Table Selection?

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Zer0-0uts

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Morning everybody,

Let's talk about table selection. Every cash game book I have read puts a huge emphasis on table selection, and in an ideal world I can totally get behind the idea. Let's be realistic for a second though. How often do you get the chance to be selective about your table? You walk into your local brick and mortar. You walk up to the board desk. You tell them your name and the limit and game type you want to play in. You wait, sometimes you wait and wait and wait, but eventually you get seated. You get no choice of what table or what seat.

If you are like me, you might spend your wait time wandering from table to table watching the people play and hoping you get this table over that table or that table, but whichever table gets a donk to bust out of first is where you are generally seated. How realistic to you find "Table Selection" as an option for improving your game? Do you ever get an idea of the table you want to be at and then tell the board desk, "I want a seat at table number x when it opens." Or do you just take your seat and play? I think I am going to start watching all the tables at my stakes play until I get my seat. Then I am going to let the board desk know I want to be changed to table "x"when a seat opens
 
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IPlay

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You can ask for first seat change to get better position on players at the table. Or you can ask for a table change to get on the table with the whale. This is much easier in large rooms but still somewhat possible in rooms with 2-3 games going at a time.
 
Sil3ntness

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Yeah this is definitely a lot more difficult if you are in a small casino where there are only a couple tables running. If are you playing in more well known casinos with plenty of tables don't be hesitant to more to a more loose and splashy table.

Worse thing you can do is play at a super tight table where everyone is just folding and chopping up blinds all night.
 
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Table selection doesn't matter if you are having a long session because good and bad players will come and go equally over all tables over a long period of time.

Table selection only matter if you are doing a short burst cash game, pick the most volatile table of the stake level and overplay hands. Don't blame me when you go bankrupt.
 
Keith_MM

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Table selection doesn't matter if you are having a long session because good and bad players will come and go equally over all tables over a long period of time.

Table selection only matter if you are doing a short burst cash game, pick the most volatile table of the stake level and overplay hands. Don't blame me when you go bankrupt.
You haven't got a clue how to play profitable poker , and anyone following your advice is going to go bankrupt. 90% of profits will come from the fish not battling range wars against other regs. Make those profits more likely by selecting tables full of fish or position on the fish at a table.

When the fish leave the table look for another table with fish at it.
 
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Rational Madman

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Or stay at same cash game table and play disciplined poker and profit even against good players. :)
 
lcid86

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Ran into this last time I was in Vegas. Mandalay bay had limited number of tables open (2-3) and I made the mistake of sitting down. Would have been better off heading down the strip.
 
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pietpikel

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Morning everybody,

Let's talk about table selection. Every cash game book I have read puts a huge emphasis on table selection, and in an ideal world I can totally get behind the idea. Let's be realistic for a second though. How often do you get the chance to be selective about your table? You walk into your local brick and mortar. You walk up to the board desk. You tell them your name and the limit and game type you want to play in. You wait, sometimes you wait and wait and wait, but eventually you get seated. You get no choice of what table or what seat.

If you are like me, you might spend your wait time wandering from table to table watching the people play and hoping you get this table over that table or that table, but whichever table gets a donk to bust out of first is where you are generally seated. How realistic to you find "Table Selection" as an option for improving your game? Do you ever get an idea of the table you want to be at and then tell the board desk, "I want a seat at table number x when it opens." Or do you just take your seat and play? I think I am going to start watching all the tables at my stakes play until I get my seat. Then I am going to let the board desk know I want to be changed to table "x"when a seat opens
The brick and mortar table selection is tricky, because most of the time you just are happy to get seated. But if you play in a regular place, you know who is tight, who the fish are, who can play etc etc

Maybe the trick is to play at busier times, so that there is more of a selection. Look to position yourself with the weak players. I have found a flip side to this though. When you play with too many weak players (at a 10 or 9 seater), you get this weird schooling effect. You make a big bet and 6 people call you. It also makes it difficult to win. Ideally 3 or 4 weak players, and hopefully a conservative player on your left (that folds to your late position raises).

