So, you’ve just sat down at the computer and you’ve decided to try out a new online poker room. You visit the site and click on the big ‘download’ button in the middle of the screen. In no time at all you find that its been downloaded and installed. But before you can sit down or make a deposit even, you have to sign up, which is when that pivotal moment comes… what screen name are you going to have?

You could just use the same one as you have in the other room you are signed up to, but that’s just not being very creative now is it. So what’s it going to be? You can’t sit around and wait all day, but then you don’t want to rush it and end up with a shoddy name. Luckily enough, I managed to find a unique and interesting name for myself in my short time thinking, which I use at most rooms now (I know, not creative!). But its pretty good so and sticking with it; and no, I’m not going to tell you.

It seems like a handful of people manage to get their thinking caps on quick when choosing a name, whilst others resort to the same old names. How many times have you come across a ‘Dave386’ or ‘Aces99’? Probably more times than you care to remember, and it just looks like another opportunity for a witty name wasted. They don’t really tell you much about the player or their personality, which is something that could be a little but useful at times.

The whole direction of this article so far has been a little unclear, but this is where things should start to come into focus. How useful can a screen name be when seated at the table? Sometimes the nature of the name you choose can facilitate towards helping your opponents form an opinion on the way you might play. If you choose a formal screen name that is simply your name in real life, such as “Greg_Thomas”, your opponents may perceive you as being a sensible player, and thus not much of a gambler. Whereas if you have a name like “HughJerection” you may find that your opponents put you down as more of a loose player.

So although you may think that the name makes little difference, you could find that your opponents may play slightly differently against you at the start depending on what’s written above your stack size. Its probable that the majority of players don’t pay much attention, but for those who do, you might want to think carefully about what screen name to choose next time you sign-up for an account.