Cash Game (Full Ring) Guide Part 2 – Choosing Tables

Part 2 – Table selection

Table selection is a determining factor for any cash game player's winrate. The most desirable tables are those with the most donkeys, of course. Let's assume that table A has a mega donkey 70/4 and table B has three donkeys all playing around 30/4. Although table A is very tempting, it's worth remembering that a fullring table usually has nine (or ten) seats and the donkey money tends to be shared with the other players who will also be eyeing it. On table B, with more donkeys, the chances of making a profit will be greater, simply because there will be more sources available and more money (there are 3 stacks).

There are three main variables when doing table selection:

• Players per flop;
• Average Pot;
• Average Hands/Hour;

The simplest way to do table selection, and find the tables with the most donkeys, is to first look for the tables that have the most players seeing the flop. The second variable to take into consideration is the size of the pot, the bigger the better. And lastly, the number of hands per hour.

The goal is to find tables with players per flop higher than 30%, preferably where the majority of players have pls low, that is, many limpers. The average pot is also important, because the higher it is, the greater the chances of having a donkey donating money. Be careful, sometimes this stat can be high because 2 nits faced each other in spots like set x overpair, set x set and there is not necessarily someone donating money.

Preferably, look for tables with an average number of hands per hour. If the table has a lot of hands per hour, above the average of other tables with the same limit, it means that many hands are decided pre-flop or at most on the flop. At this type of table, the average pot is usually not high, as the hands are decided quickly.

A very low number of hands played usually means that most of the hands are decided at showdown, which is also not ideal. Since most of the flops don't hit, most players find it unpleasant to play at a table where many hands go to showdown. The goal is to get paid when you have the monsters, but also to have the possibility of bluffing mainly using the cbet.

Once you find the good tables, the ideal, though not always possible, is to sit to the left of the donkeys, to be in position on them in most hands. And to the right of the nits, to exploit their tight range by abusing blind stealing.

When playing multi-tabling, it is important to frequently check whether the reason for being at that table is still there. With auto-post turned on, it is common for the donkey to leave the table and without realizing it, we remain 2, 3 orbits at a bad table.

In this series, we present a practical guide for new cash game players. It was written by our forum member Sarsante.

Part 1 – Introduction | Part 2 – Choosing tables | Part 3 – Hand Chart | Part 4 – Pot Odds and Draws