In a live game there are dozens of tells a player can be on the lookout for after joining the table. The way a someone sits, stacks chips, or handles their cards, all contain information you can use to anticipate how they play. Online players don't have the luxury of looking out for these tells, but in a lot of ways that's a good thing, especially for beginners, because it forces you to focus in on the more important aspects of another player's game.

When you enter an online poker room, some of the key information you want to pick up on is who has money and who doesn't, and who is aggressive and who is tight.

When it comes to chip stacks, the ones to make note of are the ones that are significantly above the maximum buy in, and those that are significantly below the minimum. With the former you don't necessarily know that the player is good, they may just have had a run of luck, but you do know that they are playing off of profits. Players in this situation are more willing to fish and take chances. In the latter case the player is on tilt. Patient or frustrated, you can't be sure, but you can be pretty certain that once they see a flop, all of their money is going in the pot. (Not everyone buys in with the maximum, and so when you first sit down you won't know without a doubt whether or not certain players are significantly up or not.)

Next, you want to observe everyone's play for a few hands. One round will usually tell you most of what you want to know. Pay attention to who is calling, who is raising, and who is folding. The tight players will only see about 20 to 30 percent of the flops. A loose player will see over 50% of the flops. Aggressive players will, obviously, be raising the majority of times they are involved in hands, but make special note of the ones who tend to raise disproportionately high. Naturally, you'll want to avoid getting tangled up with a weak hand against those more aggressive players.

Most hands will end without you seeing most of the other player's cards, often you won't see any. When you do get a chance to look at their cards though, keep track of who was fishing, who was betting on weak hands, etc. This will also tip you off quite clearly as to each person's style of play.

Finally, when you are observing all of this, make sure to look at the players' names and not just their position or picture (which aren't usually unique to the player). In an online poker game the players come and go so quickly you will not notice most of the times when it happens. If you miss it, you may end up choosing the wrong strategy for the hands you play.