutted hands trying to make it look like they have a decision

[@mirceaionescu5338]

Thank you for this video! I really apreciate your dedication

[@saulocostapoker]

Thanks buddy

[@meteoropoker5911]

niceee dms, esse é meu patrão!!

[@lanetomkow6885]

As a losing player and one that wishes to win at some point, What would be estimated a short or long time that should cause concern. This is of course in regards to your simulator. Live I play much better but online my numbers are down overall. Thank you for the serious responses. Peace.

[@saulocostapoker]

I like to think of quick timings anything under 2 seconds, and long timing anything above 10 seconds

[@ltsjack]

QTdd hand at 20:20 certainly shows the danger of going overboard with timing tells and ignoring the actual hand. Obviously a pretty clear spot to just bomb turn with your hand in those positions and then an easy shove OTR for stacks. A3 extremely likely to hero call down with every draw missing in wide-range spot where you have infinite bluffs. I get that the point of the video is timing tells (and great video tbh) but I think we should be more real here and call it what is instead of "close". I think if you had a student come to you with that hand played as block-block you would actually give him a very stern lecture actually hah

[@saulocostapoker]

That is not a good thought process though, because A3s is just way less likely than all the broadway combos. AK, AQ are 32 combos, 10 times more likely than the 3 combos of A3s. I just ran into a small part of his range

[@stevomihajlovic4872]

How much time schould we took by own decision? I always ask myself what is proper time to use on different streets because I have this issue that I play very quick and I want to fix it. Can you maybe explain what I can make to play slowly and to take proper time for different situation? I really appreciate your effort and want to thank you for all free content. U are G!

[@susymay7831]

I just got my first fabulous issue of your newsletter . How can I get all of the back issues?

[@saulocostapoker]

Hey mate. There is no way currently, but once I have a few more posts I'll make the archive available in the signup page. I'll send everyone an automatic email when that happens

[@susymay7831]

@@saulocostapoker Thank you!

[@CANALDOBELGUINHA]

saulo moro na belgica e quero ser seu aluno tem como???

[@saulocostapoker]

No momento só através da Metagame...mas estamos com inscrições fechadas :/

[@thomasdionisi3483]

At 16.17 from my experience when the 3better insta check the flop you have 0 fold equity when you bet flop, if he had QJ no clubs or something he would think about it

[@saulocostapoker]

Why would he think with a dead hand? What is there to think about

[@thomasdionisi3483]

As the agressor in a 3bet pot people don't usually insta check to check fold and he would rather throw a small cbet with air to make you fold your air you don't think so ?

[@gergelynemeth2708]

Well done Saulo. Thanks for the content. Although the final result (8-2-1) would have been more transparent if you had posted the full session that you played too. It could also teach us how frequently you could exploit timing tells per wpiped hands.

[@saulocostapoker]

The video is the full session (1h session, which is what I typically do for Play & Explains). I just cut the boring preflop/flop folds

[@torres608]

Hey Saulo great videos and content - the new format and editing with the solver appearing etc is streets ahead of the other poker creators. Two questions 1. I notice that you use the timing tell to influence marginal decisions ie a tank RFI you may light 3 bet with hands that are decent equity or have A or K blocker properties that normally would fold but not like 72o as is too wild especially if he finds out. Is that fair? 2. I understand you have your premium hands, your premium draws and then your trash. What kind of showdowns / folds would you need to see to consider triple barrel bluffing with the unblocking hands like 22, 33, 33? Hope that makes sense and thanks for your hard work!

[@saulocostapoker]

1) I don't advise getting too crazy about it. Expanding mixed strategies or top of folding range is a very good place to start. I do allow myself to get pretty wide at times though 2) Didn't understand this one very well. Are you referring to some hand from the video? Timestamp would help

[@founik]

This is a huge eye-opener for me. Absolutely priceless information. I'm gonna implement it to my games. Thank you Saulo for sharing such information for free!

[@Hildreth1101]

Since these videos come out I have been tanking 10+ seconds with premiums in the hopes someone punts their stack off into me, not sure if anyone has picked up on this! Anyhow lesson is to always think before you make a decision and in clear spots, always wait 3 seconds then act.

[@andrewcharles2249]

The trouble with when they take longer to act could be because they are multi tabling. I think their snap decisions are more important to take note of

[@saulocostapoker]

Hey Andrew. I don't think that's the proper way of thinking about it. The very fact that someone took longer to act because they are playing a different hand/table conveys information... If you want to understand more about it, subscribe to my newsletter at saulocosta.poker/newsletter. My next week post will be about timing tells.

