Anyone who played any online poker beyond the »giving it a try« phase will know that table selection is important. It makes a huge difference to play at the right table and it’s also really easy to table select online, but what about live?
In the live arena there are some restraints, but table selection is still important. Of course your casino or card room first has to have more than one table open or a regular fluctuation of players. So how do you table select live.
Well, if the poker room is open for non-players, just walk in, watch the games a little and see which table has to worst players or a huge fish. Even if your table is fully occupied,you should just put yourself on the wait-list and go play some slots or play some online slots in the meantime.
In the end it will be more profitable to gamble away a few bucks on slot machines, or you can use up an online bonus to play some free slots, while you wait for a good table, than to play at a bad table just because it has a seat open.
Maybe your local casino/card room is small and usually has only one table running. You can still table select in a way. You can always wait on the rail until someone who you wish to play against joins the table. Instead of forcing your self to play while the game is bad, you can get a drink stay on the rail and gather reads on the other players.
So what to look for when selecting a live table?
The number one thing for me would be to find the table with the most drunk people. They are always a big moneymaker for other players at the table. Other than that just look for anyone that leaves a lot of dead-money in the pot and people that loosely spew money. Since live games are slow and the rake is high you really want players that play big pots with bad hands.
And always keep in mind that, if a wait-list is too long, once you get seated you won’t be sitting down at the same table you signed up for.
