When you’re playing online against unknown opponents you need to pick up tells fast since you don’t have any other information to go by. The best way to learn an opponent’s tells is to observe their betting patterns and take detailed notes, paying special attention to any moves outside of their usual pattern.

Some online tells can help you spot the fish, or the new/bad poker players. Folding when you have the option to check is a classic rookie move.

Watch your opponents fold/flop percentage too – over the course of several games you’ll get a sense if they fold a lot of bad hands or stay in every pot. If he folds a lot of hands, beware.  If he stays in almost every pot, you can probably run over him if you play good cards.

And finally – watch to see if a player is reloading his bankroll, or requesting more chips on a play-money site. Both mean that he is a bad player who is prepared to give even more money away!