Is table selection the most important skill to learn in order to make money

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NoWuckingFurries

NoWuckingFurries

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I have been watching and listening to Jason Somerville streaming on Twitch quite a lot recently, and he said that the most important skill that you need to learn in order to be profitable is table selection.

He said that you don't necessarily need to be a great poker player yourself, as long as you're a better player than most of the players at the tables that you have chosen to sit at.

What do you guys think about that?
 
Sil3ntness

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I have been watching and listening to Jason Somerville streaming on Twitch quite a lot recently, and he said that the most important skill that you need to learn in order to be profitable is table selection.

He said that you don't necessarily need to be a great poker player yourself, as long as you're a better player than most of the players at the tables that you have chosen to sit at.

What do you guys think about that?

Yeah I think that's a great idea if you're in it to build up your bankroll or preserve it for that matter haha. Sometimes though I like playing with the better players. I play poker mainly for the challenge & experience. I already have a full time job and not too worried about the money aspect. If I place first and get the top prize great! If I bust out on the bubble oh well...

Everyone plays at a table for different reasons. However if you want to be profitable I would agree that you would want to avoid a table with the better players.
 
dj11

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IF, you can use table selection as a criteria, then yes. But in reality, that is only happening at Stars, and maybe FT and PP. We here in the states do not have that luxury.

Even live, the tables are usually so full you have to join a waiting list, thus no table selection.
 
NoWuckingFurries

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Jason Somerville is in Nevada I believe, but he was talking about one of his friends that still earns a lot of money from online poker, so presumably that friend has moved to canada or somewhere more poker-friendly than most places in the USA.
 
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polda

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I think, that table selection is important oh higher levels.
In my opinion on lower levels you should only avoid tables with good regs, who you already know. No need to play with them.
 
the_wonk

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to answer OP, sure, but it's not always practical.

you can be the 10th most retarded poker player in the world and still be a winner if you're playing the 9 people more retarded than you. :D

in truth, most people don't know enough about the game to even be able to adequately assess their opponents skill level. in practice, learn the game, and focus on adjustments so that you can beat every player at the table.
 
NoWuckingFurries

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in truth, most people don't know enough about the game to even be able to adequately assess their opponents skill level.
I think it might possibly be more about avoiding tables full of regs than necessarily being able to analyse the skill levels of opponents. There are so many millions of online poker players that it's probably more of a damage limitation exercise, although I am only guessing and certainly not talking from personal experience.
 
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Think its more important to find a site that you feel comfortable on and can find software that's works well with your style of play
 
Syltan

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More specialized in tournament poker, but cash is also sometimes play and can easily say that he is totally and completely right
 
Sil3ntness

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This was posted in the cash game section of the forum...

unless they moved it.

My fault my response was meant for both tournaments & cash game tables.
---

Anyways to stay on topic about cash games, I'd rather play with the TAGs that play ABC poker. I know when I'm beat and I happily fold to their hands. I hate playing against LAGs that bluff A LOT.

I had some cash game sessions in the past week where I just could not figure this dude out. He had premium hands, crap hands, hands in between. Yeah I know "tighten your range", but EVEN when I tightened my range he still had me scratching my head on wtf he has. He'd show up with straights, two pairs, baby flushes. I was always flipping a coin hoping that he wasn't bluffing a hand or not.

So in regards to table selection I'd rather play the ABC poker people. I feel like they are easier to exploit for me. I see it as me playing a game of rock/paper/scissors:

I'm paper and I cover the rock TAGs; and the LAGs are my scissors waiting to cut up my paper.
 
rogerdelpk

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great advice......so.....zoom or rush is out of the question....
 
TeUnit

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by far table selection is the most important factor

what kind of win rate can you get at a table full of regs? how bout a table with 3 fish?
 
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hffjd2000

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Table Selection is just one skill and not the most important.

There are many other considerations like hand reading, handling of BR, etc.
 
