How to Choose an Easy Poker Table
One of the major advantages to playing online poker as opposed to land based or brick and mortar casino poker is the lobby information available strictly to online poker players. When you walk into a live poker room you can watch the games, find the fish, and sit at their table. No one is going to provide you with instant game stats though. Often times, even good poker players fail to utilize the poker lobby when it comes to poker table selection.
Poker table selection is a little like your poker game in general. When you start out, hopefully you'll take with you a few points from this article, and later on, it'll be second nature. Without much effort at all you'll be table hopping to all the easiest to beat poker tables.
So let's have a look at the information offered in an online poker lobby, shall we?
Average Pot Size
This is the first thing I look at when I'm looking for a table. Is there money to win? A high pot average is usually a big sign that there are some loose and juicy players at this table. There's lots of raising, and plenty of calling at this table. This table isn't a nit-fest.
Hands per Hour
In the poker lobby you will also see something like "Hands/Hour" or Hands per Hour. This poker lobby stat tells us how many hands are dealt at each table per hour. If you're playing for rakeback or loyalty points, obviously you want to see as many hands dealt per hour as possible. Furthermore, if you're single tabling, you don't want to spend as much time waiting for your table mates to finally get to their turns.
If you're multi-tabling, you may appreciate a bit of a slower game, giving you more time to act between hands. Hands per hour is more of a personal preference, but it's still something to consider when choosing a table.
Flop Percentages
This is a good one - it shows what percent of the players at a table see each flop. If there are a lot of players still in the hand once the flop has been dealt, an aggressive betting style should see a decent profit here. Tighter players don't see as many flops, and stronger players will have already raised out any decent competition.
Player Bankrolls
How many chips do your opponents have in front of them? Once
you have this information, you can decide 1, if there are enough
chips at this table for you to want to sit there, and 2, how
many chips you should bring (learn more about
buy-in strategies). Knowing the average bankroll size in advance
lets you come to the table with a strong personal bankroll strategy.
I personally like to always buy in for the maximum, but if you see a table with a lot of short stacks you can easily come in with a small stack and be successful.
Once you've chosen as many suitable poker tables as you'd like to play, you can begin to work out a profitable seat selection at each poker table! Good Luck!