Rich Pickings

There’s an oft-repeated quote about poker organiser Eric Drache when he was in his prime: ‘He’s the sixth best Stud player in the world; unfortunately, he regularly plays with the top five.’ Which just goes to show that game selection is everything in poker. Your money comes from only one thing – having an edge over the other players in the game. If you’re sat at a table with players who are better than you then your expectation is negative and the poker skills that you do have will be largely irrelevant.

Two years ago game selection, or table selection if you prefer, was a dying art. The games online were soft and almost any table you clicked on would be easy for a seasoned player. Sadly, things are different now. The legal problems for players in the US have removed a lot of the casual players on sites. This, in combination with educational sites like CardRunners, strategy books and articles in poker magazines, and expanding internet forums, have all combined to increase the level of poker awareness massively.

But there are still plenty of soft players and soft games, with lots of dead money just there for the taking. This is even more the case now that the game is hugely on the rise across the continent (with thousands of new players signing up each day).

However, it’s also easy to find yourself stuck in a game full of rocks with a couple of multi-tabling pros grinding out a living. For this reason it’s vital to give yourself a head start by investing a few minutes of your time before you begin your session. Making a good table choice can end up rewarding you massively and, for the time it takes, it’s more than worth it in terms of the edge it will give you.

The lobby

To illustrate the point I’ve opened a site I regularly play on (okay, I admit it was already opening and, yes, a couple of tables, too). Looking through the $1/$2 six-max tables there is a huge contrast. Some have as little as 18% of players seeing the flop up to a huge 51%. And the average pot size varies from $9.22 to $41.15.

There are tables with up to four players who are multi-tabling and look like pro grinders and other tables with no such players. Clearly you’re going to have a very different type of game across these tables and your edge and expected return is going to vary similarly. It’s no exaggeration to say that you could go from being a losing proposition at one table to having a strong edge at another at the same online site, and all dependent on which table you happen to sit at.

Using these two basic bits of information can prep you for what kind of action there is at any given table and is something you should study as habit. Average pot size gives you an indication of how active the game is and how willing players are to play big pots. The bigger the cash figure the more raises and re-raises are being slung around. The figure can be deceptive at times as it can be easily distorted if one or two huge hands run into each other putting two or more players in deep.

More useful is the percentage of players seeing the flop. This tells you how loose a game is and is a reasonably reliable indicator of what kind of action you can expect. The bigger the number, the looser the players, and the more profitable the game could be. Although it’s possible to be a great loose player and exploit an equally loose game, as a rule of thumb you should be looking for players that will enter the pot with any two cards.

Very roughly, when this figure gets towards 30% and over for nine- or 10-handed games and is approaching or exceeding 40% for shorthanded action, the game is going to be looser than Gus Hansen after a few drinks. In other words, it could be a good session if you play some disciplined poker.

Go deep

In my opinion it’s always best to look for tables where players have at least the maximum buy-in. Other players may disagree, but I believe that if you have an edge over most players at a given limit, why play against short stacks? Short stacks make decisions harder and minimise the amount you can win – not a great combination by any stretch of the imagination. This can be tricky at the lower limits, as it’s the better players that tend to have the big stacks, but it’s a good guideline to follow.

Identifying multi-tabling players should always be part of your table selection regime. If you play on the same site for a while the names of the professional winning players should become familiar and easy to spot and avoid (although don’t feel that you have to lay strong hands down to them).

If not, it doesn’t take long to scan the games at your limit to notice the players that are sat grinding away at a few tables. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that multi-tabling players are great players. They’re not necessarily any better than you. But it is very often the case that these players are better than the average player at their limit. They’re probably playing a standard ABC poker at lower limits, so if you can find tables without them, or without more than one or two, it makes sense to do so.

Game selection is made a lot easier and more profitable by using poker-tracking software. These programs can monitor the tables before you even sit down, like a pair of virtual eyes on every table. If you’re going to play cash games regularly these products represent a tiny but invaluable investment for the help they will give your game. If you haven’t got one, get one now.

If you have got one and you’re not using it before you sit down then you’re missing out hugely, so start today. The information it can give you is such an advantage in selecting online games that I’ve highlighted the two best programs below (see Statto!).

Musical chairs

When you’re trying to pick between similar tables you should always consider the actual seat that’s available. Look at where it is in relation to the other players. As a guideline you want position on the best players and the biggest stacks. Sit yourself to their left if you can. If a good player has position on you they can make what would otherwise be a profitable table into a very difficult one by consistently putting you under pressure because they have position on you. Money generally moves around the table in a clockwise direction so make sure those big stacks are chipping off in your direction.

The final thing to bear in mind is to be flexible about the tables you’re playing at and seats you’re sitting in. Don’t feel that once you’re in a seat you’re bound to it. It’s very easy for a game to change and ‘go bad’ for you. A big-stacked weak player could realise that their luck has run out and leave, only to be replaced by a multi-tabling nit.

In fast-paced online games, especially six-max, the make-up of a table changes on a regular basis and you shouldn’t hesitate to leave if you feel there are better and softer games available. With that in mind it’s worth keeping an eye on the lobby of your site and, once you have tracking software, to keep it running on other tables you’re not playing at. This will give you alternatives if you want or need to change games. It will also capture more information on opponents that you may play against next time you sit down.

Table selection and game selection have always been important factors in poker – if you haven’t thought about it before you need to now. If you’re playing to make money – and why wouldn’t you be? – spend some time looking for the good games. Believe me, it will pay you back many times over.