[@TYinNYC]

Chip shuffle and raise is nuts 100% of the time

[@TooMuchInternetTMI]

i feel like people could easily counter exploit you knowing how you think about timing, just use timing that you see as weak when strong? also sometimes my timings are off because im stupidly watching videos and not focusing on the table at random.

[@davicola56]

17:20 - were you playing against that cheater?

[@saulocostapoker]

No, just a guy trying to be funny

[@_saiD_680]

Min 17:25 Moneytaker69 😂😂😂😂

[@mortalhordewarrior9285]

Whats up Saulo 👋 i love poker and im getting married to a really hot Brazilian woman. I feel like we're practically brothers now. I rip timing tell bluffs on river a lot combined with a high fold hud stat and a decent blocker.

[@saulocostapoker]

Well done on the wife! Brazilian women > rest of the world

[@pudelinocacalat2951]

Every nit now basically tanks for life before jamming 😂

[@saulocostapoker]

😂😂 Make sure you call them when they bet quickly then

[@laundrysauceNL]

The original timing tell video has added so much EV it's unreal. Opponent takes 6s to RFI from CO, I 3bet Q6s in BU. Fold. Opp opens HJ, I 3bet A7s BTN, he takes 14s to 4bet. I 5B all in. Fold. Opp opens BTN, I 3bet KJo in SB. He takes 25s to put in the 4bet. I jam. Fold. It really is that easy!

[@saulocostapoker]

It's the single greatest source of exploits in online poker. I don't say that lightly. That being said, the preflop stuff you are mentioning is just the tiny tip of the iceberg. Imagine compounding preflop + flop + turn + river timing... Postflop is where the EV of timing tells really grows exponentially.

[@laundrysauceNL]

@@saulocostapoker will definitely be a part of my game going forward. Really admire your dedication to data-based strategy 💪

[@saulocostapoker]

Thanks Patrick!

[@Hugo-.F.-000]

Super like in the dark 🔥

[@saulocostapoker]

Let's gooo

[@pokerfaceoficial]

I have been applying timing tells exploitative strategies and it is impressive how much information opponents leave at our disposal. This happens at the lower limits where I play, NL5 to NL50. I think we have the biggest gaps to exploit opponents only because of the time they take with their decisions. Great video as always Saulo!

[@saulocostapoker]

Awesome!

[@acedeuce8647]

I was going to ask you a question about whether u have any video's on sizing tells because i think those can also be just as valuable maybe not at the higher stakes but low to medium stakes for sure; but i looked at the first four comments and u didn't really answer the questions, you just copied and pasted your response and plugged your newsletter. I watch almost every poker streamer, vlogger, coach there is online and taking the time to have a short discussion with your fans in the comments goes along way. Good content still and agree timing tells are super important.

[@saulocostapoker]

I reply to every comment lol I'm probably the poker creator that engages in comments the most. It just didn't make sense for me to address the same question 3 times when I'll take about that exact topic in my newsletter

[@DisturbedV7]

Do GG poker ban winning players

[@saulocostapoker]

Legend says they used to do it in the past (few years ago), but I don't think it happens anymore

[@prenomnom6203]

that's non sense to timing tell c/r A8o on K52s because vilain took 7s to cbet half pot. He was way more likely thinking about the sizing than thinking about cbetting or not.

[@saulocostapoker]

Ok

[@pugsnhogz]

@@saulocostapoker lol perfect response

[@lukebfilms4232]

Have to be careful with the advice about taking too long to cbet. A good % of time it will be players trying to think about a size to get max value or if they want to check etc, I do think it’s quite polar tho

[@losyart]

I dont get how we can not set mine 99 almost 130 Big Blinds deep i mean he could show me aces i want to hit 9 or outmaneuvre him In Position Postflop on scary boards. I noticed u giving way too much respect to 3bets from Big Blind vs your early position open. Thats how your opponents should exploit You by doing so quite often

[@danilascercovas6226]

Mayby in next video you can call instead of folding to proof your point that opponent is stronger :)

[@saulocostapoker]

Wouldn't prove much as its a probabilistic analysis, no binary one

[@ncannavino11]

Saulo this is going to cost me a lot of money!!! 😅

[@saulocostapoker]

Learning is costly - it's part of the process. Making mistakes is an integral part of becoming better, at anything

[@thesneakingninja1]

why hello there

[@jaredcarrick3468]

They may work against the worst players at low stakes. Completely irrelevant once you are playing for real stakes, as even the whale recs know enough to be deliberate with the amount of time they take with each decision regardless of whether or not it’s a tough decision.

