Talk to me about table selection...

[CmnDwnWrkn]

I hear people talking about the concept of "Table Selection" all the time, and the idea behind it makes sense to me, i.e. i understand that it would be best to choose to play at a table where you have the best chance of succeeding. However, I am not really sure how to put the concept of table selection into practice, and I usually tend to sit at random tables.

I think this is because I am really not sure what to look for when selecting a table. What do good players look for when selecting a table to sit at? What do the statistics displayed for the tables actually mean? Also, how much time, on average, should one spend looking at the tables before actually selecting one to play?

Any info you could offer on explaining the idea of Table Selection would be appreciated...

[RedJoker]

I was on a B2B site until recently and used PokerTracker to find good tables. Basically I opened up game time and from the poker site lobby went through all the tables looking for fish. I was looking for high VPIP (>50) with a low PFR (<10) and low AF (<1.5) although extremely high PFR can be exploitable as well. Then I try to get a seat on their left, if I can't get a seat there I'd usually wait for one or go look at a different table.

If there were a few, maybe 3-4, players with moderately high VPIP (35 - 50) that would do too.

Now that I'm on Party I use SpadeEye. I buddy list anybody with 20 hands and a VPIP over 50, this gives me maybe 2-12 tables to look at depending on the time of day, usually around 5-10 tables. I just pick the best tables and try to get a seat to the left of the fish.

20 hands is a very small sample but if it turns out that the player wasn't as loose as I first thought then I can always take them off the list.

SixthSense is another game selection tool that has been around a little longer and from what I've heard has more features. However it's a subscription service and SpadeEye, for a $30 once off payment, does me fine.

[Harv72b]

The Buddy List is a great tool in this regard. Oftentimes, just having one big-time fish at a table makes the game good, both because you can exploit his tendencies and because other good players at the table will be overplaying hands in an effort to do the same.

Assuming no buddy list or no buddies online...

The first thing I look at is the average pot size. I always take this with a grain of salt, though, as a table can have a very large avg. pot without being very good--if a few recent hands have featured tight/aggressive players in hand over hand situations, for example, or if a maniac has just left the table. But it's as good a place as any to start.

Then I look at table VPIP using PokerTracker, although the "percentage of players to flop" stat in most lobbies can be used. Loose is good. Loose combined with large pots is better. Ideally you'd like a table with one or two loose/aggressive players and a few calling stations.

And of course look at the player's individual stats, assuming you have the software to do so. What I'll often do when I first fire up everything for a poker session is open the client software, PokerTracker, and PokerAce HUD. Scan through the table list and look for likely candidates, open those tables, and then walk away and take care of whatever I need to do before playing: trip to the bathroom, grabbing a drink or some food, running to the store for a pack of smokes, taking out the trash, whatever. When I come back I'll have a small hand sample on every player at the table (note that this only works on sites which allow datamining, or keeping stats from observed hands) and can decide whether the table(s) really do look good or not.

Table position is also important--you want the bad (loose) players on your right and the good (tight) players on your left whenever possible. This allows you to raise and isolate on the weaker players, as well as to use your position postflop to play better poker.

One other little trick that I've picked up over the years: when all else fails and you can't find any really good tables, look for full ring tables which are currently playing short-handed. For a couple of reasons: first & foremost, many full ring players do not adjust their games properly when playing short-handed--they play too weak and tight. Also, bad players don't care what table they sit at, they just want to get in there and gamble it up; therefore they are going to sit at the first table they see with an open seat, which will often be those short-handed games. Some of the best tables I've ever found a seat on were 3- or 4-handed when I started playing.

[fourpin]

I like the idea of looking for short handed full ring tables. I,ll put it into practice at Ultimate Bet when the short handed tables are too rocky to be profitable.

On a side note...

Is there any way to set up some kind of buddy list for Poker Stars? What about a way to search for more than one player at a time?
The way I play now I just look for the highest vpip and sit for a loop or two and see what develops.