A tell is any sign from a player that gives away his strategy or his hand. For example, in a live game, you may notice that certain players avoid looking into your eyes when they are bluffing.
The ability to read your opponent's tells is a crucial poker skill. Unfortunately, many players mistakenly believe that it is impossible to read tells in the virtual world. While you cannot stare into an opponent's eyes while playing online, this does not mean online players do not have tells.
The tells are there, you just have to know how to spot them.
Betting Speed Tells
You can tell a lot about your opponent's hand strength based on how fast he makes his bets. Here are some of the most obvious betting speed tells:
The Quick Check
A quick check by a player usually indicates a weak hand. If you are on the button and all the players before you checked quickly, you can probably take down the pot with a strong bet.
However, be very careful if a player re-raises after checking quickly. In this situation, your opponent's early quick check was probably an attempt to trap you into betting into his strong hand.
Pause and Check
A player who pause a long time before checking is trying to scare others into checking as well. The “pause and check” player hopes the pause will convince others that he is holding a monster hand, and that he is taking his time to decide whether he should bet or check-raise. In reality, this player has a drawing hand and is using the pause to get a free card.
Pause and Bet
A player who thinks for a long time before betting usually has a monster hand. He hopes other players will read the pause as weakness and bet into him.
Quick Raise or Re-Raise on the River
A player who raises quickly on the river generally has a good hand. He thinks you will interpret his raise as a last desperate bluff.
A Note on Pre-Action Buttons
To speed things up, most games offer pre-action buttons that allow you to pre-select your bet before your turn.
For example, you may select the “check” button before your turn. When it is your turn to bet, you will check instantaneously. Some of the most popular pre-action buttons include “fold to any bet,” “check,” “call any bet,” and “raise pot.”
A player who pre-selects the check button probably has a weak hand; if he selects the call any bet button, most likely he has a good hand; and if he selects the raise pot button he is probably holding a monster.
Moreover, players who use pre-action buttons are most likely not paying attention to the game. They are either playing on multiple tables or doing something else on their computer. These players will only bet if they have good hands, and are less likely to employ fancy tactics like bluffing or check-raising.
A Warning About Betting Speed Tells
Betting speed tells are not always accurate. You have to use some common sense. For example, if a player has been disconnected several times during the game, his slow betting is merely a sign of a bad connection. Similarly, if a player is playing on more than one table, don't read too much into his betting speed, because his betting speed is influenced by the demands of his other table.
Table Chat Tells
Some players like to disable player chat because they find the chatting distracting. This is a huge mistake. You can learn a lot about your opponent's personality and state of mind by reading their chat messages. For example:
The Chatter Box
Generally, if a player who has been very chatty suddenly becomes quiet, he probably just flopped a monster hand. He is afraid of accidentally revealing the strength of his hand, so he decides to shut up.
The Tilting Player
It is not hard to spot a player on tilt. After a bad beat, a tilting players will become extremely sarcastic or abusive. He will start calling other players “amateurs” and declare that he is “playing with a bunch of morons.” Most likely he will start making ridiculously aggressive bets to relieve his anger. If you have decent cards, you can clean out this guy pretty quickly.
The “Honest” Player
Some players will flat out tell you what cards he is holding. Believe it or not, if the pot size is small, these players are most likely telling the truth. The honest player's strategy is to candidly reveal his cards if the pot size is small.
When the other player's guards are down, the honest player will use his honest table image as an advantage to win the big pots.
The Professor
There is a know-it-all at every table. This player will give unsolicited advice on every hand. Most likely this guy just finished reading a poker book from cover-to-cover and feels he has to share his knowledge.
Instead of telling this guy to shut up, you should feed his ego and ask him for advice. Happy to be recognized, he will reveal his entire strategy to you without hesitation.
The Short Stack
A player with less than half of his buy in is either on tilt, desperate, or both. A short stacked player feels he has to make a move, and cards like A 
J 
suddenly look like a good all in opportunity.
Waiting for the Big Blind
When you sit down at a Hold'em table, you have the option of waiting for the big blind to get to you, or you can post a matching big blind and start playing immediately.
A player who does not wait for the big blind is probably an impatient player. He is probably more interested in having fun than playing serious poker. You can expect him to play a lot of bad starting hands.
On the other hand, a player who waits for the big blind is probably a tight and cautious player. He is more selective about his starting hands and will not bet a lot of money unless he has a monster hand.
How to Spot Specific Tells
Some players take a break when they are not involved in a hand. That is a shame because every hand reveals a wealth of information about your opponents. You should meticulously record what type of starting hands they play; how much they are willing to pay for certain hands; their demeanor when they have a great hand; and the type of plays that will set him on tilt.
Avoid Giving Off Tells
Since most tells are based on a player's betting speed, there are two simple ways to confound your opponents. One way is to randomly mix up your betting speed. This method is not 100% reliable, because even when you think you are betting randomly, you may still be subconsciously betting in a pattern.
The better option is to always bet at the same speed. Regardless of whether I am holding rags or pocket aces, I always count to five Mississippi before I make a bet. Not only does this eliminate my tells, it also forces me to think about my bets before I make them.
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