One of the biggest, and most important, decisions players have to make is what table to sit down at. A lot of players do this without looking at anything more than the number of empty seats at the table to see where they can sit down and play. Yet, this could be the most profitable (or costly) decision you make all night.
Next time you are in the lobby of your poker room, take a few seconds to analyse the table(s) you are thinking about playing on. Of course, you want to play at a table with stakes that suit you, but beyond that, there are two key pieces of information that are provided by most poker rooms (right next to the number of players on the table), which a lot of players simply ignore: pot size and pre-flop stats.
Pot size is expressed as the average size pot at the table in $ (or € or £). You can argue with the methodology used to calculate this figure (since most poker rooms tend to inflate the value… they are slow to drop it if play tightens up, but quick to raise it as soon as there are a couple of big flops) but it’s still a good indication of how much action you can expect at the table. Quite simply, you always want to play at tables with the highest pot sizes. It means more action, which means more VIP points generated, which means you will earn your bonus faster, get paid off more often and make more profit faster.
Pre-flop stats are expressed as a percentage. It measures the number of players on average who see the flop. So, if you are looking at a 10-seater cash game, and the pre-flop stats are 32%, it means that (on average) a little more than 3 players are going to the flop, whether or not it is raised, including the big and small blinds. You need to remember that a pre-flop raise that gets folded around counts as a “0”, so figures higher than 30% are rare, especially with higher stakes blinds, which tend to get raised more often. All things being equal, you want to play at tables where the Flop percentage is highest, because it means more players are contributing money to hands more regularly, which is an indication of looser opponents (relative to the other tables). So, if two tables have the same Pot Size, pick the one with the highest flop percentage because you’ll get the same value pots but likely face less aggressive play.
Of course, number one in your strategy arsenal is to make sure you are always working on a poker bonus. Be sure to check out all of our offers, we have over 40 to choose from.