What a player calls themselves and how they choose to write their name can give you some indication into their playing style. The first thing you should look out for is whether the player’s screen name is written in lowercase or uppercase. On the internet words written in uppercase are generally seen as words that are being shouted so expect someone who displays their name this way to be an aggressive player.

Also, keep an eye out for aliases that use numbers in place of words, for example “1ra1seUf0ld.” This mixture of letters and numbers usually indicates the player is a tricky or creative player as they have attempted to disguise a standard name by adding extra characters.

You should pay particular attention to any name that ends in numbers which could be interpreted as a date such as “Bob1950″ or “Tony09″. One could assume the first name is a male player called Bob who was born in 1950. If this is the case then one could also assume he will play relatively tight-passive game as this is how most people played poker around the time of his birth. The second name could be a player who has been playing since 2009 so could be relatively inexperienced and will have been brought up watching poker on television so should be quite loose and aggressive.

Finally, names that copy phrases or sayings from popular forums are usually an indicator of a solid, thinking player who is aware of strategy. Terms like “HU4Rollz” and “BingBlangBlaow” are popular phrases used on various forums so the player using them for their name is either a member of a forum or has friends who are. Either way he or she is more likely to be a good player who is willing to learn about the game.

As with everything in poker name-based tells are completely player dependent and you must be aware that some players will go to great lengths to be deceptive, including creating a user name that portrays them as weaker than they actually are.