Switching tables a lot

[ZeeJustin]

Does anyone else have a lot more success playing 6 max online when they rarely sit at a table for more than 45 minutes? Recently I've found myself moving tables constantly, and only staying at tables with at least 1 big loser for more than 30 minutes. It seems to be working well for me.

I wonder if it has anything to do with my tight/aggressive play seeming loose at first, but after a while, people notice im only selectively aggressive.

[BreakEvenPlayer]

Recently I have been thinking about this a lot, as I am considering switching full time over to 6-max 5-10 at party. It seems that the first 5 to 10 minutes at these tables are very important ones, if you get poor cards and are stuck early, i find it hard to get out of the hole. Aggresive play at these tables after a streak of folding rarely gets action. However, if I get a run of cards and showdown some winners early in a 6-max session, not only do I get respect from the table, it (maybe slighty or maybe more profoundly) makes the other players play more passively, which is to my advantage. So I am thinking about a strategy where unless I get it going fairly quick at a new table I will just stand up and try another (unless the table is full of fish of course).

[stripsqueez]

i've done some thinking about how much i switch tables too

i have gone the other way - i stay at tables longer than i used to - there is an advantage to getting the feel of a table that counterbalances going to a different table that looks better

i have spent some time looking at my opponents play via pokertracker in the party 5/10 and 10/20 6 max schools - i'm happy to be at a table with 90% of them - of the remaining 10% as long as there arent 3 or more of them at the table its ok too

these days i check the pot size at the tables i'm playing every 15 minutes or so and if it gets below say 11 times the big blind i might contemplate a move - or if its obvious that the table has tightened right up

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[naphand]

I have noticed this as well. It may be to do with the other players labelling you as *just another player* when you come on, perhaps they are all playing a loose kind of game, and they don't notice your stealthy folds until you hit them with a few good hands. They will call you like any other player (playing A overcard or 3rd pair /images/graemlins/smile.gif), until you show down consistently superior hands. Once you are noticed they tighten up a bit, even if just against you; they don't call the River, they fold to your CR etc. If so, this does provide a window early if you can hit some cards, to take down a few oversized pots.

I used to switch tables every time I won 5-10BB, depending on how I felt about the players. It worked quite well, but now I tend to stick with tables much longer. The reason for this is that playing only short periods at tables gives you very little time to get reads on players, and consequently manipulating pots, playing to others weaknesses and hand reading skills, get neglected. I started playing longer at tables precisely as I felt a need to improve these areas - the overall game strategy. Now I am winning just as much, but my game is far stronger and my losses less.

I will leave a table only if I feel table conditions are too tight, or the game looks tricky, which is not often.

[Position]

I switch constantly -- my avg session length is only 0.16 hours (yes, 10 minutes!) at 5/10 6MAX.

I do it for exactly the reasons well-said by others here:

1) <i>I wonder if it has anything to do with my tight/aggressive play seeming loose at first, but after a while, people notice im only selectively aggressive.</i>

This gives a superpremium return on any premium hands I happen to get in the first couple orbits. So why not be in those first couple orbits as much as possible!

2) <i> if I get a run of cards and showdown some winners early in a 6-max session, not only do I get respect from the table, it (maybe slighty or maybe more profoundly) makes the other players play more passively, which is to my advantage.</i>

If this is happening for me, then I tend to stay until something bad happens. Of course, this kind of early image success happens less often than not!


In my last 4000 hands at 5/10 6M, my LONGEST session was 1.27 hours.

[Nate tha' Great]

One thing to consider is that the players whom your beating are more likely to leave the table sooner, so there's a selection effect at work here.

That said, I tend to stay at tables for a long time. I think that I read opponents pretty well, and so collecting more information on them is generally going to do me more good than harm.

OTOH, I'm a very competitive guy, and will sometimes stick at a tough table if I feel challenged, even if my expected return would be higher elsewhere. That's certainly a leak of sorts.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

I find that at 6-max tables I wear out my welcome pretty fast. After a few nice pots, suddenly I get no action. I move when people stop calling my preflop raises. Stealing the blinds is nice, but I'd rather they call my AA. I've noticed a recent trend where this is happening sometimes at $2/4 full tables, which is, needless to say, quite distressing. Is the average Party player getting better?

[BreakEvenPlayer]

Well, come the new WPT season, the pond should be getting restocked. Party has built up a large player base over the last year, and seems logical that last winter and springs' large pool of fish has improved some... but the games are still incredible... pick your spots!