Ok I really need some help with table selection

[blackize]

I hear everyone talking about the ridiculously easy 2/4 games that are out there, but I have trouble finding many of these.

Here is my current method of table selection:

1) Look for a decent pot size. $24+
2) Sit down or put name on waiting list.

I then repeat this for 3 more tables. Within one or two orbits I can generally tell if the table is too tight for my liking and get up if that is the case.

Am I missing something? Is there an easier way? It seems like the wait lists get started on the good tables before I get a chance and by the time I do get a seat at one of them the game dynamic has changed completely and become much less profitable.

[shant]

There's an easier way, it's called Poker Edge. Party doesn't like you having it though. I miss it. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[blackize]

Heh yeah first off its banned. Secondly I feel that it is a form of cheating(just my personal opinion).

Recently I've been having trouble getting seated at juicy 2/4 tables before they've gone sour and this has led me to play a hell of a lot more sit and go's which I enjoy, but arent as profitable.

[BigEndian]

Some are softer than others, but they're all soft. I don't think table selection is remotely an issue until maybe 5/10 on Party.

But if you want to be picky, just watch a table for a while w/o sitting down. Start getting in the habit of qualifying each seat. If you like, then put your name on the list.

- Jim

[blackize]

The players all suck, but the tables I'm talking about are ultra tight and clearly aren't the best places to be seated.

[HolyBejeesus]

I usually put my name on the waiting list for all the tables with good pot sizes. Every 15 minutes or so, I repeat the process. That way, any time a table's vpip starts to dip, Eurobet pops up with invitations to new tables. Before I sit down at them I check to make sure that the avg. pot size is still large.

Also, I don't put my name on the tables with very long waiting lists, because they will be filled up with TAG's before I can sit down.

[jay1313]

This is where pokertracker comes in very handy. Taking notes and datamining and having player rankings. Pot size is not the only consideration. A $2/$4 table with a $40 average pot made up of TAGs and TAPs is going to be infinitely harder then a $28 table made up of LP's. It is difficult when you first start out but as you build up a database and start to recognize players it becomes easier for good table selection AND good seat selection.

Until then, play tight and keep observing. One other thing I have noticed, The TAGS are always on the waiting list for the higher pot tables. By the time you weed your way through it and obtain a seat, you may discover you are the 8th TAG at the table and there is not enough money to go around.

I struggled at $2/$4 for quite a long time, but have been having better success lately and table selection is definitely an aspect of the game I have worked to improve.

[Hoi Polloi]

I've been working hard at table selection. At 2/4 I think you can find plenty of loose tables most of which will be pretty passive and ABC in style.

I use the buddy list when I find really weak players and generally start by seeing what their tables, if any, look like. I'll get on lists for those tables if there are less then 3 non-buddies (i.e., TAGs) at the table already. Otherwise, I just let Party seat me randomly and keep moving until I'm sitting in a good spot on a loose table (4+ to most flops and/or table VPIP > 30%). As soon as the table style changes I move. I may move tables every orbit for half an hour or more before I find a set I like. Then one will be going bad every 1/2 hour or less.

I might be hot for the orbit and win a couple of big pots but I'm still moving if the table's not right. I may drop 10BB in an orbit, but I'm sure not sticking around to try to win it back if the table's not right. If the table's good and I'm card dead or running bad, I'll stay.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

[Guruman]

for a change of pace try starting a new table during good hours. Most thinking poker players do like everyone else and hang out at the full/loose tables. This means that for every juicy table of fishies you have 5 potential sharks patiently waiting to get in on the feeding frenzy.

Why would you get in line behind other thinking poker players!?

By starting a new table you create a situation that attracts fishies and deters thinkers - a shorthanded table with a low avg pot. Newbies don't care about table selection. They don't care about average pots. They don't care about position or even relative ability. They just want action man. Give them an outlet.

I've found that if I start a new table and hang out for a few minutes more often than not an inferior player is the first one to sit down. We'll play heads up for a few hands before a few more sit down. Once you get about 4 in, then the floodgates open and -presto- you're sitting all alone in the biggest aquarium in the place.

My .02 [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]