NoWuckingFurries

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OK, tonight he explained it in a little more detail, before he rushed off to Bellagio to pay a fortune to enter a WPT tournament. He used League of Legends as an example and said that there is a lot of money in LoL ($1 million dollars for a winning team, for example) but unless you are in the top 100 LoL players in the world then you are unlikely to make much money out of LoL. Poker is different.

Firstly there are a lot of different games that you can play (Hold'Em, Stud, Omaha etc.) and different formats (limit, no limit, cash games, SNGs, MTTs, turbo, hyper turbo etc) whereas there is only one form of competitive LoL, so what you can do in poker is pick what suits you best.

The other thing is that if you are stuck somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, especially if you are in a state with no online poker, your choices may be very limited. However, if you happen to be in a big city and you are a friendly, sociable, cheerful type of person that makes friends easily then there are probably various home games around and there are plenty of businessmen that like playing poker and don't really care how much they lose, they play poker just for the fun of it. If you can get into games like that then it is worth studying poker theory and improving your game, because you don't have to be a brilliant poker player in that sort of situation to make a lot of money.

He said that when you see people such as Isildur1 that are doing things "the proper way" and think how amazing the guy is, you need to remember that there are people that are actually making more money but aren't as good a player, they just found the right places to play.
 
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Table Selection is just one skill and not the most important.

There are many other considerations like hand reading, handling of BR, etc.

Wrong. Tables selection is the most important skill by far. Chosing to play with bad players is the most profitable. No matter how great your skill is , if you play with average regs you are not gonna make the same money as being a mediocre red playing with whales.
 
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swingro

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great advice......so.....zoom or rush is out of the question....

If you are a good rakeback grinder is the best option. But there is no way in hell you will gonna have a good winrate. And to make the money you have to put the volume . A lot of volume. Not much skill than patience and valuebetting involved though.
 
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swingro

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to answer OP, sure, but it's not always practical.

you can be the 10th most retarded poker player in the world and still be a winner if you're playing the 9 people more retarded than you. :D

in truth, most people don't know enough about the game to even be able to adequately assess their opponents skill level. in practice, learn the game, and focus on adjustments so that you can beat every player at the table.

The goal is still to find the fish at the table. Because if you do not find it you are obvious it.
 
Ducbim

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I think table selecting, or bump-hunting is the best skill. When I know a fish is on the table, I just have to stay focused and wait for good hand & good position to exploit him because I know he is going to make some silly decisions very soon. It is much more profitable and relaxing than sitting at tables with full of Regs that put me through a lot of headache.

However elite players know how to exploit regs as well. They are big sharks & they eat small sharks. I believe that normal regs, even with good discipline, still have some exploitable errors in their range & pattern. Elite players are cunning at pick up these mistakes very fast.
 
Sil3ntness

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Well I believe you got your answer: Finding the "fish" is most profitable.

However for rec players like myself, I'd rather play the best players. I want to be tested and hopefully improve my skills. Bum hunting and finding fish is great to build bankroll, but stimulating my mind is also fun for me. Even the "regs" have leaks or they wouldn't be playing a lower limit.
 
Danjwarburton

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Table + Seat Selection, Hand Reading and Value Betting!
The 4 most important skills.

(Hand Reading= Ranging + Accurate Assumptions)
 
LinkornU

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Table selection is a very important skill. You really have to choose the one that fits you strategy well. But is it the most imortant? It's a hard question. There are so many different skills that as important as this one. In my opinion hand selection is more important.
 
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Yeah, I think so, table selection is an important factor while playing poker it helps to increase your poker win. You have to keep various things in mind like The company, The poker room design, The bet slider etc.
 
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leandr0s

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Νο... it is the 2nd most important though. First is obviously being a winning player. But yeah anything that has to do with raising efficiency is worth it... finding the fish so you can take their money isnt easy especially in larger stakes
 
Latamgrinder

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Is table selection the most important skill to learn in order to make money
Obviously no, is a mixter of several things but is def one of the most important.
 
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