There are very obvious differences in playing poker online and live. When online you can’t read body language which is one of the most important telling signs when it comes to poker. But there are some techniques to read people in online poker.
The first thing that you’ll be looking at is how much time a player needs or uses, when he is placing a bet. This is called the stall. Poker pros are using this to fool others, but after playing for some time, you’ll know what to look for and who to look at. Rookies will often stall, because they’re not sure of the amount they want to bet or raise even in times when they have really strong hands like AA, KK, AK. Remember, that pros can use this in their advantage and try to trick you, be attentive.
Watch for those that usually play swiftly and suddenly will stall for no reason, and watch for the opposite of this as well, thinking a lot usually and then, out of a sudden, they go all in. So even online you have to be watchful and can get the edge over other players and have the upper hand by learning behaviour patterns of others.
The pattern of a poker player is one of the most important things to look at. Since you can’t see their faces, you must look for their style of play. When do they raise, when do they call, on what amount will they fold a certain hand. Also, you should watch, their value bets, what amounts will they bet in some situation (over bet, pot size bet, half pot, etc).
