Many poker players, especially those playing online, ignore the importance of seat selection in regards to winning poker strategy. Picking the right seat at the poker table can be the difference between a winning session and a losing one. Instead of choosing an available seat based on superstition or based out of convenience as that is currently the only seat available at the table, follow these common rules to improve your winning percentage.
The first thing to look at is where are the loose players positioned at the table. If the majority of them are on one side of the table you want to position them to your right. Why do you want loose players to your right? They'll have to act before you do. This leaves you with a few different opportunities in terms of winning additional pots. When you want to raise, you'll already have additional players in the pot, meaning if no one calls your raise you'll win more chips than you would have if you had tight players on your right. You'll also be able to act after these loose players on each round of betting, meaning you can dump a hand if your chance at winning is low or you can bump up pots where your winning percentage is increased.
Having loose players on your right also gives you better pot odds when it comes to chasing after straights or flushes. If three players on your right have already called and you're holding seven eight suited, the potential payout of the hand is much higher than if you were playing in a pot against one or two opponents.
You'll also want players with more chips on your right as well. They'll be forced to act before you, giving you some opportunities to re-raise pots, fold losing hands, and even chase when profitable. The chips at the table circle around to the left for the most part, as the player who acts last always holds the advantage over the rest of the table. When players have to act before you, you receive much more information on their current hand strength.
You'll want tight players immediately to your left as they'll be acting after you. When you have a tight player on your left you can almost pretend that they don't even exist. Tight players tend to play a maximum of 2 out of every 10 hands, which gives you opportunities to raise and steal blinds, possibly even from middle position. If your tight opponent does come out with a raise, you can fold the hand and move on to the next one, as there will be many more winning hands for you to play against your loose opponents.
You really don't want to be raising every other pot, however. If you do this you simply increase the likelihood of your opponents calling each and every raise you make. While this may be useful to disguise hand strength, it can also make playing large pocket pairs more difficult as you run the risk of being beaten out by two pair, trips, flushes and straights. Raise when your cards warrant a raise, and raise occasionally just to throw your opponents off, but don't go overboard with it.
The first thing to look at is where are the loose players positioned at the table. If the majority of them are on one side of the table you want to position them to your right. Why do you want loose players to your right? They'll have to act before you do. This leaves you with a few different opportunities in terms of winning additional pots. When you want to raise, you'll already have additional players in the pot, meaning if no one calls your raise you'll win more chips than you would have if you had tight players on your right. You'll also be able to act after these loose players on each round of betting, meaning you can dump a hand if your chance at winning is low or you can bump up pots where your winning percentage is increased.
Having loose players on your right also gives you better pot odds when it comes to chasing after straights or flushes. If three players on your right have already called and you're holding seven eight suited, the potential payout of the hand is much higher than if you were playing in a pot against one or two opponents.
You'll also want players with more chips on your right as well. They'll be forced to act before you, giving you some opportunities to re-raise pots, fold losing hands, and even chase when profitable. The chips at the table circle around to the left for the most part, as the player who acts last always holds the advantage over the rest of the table. When players have to act before you, you receive much more information on their current hand strength.
You'll want tight players immediately to your left as they'll be acting after you. When you have a tight player on your left you can almost pretend that they don't even exist. Tight players tend to play a maximum of 2 out of every 10 hands, which gives you opportunities to raise and steal blinds, possibly even from middle position. If your tight opponent does come out with a raise, you can fold the hand and move on to the next one, as there will be many more winning hands for you to play against your loose opponents.
You really don't want to be raising every other pot, however. If you do this you simply increase the likelihood of your opponents calling each and every raise you make. While this may be useful to disguise hand strength, it can also make playing large pocket pairs more difficult as you run the risk of being beaten out by two pair, trips, flushes and straights. Raise when your cards warrant a raise, and raise occasionally just to throw your opponents off, but don't go overboard with it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment