The creation of online poker has provided a lot of advantages for poker players. One of those advantages is table selection. That is, players online have the ability to choose what poker table to sit and play at. In an actual casino, those options would be very limited.
It’s amazing that more people actually don’t take advantage of online table selection. Unfortunately, though, people are, by nature, impatient. They want everything and they want it now. So, if you’re looking for a poker game, you’re likely to sit at the first table you find that has an empty chair. Here are some reasons not to, though.
Lobby Stats:
Most online poker rooms now offer a bunch of stats in their poker room lobby relating to each table. If you read those stats, you can make a much better decision about what table to sit at. For example, you can choose to sit at a fairly loose table or a fairly tight table.
In fact, of the stats offered is usually number of players per flop. If a lot of players are seeing a flop, it’s a fairly loose table. If not, it’s a fairly tight table. So, depending no whether you like to play tight or loose, that can be valuable information.
Another figure that should interest you is the average pot size at a table. If players aren’t putting a lot of money in the pots, it may not be worth your time to play. So, you should seek out tables where the average pot size is high.
Aside from lobby stats, you also need to use a little common sense when you choose a table. For instance, be sure that you check how many people are at a given table before you sit. Obviously, the stats will not mean the same thing at a three player table as they would at say an 8 player table.
Another thing you have to think about is time. Don’t think about the time where you are, though. Think about the time it is for the vast majority of the people who play on that website. For instance, if most of the players are on Eastern Time, you are going to see more casual players after six at night Eastern Time. Professional poker players are likely to play during their daylight hours. So, that will determine how many sharks and how many fish you encounter at the tables.
Finally, remember that you can always keep your own stats on individual players. Sometimes the website keeps those stats for you, in fact. So, if you have a player you always lose against, you can be sure not to sit at a table with them. At the same time, if you win a lot against a certain player, you can search for them and sit at their table, making them an easy target.
So, take a little time the next time you choose an online poker table. Read and make note of all the stats that you can. It’s important to take advantage of all the information that you can in the game of poker.