[Harv72b]

I play primarily limit, so I couldn't tell you thing one about NL timing tells. But they are real in LHE, and I've won more than a few extra bets (and entire pots) over the years because of them.

For anyone reading this who also plays LHE, the most reliable timing tell out there is the "oh s**t" tell. This is a very brief pause, usually a second or less, between when a card falls on the board and when your opponent bets (when your opponent is first to act), and it will almost always mean that your opponent believes the card which just fell killed his hand. Like maybe he flopped two pair & thinks you're holding an overpair, and the board pairing just counterfeited his hand. The pause is exactly how long it takes the average poker mind to recognize the card that just fell, realize that it probably just destroyed his hand, and then remember that he's supposed to bet anyway because maybe you'll fold (or maybe you don't have that overpair after all).

In general, though, you want to be very careful about using any timing tells in online games (unless you know that opponent & his timing patterns very, very well). A pause could mean that he's holding the nuts & wants you to call, it could mean that he missed a draw & wants you to think that he's holding the nuts and wants a call, or it could mean that he just spilled coffee all over his keyboard & is scrambling for a towel. Or anything in between.