Game Selection

What are the factors in choosing which poker game is best for you?

Well, last time, I discussed which game and limit you should be playing. Beyond that, you’ll want to play in the game with the least-skilled players and/or the players who are gambling the most.

Oftentimes, you can tell by the amount of chips on the table if it’s a good game or not. If the chips are flying, players tend to go broke and rebuy, and as a result, a lot of chips accumulate on the table. This can be deceiving, though. Sometimes, tight players buy in for way more chips than they need, trying to either impress people or possibly give the illusion that they have been gambling. (If you are one of these players — get over yourself! No one’s impressed that you bought into a $10-$20 limit game for $10,000.)

Stop and watch a game for a few minutes if you aren’t sure. You want to see a lot of players playing a lot of hands and getting involved in many pots. This is a sign of a good game, regardless of whether it’s limit or no-limit, hold’em or stud, or whatever.

Once you’ve played a few times, you’ll be able to identify the weaker players, and they are your target. Be friendly with them and make sure that they enjoy playing with you. There’s nothing worse than a player who berates bad players, embarrassing them and making them not want to play. Laugh and joke when they put a bad beat on you, and say something like, “You must have watched me play so much that you picked up my bad habits.”

Now that you’ve chosen your game, your next decision is which seat you should take. Seat selection can make a huge difference in the dynamics of the game. I’m not talking about seat 7 or seat 8, although you do want to be comfortable. I’m talking about your position in relation to the other players.

The traditional method is very simple: tight and tough players to your left, and bad/loose players to your right. The theory is that you can three-bet the loose/bad players and force out the tight/solid/good players; for example, the loose player in front of you raises with A-9, you reraise with A-10, and the solid player behind you folds A-J. You forced out the best hand and isolated the loose goose.

There is a lot of merit to this method, but like any other strategy, once it becomes known, a counterstrategy evolves. When I see that a player is isolating on a loose goose, I will stop giving his reraise credit, and sometimes will use it against him. Not only will I no longer throw away the A-J, I’ll start four-betting with lesser hands that I believe have the opener beat, but not necessarily the three-bettor beat; for example, the loose goose raises with A-9, the isolator reraises with A-J, and I reraise with A-10. Now, the three-bettor will be terrified of his hand after I show so much strength, and unless he really connects with the flop and fourth street, he will probably leave me alone with the loose goose.

I’m not totally discounting this strategy, but just letting you know that the proverbial cat is pretty much out of the bag. Instead of sitting right on the loose goose’s left, I prefer to have a few seats in between us, especially if he has any speed to him at all (that is, he likes to bet and raise a lot). This way, I can build a big pot by catching other players in the crossfire when I have either the goods or some kind of big draw.

How many times have you gotten sucked into a pot by thinking, “I’ll call just this one bet and see if I can get lucky on the turn,” only to have it raised or reraised? That’s what I’m looking to do to the guys in between the loose goose and me.

In regard to the other half of that theory, about having the solid/rock/good player to your immediate left, I’m not too crazy about that, either. True, you can shut him out of many pots with your reraise, but how do you like it when you raise with a mediocre hand and he reraises you? I don’t like to give him this option, so I don’t often sit to his immediate right if I can help it.

I’m happy to let him be on the loose goose’s immediate left, and then sit a few seats to the left of him. Now, I can reraise him when I see him trying to isolate, as I discussed earlier, or just stay out of his way when he raises and I have a mediocre hand. Either way, I’m the one who gets to choose when we play a pot together, not him. And that’s the way I like it. ♠

Todd Brunson has been a professional poker player for more than 20 years. While primarily a cash-game player, he still has managed to win 18 major tournaments, for more than $3.5 million. He has won one bracelet and cashed 25 times at the World Series of Poker. You can play with Todd online at DoylesRoom.com or live at his tournament, The Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge, in Bigfork, Montana. Check his website, ToddBrunson.com, for details.