[@saulocostapoker]

Quite the strong opinion you got there... Unfortunate that this video won't be helpful to you. Hopefully you can find value on some of my other videos! Cheers buddy

[@TobyLerone-q2m]

Lol what planet do you live on where whales always balance their timing? I play 500nl and there are even some regs who play too many tables and often snap easy decisions and always tank harder ones. The better regs are more balanced but still sometimes have tells

[@LennyMaroni]

Your timing will also influence the opponent's timing

[@saulocostapoker]

Sure

[@noamcalvache5717]

🐐

[@blue12]

📝

[@joeyglees]

Little did he know that he was playing a bot farm in every hand

[@saulocostapoker]

It was ACR that was accused of having lots of bots (which they denied btw)

[@GregorClegane402]

Those timing tells probably won´t work against me.

[@saulocostapoker]

You're different huh

[@GregorClegane402]

​@@saulocostapoker Yes and no. I do consider those tells when they are reliable in situations that are close but I rarely make quick decisions depending on hand-board interaction or I mix them up and most better players imo have a habit of being careful with giving away timing tells, some even will use it against you. Maybe this works on NL200 against bad regulars especially on fast tables where there is a habit of multitabling and letting it go quickly encountering aggression but the way you described your thought process I think it takes too much focus away from what´s actually important: Making the best decision (in a range vs range framework), otherwise why not just play GTO. Those overbets against fit-fold players do not prove a lot, I´d rather compare the actual difference in profits within your database before advertising such a playing style.

[@tails1381]

@@saulocostapoker I can understand what he says, i dont know if is the scenario, but i have action time locked in ps by stars caption (in gg i never took less than 3-5 seconds postflop i would say), even to give call to shove with nuts, i cant take less than x time. I never do any action postflop in less than 4.5 secs (folds are the exception). But ofc it works against most of population. I saw u told in some comments about next newsletter of timing tells when people said about fast actions are more reliable than long ones. But i fully agree with them. Even u did proof in this video, because u was doing comments about hands. All regs multi table, do notes, search for better tables .... or even in my scenario, smoking a cigar (i know isnt good to health). I agree with almost u told, but in this scenario of "long times" i cant fully agree with u. When even myself already did play with mouse doing circles to dont be a fast action in gg poker when i knew perfectly what to do ( i disable the chip shuffle to that doesnt appear even when i already did scroll up to increase the bet or whatever)

[@_MMWWMM_]

Online poker is dead, buried in the ground, its rotting carcass milked dry of life by training content, HUDs, AI solving and RTA

[@geraltofrivia2570]

nah, you just suck

[@sendwil5689]

lol, bro found zoom selection. If you fold vs fast 3bet that doesn't necessarily mean a person has a good hand. He also can just know pre-flop well, which means he learns how to play poker, therefore we don't wanna play vs him and just go forward finding some amateur players who's gonna make more mistakes kekw

[@sneakerworldromania32]

At least charge money for this info, god… little videos like this kill online poker piece by piece

[@POPLee14]

Online poker has been destroyed with all the HUDs and solvers lol

[@genesises]

many many people fkin suck at poker (or just like gambling) and even as a relative beginner it's not very hard to make profit

[@Crypto4always]

nonsense. even with the best possible coaching available 99% of people wont ever become better then average.

[@laundrysauceNL]

As long as there are players with no discipline, there will always be money to be made

[@saulocostapoker]

I'll charge...just gotta give my audience a little treat! The community overall doesn't believe in the power of timing tells. Before selling a product I need to show people how sick this is

[@blackopal3138]

Gimme a break. Nothing real about GG or Stars. Complete fkng slot machines. Anyone who doesn't know that is shilling propaganda... the places are jokes on the community.

[@saulocostapoker]

They may not be the dream poker site, but "slot machines" I think you pushed a bit too far 😅

[@thenark2379]

i am sorry, but this video is inconclusive

[@saulocostapoker]

Debatable

[@Alexandertygreat]

Great vid, love your stuff. Some of the best ive seen