Table selection

[HellAce]

Hello again!

I have another newbie question. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

When I select tables to play at I look for the table with the highest % of players entering the pot pre flop.
Soo if I have to choose between a 45% , 60% or 70%+ i go for the 70%+.
When you pros choose table what preferences do you look for?

/HellAce

Hi,
I'm no pro, but obviously the higher % equals looser players and easier game to beat. But if you want to improve your game, you should sit at tight tables. I regularly beat stars 2/4 and recently been beating the 3/6. The % can get as low as 24% at times, but it is still a very beatable game.

[Milky]

I'm no pro but I look for tables with an average pot of around 10x the BB (so for .50/1.00 I look for a table with at least $9-$10 pot averages). And if party showed what percentage saw the flop I'd pick the table with the highest percentage.

Also one of the first things I do when signing on is to see if any of my buddies (fish, guys that just love giving away money, etc) are playing. If so I'll usually sit down at their table.

I think table selection is a very important aspect when trying to maximize profits.

[ChristophUoR]

The loose and wild tables are more profitable, but also have higher variance. If a couple bad beats will knock you off your game, don't play there.

[Milky]

If the poster's strict goal was to move up in limits quickly then maybe that'd be a good idea. However, why would you want to sit at a table that's not going to pay you off when you hit the flop? I prefer my opponents to make as many mistakes as possible when I play hold-em.

[Milky]

This would also be another reason to play the tighter tables but if you can handle the beats then you'll make more money in the long run at a loose and wild table, correct?

[TommyTutone]

I look for tables in which a majority of the players have less than the standard buy-in in cash (i.e. at Party 1/2, lots of players with less than $50). This tells me that either a) they are poor players, b) they are having a bad run of luck, or c) do not understand the 12BB rule when sitting at the table, enhancing point a).

Also, I don't look for the rooms with the BIGGEST average pot as they tend to get swamped with sharks quickly and there gets to be a wait list. Usually I will scroll down just a little bit where the average pot is still higher than 75% of the rest and hit those.

[imsomoney]

How do you add buddies to your list at party? (I could never figure it out) Can you still see when they are playing even if they've selected the "hide me from search" option? How helpful is it to stalk really terrible players?

[k000k]

[ QUOTE ]
How helpful is it to stalk really terrible players?

[/ QUOTE ]

The fish turnover is too high... Old ones bust and leave forever, new ones come and you dont know who they are.. So you caught a fish, tagged him, and threw him back.. You're gonna ignore the other million fish to try to catch this one particular fish again? They're ALL fish! For the very small fraction of the population who aren't, you can figure out who they are in 1-2 orbits and keep your distance.. I say taking notes or stalking players is a HUGE waste of time. I was huge into notes when I started, and no matter how many notes I took, I'd just about never see anyone I took notes on again..

To the OP, nice loose table and big avg. pots are what I look for... 70+% PF callers with 10BB avg pots is great. Loose is better than big pots.. Loose with small pots means they fold out early (leaving YOU with the pot). Tight with large pots is just plain tight-aggressive, the kind of table that will be hardest to beat.

[Milky]

I'm going to have to start looking at stacks, since what you're saying makes sense. Thanks for that tip.

As for your second point you are also correct. It's funny because I'll see a juicy average and then go to check the table out and either A) The table is half empty because the suckers busted out; or B) I see that a bunch of rocks just joined the table. Its definately hard to find a good table in the middle of a good run, but I use the "search for tables" option in the menu to see the current averages and player counts (the PP window doesn't refresh fast enough). I can usually find a decent table that hasn't been "discovered" using this method.