Apologies in advance as I'm sure this has been covered 70000000 times, but in my defense I looked for a thread and was unable to find one.

Anyhoo... I need tips on table selecting. I honestly am LOST as to what I should look for in picking a table apart from good sized stacks (aka in 10NL I don't want to be sitting down at a table where everyone has 40BB stacks). I find that a lot of the tables with big stacks are real tight.

Right now I try to find tables that have a high avg pot... but that number can easily be skewed by a brand new table opening up and it displaying HU stats which will be larger than normal.


Is there a good thread out there that exists on this? A link or advice would be highly appreciated!

I always pick tables with high players/flop % and avoid those dam short stackers

not to be a dick, but any tables at the micros will be profiable. Try to find ones with large %players to the flop, and then ones with like 40bbs+

just look for high players/flop % and for stacks that are big, but not 100bb. for example $9.57 or sth like that on 10NL, cause this could be donks who doesn't reload.

I think conventional wisdom (which I happen to agree with) is an ideal table features 2 nits to your left, in the blinds, when you're OTB and 2 loose limpers to your right. Most of your profit will come from when you're in the CO/OTB, so ideally, 1 or 2 players will limp when you're IP, giving you the opportunity to raise a wide range and take down dead money. A limper also gives your blind steals credibility because the blinds are less likely to suspect a steal when you raise with a limper in the hand.

You want nits in the blinds for obvious reasons and this is the biggest reason to get up and find a new table. You simply want predictable players in the blinds that will let you print money by stealing their blinds @ a ~30% attempt to steal rate. I personally like tables in which the player to my immediate right tries to steal my button from me by stealing from the CO IF he has a high fold to 3-bets%. I read a post that summed it up as, Think of the CO as your little bitch. They are not to steal your button. However, it's ideal if the nit to your left lets you hijack his button, so you can attempt to steal ~30% from the CO as well.

You will be shocked how much of your profit will come from the CO/OTB if you table select well. GL!!!

I have a table selection problem. At micros I try to only be at tables with 35%+ plrs/flop and generally aim for 40%+ because you will always find at least three or so of those. Pot size is important too but usually my second consideration after how loose it is. Beyond that when sitting if I have a choice of seats I am to to have the larger stacks on my right and regs/tight/SS's on my left. It's nice having a 11/11/.8/100 fold to cbet player over 540 hands sitting on your left and 56/20/11.0/20 maniac on your right. I hope you can see why that would be profitable.

Table selection may not be SUPER important at the micro levels but I think it's a good thing to learn because you won't always be able to have juicy tables to pick from so it's handy to know what to look out for before you have to. Plus why pass up on easier money?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...ection-409172/

This is a very good guide imo.

Basically at uNL 6max, I look for tables with >35% players to flop and maximum of 1 shortstack(~20bb) OR 2 halfstacks(40-60bb). Deep tables are often a great place to start if you don't want to end up with a bunch of shortstacks. Just look for deep tables with high players/flop and you should be fine.

Also: when you get your seat and there is a shortstack, I suggest leaving when he's directly left of you. When there's a bunch of nitty tags to your right and the stations happen to be to your left, leave. If there is a good aggro tag to your left you feel is raising you a lot but you're not sure how to react and you think your pissing away money to him; you don't HAVE to confront him. It can be a good lesson and you can learn from it, but if you're just out there to try and maximize profit, it is OK to leave if you think another table will be more profitable.

In other words; don't stay at bad tables.

Totally agree with LOL_Colij

I've just switched from Full Ring to 6max and I am currently playing 10NL on FTP, and to be fair After about 5k hands (lol samplesize) I've only come across 2 villains that i don't want on my left, the vast majority of players are terribad.

I just go for a high % players seeing flop, and I change tables as soon as there are more than 2 shortstackers, or the table becomes too nitty, I usually just play the Deep tables though so shortstackers aren't that much of a problem.

Another thing to consider is that other people are table selecting just the same way as you are so it may not be long before your juicy table becomes infested with NIT regs.

Starting your own tables is a guaranteed way of meeting the fish.


also, just FYI, i find using a google advanced search much easier to find specific topical information than the standard forum search

has anyone tried using searching for "table selection" using the 2+2 search engine?

Everyone apart from OP i assume.

i look for high average pot (atleast $1 in 10nl) above 30% players to a flop and i like to see a fair few hands an hour too, do avoid tables full of 200-300bb players though

Why avoid big stacks? If I double up, I can play against an inferior player for 200bb, why not? It's not like a fish can't get lucky a couple of times and attain a big stack quickly.

Also, big pots are actually not that beneficial imo. I think it's easier to play stations than aggrotards, usually.

If you really mean it, open 40-50 tables and observe and look for limpers

Not to be a dick, but everyone in the beginners forum talks about how bad the players are at 2NL-25NL, yet nobody can rise above the level after 2 years of playing and posting in 2+2. Just maybe, we should stop underestimating the players we are against at the micros. Until we rise to mid-stakes we should realize we are just one of the terribad players at our level and be a little more honest with our own play. Even if it's just sorting the pre-flop % or avg. pot, you should get into the habit of table selecting at any level.

well, when playing against ss how do you know they aren't moving in w top pair instead of having a hand like a set? i'm gng to grind it to clear my bonus but am not gng to like it... oh and to op don't slow play unless you have the nuts...

i believe posters real question is what makes a good table for him to win at

hi vpip means lot of players seeing flop with weak hands- good for you if you play tight AND aggressive- do not limp in with limpers trying to outflop them

Tables w/ several partial or short stacks- good for you since they are bad players that dont even know enough to have a full stack so you can get max value on your big hands- the very first tell is if they play w/o a full stack says i am a crappy player
- note if you just thought to yourself i could also lose my entire stack you are a bad player or playing to high for your skill set, if you are a winning player at the stake level you should want a full stack
- note 2 , 90% of short stackers are horrible and so why do you want to avoid them? they usually reload 2,3,4,5x before they leave so they donate plenty- if you dont know how to beat them do a little research it is no secret

tables with deep stacks usually have 1 tag, and a couple lags that got lucky and won big pots, excellent targets for you to get full value with your full stack

Tables with very hi preflop raise % are overly aggressive and excellent hunting grounds if you play tight as they continuously get in light so when you have a big hand you should be a big fave to win a big pot

passive tables are the easiest to beat since you simply play in position, value bet made hands, check behind to improve or make your draw, and then value bet improved hands- you are always forcing them to make decisions, they are not putting you to tough decisions since they virtually never bet, if a passive player does bet/raise i hope you know what that means

most imortant know your style and what type of table is best fit for you to exploit since that is the point of table selection

also same thing applies to poker sites, some are way more passive than others, some are way tighter and more aggressive- find one that your style best exploits

i have accts on 4 sites but mostly play on the most passive site

Hi.

You might want to check this one out.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...dition-369513/

// M

While it isn't always true, I avoid the tables with large stacks because most often it is a better player eating the table alive. Of course donks get lucky and double up but after my last couple months in the micro's I run into the same guys again and again who are the large stack at the table.

There are easier fish to fry than the solid micro reg.