If you are the first person to sit at an empty table, where would you sit down & why? Does it make a difference?

Well online it obv makes no difference, however live I remember Andy B saying that sitting in the 1 seat gives you a little extra time to see others' door cards during the deal.

i kinda prefer 4 or 5 because you have a great view of everyone's boards.
also 2 watch the dealer's hands, if you've been running extremely bad.

I always try to sit directly across from the dealer when playing live. The boards are easier to read that way.

2 Easier to cheat

Ew, I hate the 1 seat. I can't see the guy to the right of the dealer and some others on that end, I have to protect my cards from getting accidentally mucked. I like to sit across from the dealer and if I can't do that, at one of the ends of the table.

Online I can not see how it matters.

Live... where do you play that has empty tables? I don't see that *too* often unless they're just starting a new table for some reason.

Live I have started to sit in 4, 5 or 6. Now that I have bifocals it is easier to see other players boards and also watch for any tells. I try and avoid sitting next to the dealer since I always seem to smash my knee on the drop box.

I was going to post that I would sit next to the attractive girl but then I would probably never find a seat at a stud table. insert smiley face icon here.

There are actual game play effects at a stud table relative to the dealer button...

On 4th street and beyond, ties when deciding who is first to act are resolved by choosing the player nearest to the left of the dealer button. So the player nearest to the left of the dealer button will be playing out of position -- but only on those hands where the tiebreaker comes into effect. Basically, very rarely.

When a pot is split due to a tie, any extra chips are distributed in order beginning with the player nearest to the left of the dealer button. So the player nearest to the left of the dealer button occasionally gets an extra half chip or so -- compared to what he'd get if you were to split single chips. (Pots which are split between the high hand and the low hand don't follow this rule; the high hand gets the extra chip there.) This extra bonus fraction of a chip also happens very rarely.


So I guess that you should either sit in the #1 seat or the #8 seat. If you think that getting the extra chip in a showdown tie outweighs the disadvantage of having to act first with a tied board, sit in the #1 seat. If you think it doesn't, sit in the #8 seat; you'll never get the extra chip in a split pot, but you'll also never have to act first with a tied board.

When I play live ties are broken using the highest up card...for instance As 2c goes before Ac 2s

Online I have a preference for certain seats as they are located at various points of the screen. It can be bizarre looking at your hand in the top left corner when you like to be playing from the bottom right corner and vice versa. Players make seat changes that would otherwise be inexplicabe if not for this effect. It is akin to the effect of certain online cardroom interfaces being easier to look at than others.

On what sites can you not right-click a spot at the table and say "sit here"?

I favor the 1 hole when playing live. I get to internalize my hole cards before the up-cards come off, and I find this helpful. Also, if a dealer needs help, I can do so discretely. In stud, it's not too hard to see whether the 8 seat has folded. That can be harder in hold'em, where I prefer the 9 seat (nine-handed at Canterbury).

Odd chips are awarded based on high card. I actually saw this for the first time ever last year. Two players were tied for low, so the odd chip went to the player with the lowest card. On those other rare occasions where two people had identical hands, the pots were always even as far as I can remember. Of course, Canterbury Park is the only place in the world with $.50 chips, so that probably helps. No, they don't use them in games $6/12 and up, but they do split down to the dollar in a $30/60 game.

The software, at least on Stars and FT (and I think Bodog too but I haven't played there in years) will allow you to pick your "favorite seat" and the software will always rotate the seats so you are in the same place on the screen regardless of what the seat number is. My personal prefference is to be in the top right of each table, it is just easier to see my cards if I have multiple screens up. I also use the 4 color deck to make it easier but that is not really related to the original question.

BOSS MEDIA.

I like to sit at the left of the drunkern bachelor party at Caesar's when the game is being seated.