How to avoid getting in over your head by selecting tables randomly.
Click your way through any online poker software, such as PokerRoom, and you realize two things very quickly:
- There are a LOT of players
- There are a LOT of games and levels available
New players make the critical mistake of thinking that these options are simply to accommodate the range of risk that various players may be looking for. WRONG.
In fact, one of the reasons that many untrained players continuously lose and are forced to replenish their bankroll sooner than otherwise necessary is that they make the choice to play in a given game based irrational factors.
Let’s look at a typical player’s mentality:
Bob is in his mid-thirties and has heard about online poker and Texas Holdem from his friends and by watching tournaments on TV. He makes a decent living, enough to support his family and still have enough left to have fun. Deciding that he’d like to give this popular new game a try, Bob decides to put $100 into play.
For those of you thinking that you would never wager this amount of money, remember that you may not have the same level of disposable income nor risk profile. However, Bob is not very much different from you in terms of skill if you are a poker novice.
Continuing on with the scenario, Bob makes his deposit and then sees which games are available. Should he play in a tournament or ring game? Limit, pot-limit, or no-limit? How many players? At what level should he play? Since Bob, like most typical players new to the game, does not know what types of players he will face in any given game. So he says “I’ll just play at the $1 NL table.”
He proceeds to the table with his $100, a limited understanding of the game and an even more limited knowledge of the strategies and player profiles he will be up against. He proceeds to lose his entire $100 stack within a just couple of hours.
Bob writes the loss off to bad luck and will perhaps come back later to make the same mistake. So what happened? Bob made four very common errors and probably will repeat them in the future (unless he reads this article of course). Here they are:
- Expectation of a concluding result: Bob went in with the mentality that he would either win a lot of money with his $100 or lose what he put in. This is NOT a horse race – if you play poker consistently you will realize that there are many times when you will not move up or down drastically.
- Betting it all: Bob didn’t realize that by taking his full $100 to the table, he was essentially saying that he was willing to lose it all during the one session. Due to the ups and downs of the game, you should have a reserve at least large enough to get you through those down days (they happen no matter how good you are).
- Random table selection: No criteria was used to determine which table to play at other than a feeling that he was willing to wager a certain amount while he played.
- No observation: Bob dove headfirst against a collection of players without having a sense of their playing styles. Before joining a game, it is always a good idea to sit out for a round or two and identify aggressive, tight, and loose players.
Take into consideration that none of these factors are likely to change the next time Bob decides to play again. Why? Because most players are lured by big wins, and therefore fit into the “gambler” profile. Very few think about factors affecting their success, and even fewer are able to suppress their joy or anger when various events take place.
How Can I Avoid Being Like Bob?
With this scenario in mind, the obvious question is “how can I avoid being like Bob”? The following steps are a great start to ensuring that the tables you choose will yield a positive outcome most of the time.
- Bankroll over an extended period: Players with the most long term success accept that there will be ups and downs. By making a larger deposit and being disciplined in how long that money should last (ie. two months), you are committing to serious play and lowering the likelihood of becoming emotional over a losing session.
- Play without expectation: Our result-oriented society has driven many players to thinking that something significant must occur by the end of a session for the time spent to be worthwhile. Not true. On a day you break even, don’t push the issue.
- Watch your table amount: Taking everything you’ve deposited to a single game can be dangerous. You also don’t want to have too little so that you can’t maximize the return on a premium hand. If you can’t keep up with the pace of betting at a table while playing 20% of your bankroll, you’re at the wrong table.
- Use the blind rule: When you go to a table with a big blind of X, you should start out with at least 50X (some even suggest 100X). This ensures that you can play patiently and selectively without the fear of losing what you brought simply by losing a couple of heavily-bet hands.
- Watch the competition: Don’t play a single hand until you have a good grasp on the playing styles of the competition. Who bets very aggressively? Who bluffs often? Who plays hands selectively? Knowing this in advance gives you an advantage.
- Avoid maniacs: These are players who will often upset the balance of the table by betting on everything once they are in a hand. Their tactics are meant to entice players into betting matches and/or scare them off pots they should have won. You can usually spot a maniac-infested table by checking the average pot size in the lobby of the poker room.
The rules above tend to calm the stormy seas of online poker significantly. Keep in mind that you are not committed to playing at a table once you have selected it. There are constantly a flow of players coming and going, and the dynamics of the table you selected an hour ago may have changed significantly. It is worth looking at all of the factors every few rounds to ensure that you are still in a favorable situation.
Final Words on Choosing an Appropriate Table
By playing using the guidelines above, you will notice much more stability and less volatility in your results. You will also notice that you will be restricted from moving up to the next level too quickly and risking all your hard work
