Table Selection on Party Poker

[Lurshy]

A couple of months ago I switched from Paradise Poker to Party Poker for a few reasons not really relevant to this post.

One of the things that I liked about Paradise though was how easy it was to perform table selection duties. Paradise lobby gives % to see the flop, as well as average pot size. These stats are updated in near real time, and it is easy to see who is seated at a table and what their stack sizes are.

It seems Party has a real delay in updating the lobby stats, shows less information, and is so slow in displaying who is at the table that it becomes nearly impossible to scroll through the tables in the lobby (and see who is seated). Plus there are so many more players at Party that despite over 20k hands, I am still often sitting with 9 unknowns.

Where is this ramble going? My table selection in Party is therefore usually random. My bb/100 I believe is suffering because of it. Occasionally I may find myself at a juicy table, but so often I am not.

At Paradise I would find the right mix of Pot size and % to the flop, and combine it with some known players (be them TAG, LAG, passive fish) and I knew what I was getting into right away.

So what tools, methods, criteria do you use to select tables on Party?

[Rudbaeck]

Two words: Buddy list.

I'll add a bonus word: Datamining.

[GrunchCan]

Don't be afraid to get up and leave a table after just one orbit if it isn't a good table.

[Lurshy]

Maybe i'm not using it correctly, but when I hit the buddy list button in table search, it comes up blank (and I have added some profitable buddy ID's under the My Account menu).

I've done some data mining (watching tables and having the HH read into PT), but not extensively, I will increase that effort.

[Harv72b]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe i'm not using it correctly, but when I hit the buddy list button in table search, it comes up blank (and I have added some profitable buddy ID's under the My Account menu).

[/ QUOTE ]

In the table search screen, it will only display names when you click on "Buddies" if one or more of the people on your buddy list are logged on. The obvious answer is to add as many poor players to your list as possible, and update it frequently, so that you will always have at least a few buddies online.

[adamstewart]

Just sit down at any 2/4 or 3/6 table.

While you're waiting for the Big Blind to come around to you, check out the PokerTracker notes you have on other players there. If there's too many seemingly "good" players, feel free to get up and leave.

Otherwise, play an orbit or two and if you don't like the texture of the table, get up and go.

Personally, I tried the buddy list thing, and it wasn't for me. Too much waiting for a specific table. Then when you finally sit down, your "buddy" ends up leaving shortly thereafter. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Besides, there are tonnes of fish at the 2/4 and 3/6 games anyway.

Table selection is perhaps an area I could improve on, but at 2/4 and 3/6, I think there may also be an "opportunity cost" to it as well. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Adam

[Lurshy]

I probably need to improve on this, as it usually costs me too much to figure out I don't like the table (or my position on it), and I rarely get up before an hour at a table (unless it breaks).

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe i'm not using it correctly, but when I hit the buddy list button in table search, it comes up blank (and I have added some profitable buddy ID's under the My Account menu).

[/ QUOTE ]

For me it takes like 2-5s before the buddy list displays the buddies in search. Notice that it only lists online buddies.

[7ontheline]

Interestingly, lately I've been noticing that whenever I find one of my "buddies" at a table when I join them there's probably 4-5 TAGs who probably had the same idea as me. I wonder what these "buddies" think when the same people keep following them around? I suppose they may not even notice. . .

Anyway, I have also now been more willing to get up from tables where I recognize a lot of the players or where it just seems too tight to get any good action. I feel like my winrate has been improved because of it. +49 BB today in 1 hour at 3/6! Woohoo! Of course, this is making up for the -25 BB from a few days ago. . .

[Prod1gy]

Buddy list is a ok idea, but doesn't work that great since most of the people I put in mine hide themselves from the search feature. So you can see they are online but can't find them, unless you go clicking every table.