Online Poker Table Selection

By Wes Burns

Poker table selection is an easy way to improve your win rate without investing a lot of time or effort. This article will teach you how to select the most profitable online poker tables.

Online poker rooms offer dozens of tables to choose from at each level so finding a soft table is rarely a problem. All it requires is that you slow down, take note of the tables and then take a seat. A little table selection can mean the difference between a winning session and a losing session.

There are three main methods poker players use to find the best online poker tables. Most poker players take a quick look at the stats collected on each table. Some poker players like to observe the tables for a while and other players look for known fish at the tables. The savviest poker players use a combination of methods to find the best poker tables.

Table Stats

Online poker rooms display the stats of each table in the poker lobby before you join. If you highlight a table in the list, you’ll see several stats such as the % of players to the flop, the number of hands per hour and the average pot size. These stats can all be used to help you quickly find the best tables.

The higher number you see for % of players to the flop, the better it is. It means there are more loose players at that table who are willing to play more hands. If you’re a tight-aggressive player, these loose players represent easy money.

The same thing goes for the average pot size. You want the highest possible average pot because that means there’s a lot of money moving around the table. As a strong poker player, you should be able to catch some of that money and hold on to it. The one problem with this stat is that it can sometimes be skewed by a few larger-than-normal pots.

Finally, a table that gets a high number of hands per hour is good for your hourly rate. It means that, for whatever reason, the players aren’t taking forever to make their decisions. This stat isn’t the most important in the world but every little bit helps.

Observing the Table

I personally don’t like this tactic as much because it takes up too much time. Some players swear by it, however, so it’s worth mentioning. What these players like to do is open up a table but not sit down. They’ll then watch a few hands and decide if they think the table looks like a good one to join.

This method is so time consuming that I find it almost useless. By the time you watch enough hands to have an idea of how the table plays, any number of players could have left or the table could have filled up. On top of that, I don’t think that just watching a few hands gives one a large enough sample size to draw any conclusions about the quality of the table.

Following Known Poker Fish

This tactic has served me well over the years. All you have to do is look for someone that you know is a fish and then follow that person to the next table he or she joins. I used to do this with great success all the time at Party Poker. A single fish is often all it takes to turn a mediocre table into a great table.

If you want to use this tactic, the first thing you need to do is take lots of notes. Any time you find a fish at the tables, make a note of it. It takes a while but you’ll eventually have a lot of players out there with notes tagged to their names. The next time you open the list of tables, all you have to do is scroll through each table without opening. The poker site will then list the name of each player at the table. If you see a little notepad icon next to that player’s name, it means you have a note on that player.

Some poker sites also have buddy lists that you can use to find your favorite fish. At poker sites that offer this feature, all you have to do is write down the name of every fish you find and add that person to your buddy list. You’ll eventually have a long list of fish to choose from. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.