Online poker players do not have the luxury of being able to visually see the other players at the table. Without visual clues and tells, most online poker players rely on problem bets to learn more about their opponents. Probe bets are essentially bets or raises that are made in order to determine the other players’ hands. For example, if you make a probe bet and another player calls you, you can be relatively sure that they have a strong hand.
Probe bets are typically smaller bets or raises. Unlike raises that are based on the strength of your hand, probe bets are purely used for informative reasons. All online players are aware of the fact that they will need to set aside a certain amount of funds for probe bets before they begin playing. The hope is that the small investment will pay out in the long run.
The prevalence of probe betting in online poker causes online poker games to have proportionally more action than games in brick and mortar casinos. To get the same information that an online player gains from probe betting players can rely on visual clues instead of having to place a bet. However, the cost of probe betting in online poker games is generally balanced out by the low cost of online poker games over traditional games.