game selection -- 20/40 vs. 40/80

[elena_elphie]

I've been playing a lot of B&M poker in California recently at the 20-40 and 40-80 limits (mainly at the Bay 101 and the Commerce), and I've been trying to work on my game selection. I have a pretty good idea of what makes a good game, and what doesn't. I find the 20-40 games to be nearly all good, while the 40-80 games vary in quality a lot, ranging from fairly tough, to 3-6 like depending on the line up.

Obviously, I want to spend as much time in good 40 games as possible, but I recognize that I might prefer a good 20 game to a bad 40 game, and I'm having trouble figuring out just how much worse the 40 game has to be before I would prefer the 20 game. I noticed several B&M pros that post here float between these two limits, does anyone have any rules of thumb for judging this?

For instance, if I have to choose between a 40 game that has 1 fish, 3 mediocre players and the rest of the lineup being decent, or a 20 game with 3 fish and only one other decent player, which would I prefer? Where is that line?

[haakee]

If you are playing at Commerce, just play 40 and get a table change to the best table. At Bay 101, when I was straddling limits I waited for 3 known fish to be in the bigger game in order for me to jump in (get yourself on the 40 list and keep rolling yourself until there's a lineup you like). Fish add much more to your EV in a game than good players subtract from your EV. Eventually, you'll become comfortable at the higher limit. I'd guess that an excellent player can almost always win more in the Bay 101 40 game than in the Bay 101 20 game. It's pretty rare that I see a 40 lineup that I'd consider tough.

[jayheaps]

you also need to consider position as well. I would rather have 2 fish to my right then 4 fish against whom I am out of position.

[vmacosta]

The 40 games at Bay101 are usually good and you should assume they are until proven otherwise. For me, as far as live play goes, I find that table selection is overrated. Playing against tough opposition is not great but I can usually hold my own and learn a lot from playing in these games. Also the games frequently get better as the night progresses as the winners go home. I'm not saying dont play in the game with a bnch of fish, just that dropping in limits just cuz your usual game is a bit tougher than normal is overrated.

[elena_elphie]

I'm definately comfortable playing the 40, I'm just concerned with where the highest EV is.

If there are two fish in the 40 game it seems clear that it is better, but what if there is just one? As you said, you don't lose a lot of EV to the good players, but you don't gain a huge amount of EV from the mediocre players either, those fish make a big difference.

At the Bay 101 I find it somewhat difficult to move around, because there is either one 40 game, or a must move. It is frustrating as hell when the main game is not that great, and the must move is good. I find bouncing around the Commerce to find a good game not too difficult, but there seems to be a huge difference between the weekend 40 and weekday 40 there. Since I'm living in the Bay Area, I'll probably only get up there on weekends anyway so it doesn't matter much.