Picking tables and when to leave them

When playing poker online, there are some questions and guidelines you must respectively ask and follow. How long do I stay at a table? When do I leave a game?


Picking a table

• Your choice of table should depend on your own playing style. Do you prefer 6 handed or full ring games?
• I generally pick a table in which most players have the max buy in, this means that when I do make a big hand, I can have a bigger earning potential. Though some people like to pick tables with players buying in minimum purely because they suspect the players are weak. Figure out which is more profitable for you.
• Select tables at the right limits. This depend on your bankroll. Please read post on bankroll management.
• If you play tight you might want to pick a table which is more loose with big pots. If you play loose, you might consider attacking tables that are particularly tight. How do you tell which tables are which?

Tight Aggressive table: These tables generally have big average pots with few players seeing the flop(roughly 20-30%). A loose aggressive player may do well here. He can steal blinds and fold to strong resistence. You will often be able to bluff more dry boards, boards with scare cards, draws etc. However, one draw back is that you may not get action when you hit monster hands.

Loose Aggressive table: These tables have large average pot sizes and more players seeing the flop(roughly45%+). Tight aggressive players can do well here, often getting loose players to hang themselves. These tables are possibly my favourite as I am almost always gauranteed action when I hit my hands.

Tight passive table: These tables have small average pots and few players see the flop.(roughly 20-30%) These players have a very tight selection of hands, it is tough to read how strong their hands are as they rarely raise and just call. You can steal blinds but beware when you are being called down.

Loose passive table: These tables have small average pots but more players see the flop(roughly 45%+). These players rarely raise, they're calling stations, your ability to bluff is dimished significantly. However, you can get players calling you with middle pair or bottom pair, when you have a stronger hand.

When to leave

• Stay at a table as long as you think that it will be profitable, eg. you have the right table image, there are weak players at the table, players are playing too loose or too tight.
• If you have trouble mixing up your game, then staying at a table for long periods of time may give your opponents an easy read on your playing style and betting patterns. If you feel you can hop into a table for 10 mins make a small profit and repeat this over and over, then you can stick to that system only if you feel you can't win as much if you were playing a longer session. Basically do whatever is best for your hourly rate.
• If you feel that once you stay at a table long enough, you can develop a good read on players, then sitting at a table for longer sessions would be more profitable for you provided that you can adjust your play accordingly.
• If you are used to playing full ring games and players start dropping out and you end up playing 6-handed, you may want to sit out and wait for more players to arrive or find another table. That is assuming you are more profitable at a full ring game.
• If you feel that the table is too tough, that your opponents are more skilled than you, you should leave or stay to develop your game. The difference in staying and leaving is that you'll learn how to deal with these players as you play them but you'll lose more in the short term. However by staying and playing with them, you develop a stronger game and profit more in the long run. The only way to improve your game is by playing people better than you. This decision should be based on your bankroll. Can you afford to lose some money to these players?
• If you're feeling sick, sleepy or tired, you shouldn't be playing at all. Poker is a long run endeavour, you can always play later.
• If you just took a bad beat and can't seperate your emotions from your play then you should leave the table. However if you get a bad beat and others suspect you of being on tilt, you can exploit their assumption by playing tight aggressive, overbetting pots when you are ahead etc.
• Generally if I double or triple my buy in, I will leave the table to secure a profit, however, if the game is particularly good and players are extremely weak, I will stay on as long as I feel it is still profitable.
• If I lose half my buy in, I'll either reload or leave. This depends on my table image. If I just lost it on a bluff then I'll leave, because I generally play 6 handed games, bluffing is an important part of my game, so without that edge, I can't play as profitable. However, If my loss was due to a bad beat, I can exploit my bad beat image by reloading and playing more aggressively.
• If you are running bad, and just aren't feeling it, don't force yourself to continue. Never try chase money back, you make more marginal calls and plays which are not +EV.