Smaller rooms with little or no table selection

I have been playing 25NL FR on carbon recently and its tough getting the volume in due to a serious lack of tables. At certain time sof the day theres only 2-3 tables and in more peak times perhaps 7-10 tables.

You dont have the luxury of selecting loose tables with high avg pfr.
You have the same 2-4 aggressive regs on every single table. So your forced into preflop battles with these regs constantly since you cant jump to softer tables.

So the question is...is a 35% rakeback deal even worth it when you have ZERO table selection?

90% of my poker is played on a very small poker room where if you are lucky there are 6 NL games and rarely one OHL game, there are also Sit n go's available up to $20 but for these you sometimes have a long wait.

I get 70% rakeback there and they also have a $2000 VIP tourney every Sunday with about 100 players in that pays 18 places in which I do very well.

I know sometimes I have to queue for a game or a sit and go but give me that every time over the waste of space that is/was Full Tilt, why everyone seems to love it I'll never know, or the soul less Poker Stars.

So really it is horses for courses, if you like Carbon and dont mind sometimes waiting it is worth it, it you dont want to wait find another site with more of the games you like, it sounds to me you are not happy there and as you are from the UK you still have choices about where you play, try a few out and see which ones suit you.

Try 6max? They're more of those than FR.

Well good table selection in cash games can help your win rate...but on smaller rooms you dont have that option available. There may only be 6 tables at 25NL and you have the same 4 aggressive regs sitting in all of them.

I guess its a trade off..the bigger rooms you can pick and choose the weaker tables but you get less rakeback etc.

That is an option..I have played some 10NL 6max due to a lack of FR tables off peak times.

I was hoping to concentrate on FR and try to move up in stakes...Rather than getting beat down learning 6max.

& will be again (hopefully!). Personally I LOVE Fulltilt & would (will) play there again in a heartbeat.

OP, sounds like a bit of a dilemma for ya. It must suck havin' so few tables & always with a handful of regs. on all of them. I know I've read a bunch of players threads/comments about grinding up a new bankroll on Merge (US players who formerly played higher stakes/buyins on FTP & Stars) & are now playing at much lower stakes as a result. Wouldn't be surprised if some of those 4 or 5 are former 100 & 200nl regs. from FTP & Stars.
OP, you're from UK right? Why not play on Stars?

Wow I never considered alot of US players would be grinding it up on the 25NL tables but i guess it kinda makes sense. Some guys are on there like 24/7..theres just no avoiding them.

I guess the poker world has kinda been turned upside down. I was hoping to be at a higher stake (to secure a decent VIP level) before moving back to Stars, but its probably the best option.

I cant see playing at carbon if you have option to play on stars.