Choosing a Table When Playing Texas Holdem

The game of online poker, in particular Texas Holdem Poker, has enjoyed fantastic growth in the last decade. Since the first poker site went online in 1995, many others have joined the party, and the choices open to the fledgling player can now seem daunting. Many players are tempted to choose the poker site by the amount of the sign up bonus. This is a very short sighted way of looking at the problem, and will often be counterproductive.

If a poker room is offering bigger bonuses, the money must be paid from somewhere. That somewhere is probably going to be in the form of a bigger 'rake' from the pot.

Some new players do now take due care and attention in picking their poker site. What is not so well known or well understood is how important it is to choose the right table before you sit down to play.

This forms a vital part of Texas Holdem Poker strategy. One thing every newcomer should etch firmly into their mind is to pick one game and stick to it. Do not go leaping in to an unfamiliar game, just because there are apparently weak players there. If you are unfamiliar with the game, you will be just as weak as they are.

Assuming that you have chosen Texas Holdem Poker, and within that chosen to move up from the free games as soon as you know the rules and the betting round structures of the individual poker site's games, you now have to select a table where players are playing the game you want to play. Choosing one of the very popular poker sites gives you an advantage here, because you will have a far greater choice of games to play.


One consideration to look out for as you gain more experience is simply to look for players that you know are weak.

Obviously this needs experience first. The one important consideration that you should always be aware of, and which is equally valuable for the starter as the experienced player, is found in the table statistics at the front of the site.

The number to zone in on is the “Average Players Per Flop”. Obviously the table with the highest number of players going through to the flop of the cards is the one that is playing the loosest.

These statistics are not absolute, of course. Firstly, you don't know over what time period they have been formulated. You don't know which players have left or joined the game in the minutes before you entered the site. You don't even know whether there has been a statistically rare proportion of good hands dealt during the recent hands at that table. Nevertheless, over a period of time, these statistics will even out, and by always selecting the table with the highest percentage of players going through to the flop, you will be vastly increasing your chance of long term profits.

You can be sure there will be many players who will totally ignore this consideration so its up to you when choosing a table to take this into account so you can capitalise on it.