By far the best type of player to make a profit from is the type known as a "Calling Station." A Calling Station is the name given to a player who habitually calls bets and raises when he is losing but who almost never bets or raises a significant amount when he has the best hand. You'll get paid when you have good hands, and be able to draw cheaply when you're trying to get a straight or flush etc.

Against such a player, you can simply wait for a good hand, bet it and get paid. It's that simple! There's no need for fancy play. Indeed, bluffing is pointless against such a player since he will probably call anyway if he has any sort of a hand.

Some other poor players are extremely loose and will bet and raise with all sorts of hands or even nothing at all. Once again, with such players, your strategy of choice will be simply to wait for a good hand. When you get the good hand, however, you might sometimes decide to slowplay your hand and let the loose player do the betting. You can then pick the time to raise him or, perhaps, let him try and make a big bluff. Whilst you can certainly make a profit out of such players, it is much riskier than playing against a calling station. The loose player may be making huge bets will all sorts of hands, but there is no guarantee that he won't have a monster hand just at the very moment you decide to take him on.

Be careful, some good players appear to be loose but, in fact, are merely being aggressive. They will bet and bet at you, but the minute you get a good hand, they will recognise this and fold.

Even players who generally play reasonable poker may have specific weaknesses in particular situations.

Here are some very common ones:

Some players will call to see the flop with almost any two cards so long a they can see it reasonably cheaply. This is especially true in low stakes games.

Some players will draw to straights and flushes even when the odds (and the pot odds) are seriously against it.

Some players get far too attached to a pocket pair (when they have a pair as their hole cards). For example, a player may keep playing with a pair of sixes even when high cards come on the flop and someone else bets.

Some players can't put big pairs down (like AA, KK or QQ) even when it should be obvious that they are beaten (e.g. by two pair, a set or a straight).

Some players can't put down a hand when they have top pair. E.g. the flop is J 9 4 and they have a J in the pocket. They won't believe they are beaten by two pair or a set or a player with top pair and a better kicker. In low stakes games, many players will even call an all-in bet when all they have is top pair.

Some players ignore the strength of their kicker. For example, If the flop is A 7 4, a player with A 8 has a pair. He has a pair of aces with an eight "kicker." The kicker is his other card that still plays in the hand. He may have top pair, but he could easily be losing to a player with an ace and a higher kicker (i.e. any card higher than an eight).

Some players will be easily deceived by slowplaying tactics and may bluff big or bet big with only a mediocre hand when no-one else bets or if their own bets are only called.

Some players will almost always slowplay hands like top pair and will allow you to draw for free or next to nothing.

Some players make themselves too easy to read. For example, they may always make the minimum bet when they are drawing to a flush and always try to check raise with the flush when they hit it.

Making Notes:

Most good internet poker rooms provide the opportunity for you to make electronic notes about your opponents. Usually, this is done by right-clicking on their name and selecting "Player Notes." A small textbox will then appear and you can type notes about that player. Whenever you see that player again you will be able to access the notes you made about them. Making notes is fundamentally important is you wish to make a profit playing poker since your notes can give you vital information about your opponents that you would be unable to remember without these note-taking facilities.

So how should you use these note-taking facilities?

Firstly, you can simply make notes about which players are good players and which ones are poor. If you see a player making several poor plays note them down as poor in the notes. If on the other hand you see a player playing consistently well and making a profit, note them down as good. You can then use these notes to help you find a profitable table. When you sit down at a table, you want to be sure there is a least one poor player at the table. You obviously want to avoid tables full of good players

Here's a useful tip: One way of spoting the good players is simply to look at the size of their stacks in relation to the maximum buy-in at that table. Most No-Limit or Pot-Limit tables have a maximum buy-in amount. If the maximum buy-in for a table is $20 and you see someone with a stack of over $100, the likelihood is that they are a reasonably good player. If you consistently see them sitting at tables with large stacks, you can be even more sure they are a good player!

Other than simply noting if a player is any good or not, you should make a note of any particular weaknesses in their game - such as those listed above - so that you can exploit these weaknesses without delay when you next play against them.

Finding Players:

Another great facility for good players is that many internet poker rooms offer a "find player" facility. If you make a list of players who are particularly good at giving their money away, you can run a search for these players. The software will then tell you if these players have logged on to the system and which table(s) that are playing at. You can then go and join them and start raking in their money.