What is quite irritating is to have a calling station on your immediate left, because he calls most bets and creates better pot odds for more callers.

Normally live game starts at 2pm here, and you can choose your seat and put name on list early. But people show up at 2.30pm, and ask the casino to start a bigger game (2/4$ etc), and they yank the fish (who just want action) away, and force you to re-seat play a bigger game.
 
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dlam

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Coming from online to live. It’s all full ring at the casino When it get down 6 players the table breaks up sometimes. So have to play more tighter and passive from what I’m used too in 6max.
Really tight tables where there are lots of old guys that limp and everyone fold to a raise is no fun. Get a table change.
Ideally I like to have at least one loose player If there are more than three loose aggressive players it’s harder to into the hand. I like to have the loose player open to my right that way I have position most hands on the player. If the agressive loose player is to my left I get a seat change
 
roger perkins

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Playing as a regular at a room sometimes has a great advantage. I know a lot of the fish and when I see them since I know a lot of the dealers and a lot of the floor people I will request their table. And since I do tip well they often take care of me. I've even had a dealer grabbed me as I walked by and say hey Roger sit down. Cuz he knew it would be a good table for me. Having said all that at a good place ya search around find the fish and request table change if needed.
 
Polytarp

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I've been an "irregular" regular in live games playing when travelling and I consider myself an OK player (not greedy, know when to stop, know the math...etc) so I can judge if I'm at a playable table within an hour or so, otherwise, I leave. That's one choice.

In addition to playing for money, I also get to meet some interesting people and more often than not I always learn something. If I'm losing (I never blame bad cards because I have won games either by not looking at them and by playing with pure crap..good cards are a bonus.) and it's because I'm being outplayed, then I will stay and pay my tuition to a point and tip my hat when I leave. If I'm losing because I'm tired (or because I've had one too many vodka tonics) then I will stop at a certain cap.

If I'm at a good table but it's poopulated by assholes, do I care?..no, as long as I'm being triple raised by fools and mouthpieces I just keep smiling (with a bit of trash talking thrown in) and tipping the dealer.

Online table choice is different, more mathematical in a solid game but sometimes people shouldn't be playing so you step in to help them out by relieving them of their bankroll burden. Strangely, I have noticed some people who play "to lose." I don't know if this is a guilt trip scenario or what but if you spot this kind of a person, play at that table because this kind of a player will keep playing until they bust. Now you may get busted yourself with a bad beat but the odds are good you can obtain some of this bankroll.:captain:
As a caveat, these were my personal experiences in different places and times so consider the above as anecdotal references and not as some form of "strategy."
 
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German629

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Hi the All! I think need to select tables exactly, if you want more win than lose. Or lose less,
if you demonstrate A-play, but fatally not luck... And this is may be more important!
And this is one else cause and evidence, that need to do more thorough selection playing
tables!..:rolleyes:
 
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fundiver199

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I think, table selection is more an option online? Online its easy and fast to sit in and out of tables, and most regulars do jump around trying to find fish and ideally get position on them. Often a table break down, if a fish leave, and then the process start all over again.

It can get a bit tiring honestly, and is one of the advantages of playing tournaments or SnGs, where you just sit down and play, and everyone else does the same. The problem with not table selecting in cash games, when other people do it, is, that you more or less always get the bad tables and seats.

For instance when you are using waiting lists, its fairly standard to discover, that the only fish at the table is sitting on your direct left. Which is often not a coincidence. The seat got vacant, because another reg did not want a fish on his direct left and be forced to play most hands out of position. So he left, not because he finished his session, but to try and get on a better seat at another table.

If this happened in live games, it would be fairly comical, and a big social no-no. partypoker actually made a video illustrating it as part of their promotion for the changes, that took place a few month ago. Online though it will always be a part of cash games, even if poker sites makes seating random, as some has already done. Then people will just trial-and error and leave tables, they dont like.
 
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