Everyone is familiar with someone who has a bad poker face. We’ve all seen the poker commercial where the girlfriend bounces out of the dressing room in a ghastly outfit and asks her boyfriend how she looks. The expression on his face is priceless, as he’s unable to conceal his shock and disgust. In the next scene, of course, he’s got a broken nose. The point? This guy has a bad poker face. Who needs to hear someone talking when facial expressions and body language can communicate just as much?

Reading your opponents and their tells has been a part of poker since the days of the Wild West saloon games. Now, in the high-tech world created by the Internet, poker has become a faceless game, and relying on body language has become futile.

A tell in poker is simply a player who unintentionally reveals a part of his or her personality. It’s a habit or physical reaction. A trait, mannerism or expression that gives clues away to the other players. Obviously, while playing online you can’t tell if a player has flaring nostrils, sweaty palms or crooked smile. As a matter of fact, you can’t even tell if they’re sitting at the computer or in the kitchen getting a snack.

So if you have no face-to-face contact, what good are tells in the online world? Well, they do exist, and they’re quite different from the traditional tells.

Poker tells are never foolproof, whether they’re in the real world or over the Internet. There are no guarantees. But online players can gain an edge by watching the response speed of other players. It’s the No. 1 tell in the cyberspace game. Quick bets on the turn and river often signal a good hand, while quick checks in the early rounds likely mean the player has a weak hand.

Another certain tell, one that’s exclusive to the online game, is being able to spot the lazy player. Players have the option of using the check boxes, which include the actions of fold, check/fold, raise and raise any. While convenient for the player, a sharp opponent can spot their use right away because their action comes immediately after the player before them acts. When a player pre-selects check or check/fold, it’s a tell-tale sign of a weak hand. A player who has raises or check raises is certain to have a strong hand. A call any box indicates a player is likely on a drawing hand, hoping to pull off a straight or flush. The savvy player who uses the check boxes, will alternate his moves. Using the check box with a strong hand and raise box with a weak hand. Just like you would do in a casino or home game, change styles to keep other players off balance and guessing.

In a casino game, banter between opponents is a way of drawing out information. Some players intimidate others with trash-talk and through mild forms of interrogation. Other players prefer to remain as stoic as a marble statue. In the online game, players can use a similar form of communication by chatting. Of course, chatting requires typing out a message and a player who suddenly stops chatting means he or she is suddenly faced with good cards.

At the poker table, you work very hard to make sure you’re not giving away any tells. When sitting at your computer, don’t assume you’re safe just because your opponent could be on the other side of the world and can’t see you. Practice the same precautions you would at a “human” game and you’ll retain a winning edge.