Picking the Right Ring Game

One thing that really amazes me about many poker players is that they blindly pick cash games to play in without putting any thought into the process.  In fact, some people don’t even consider that there’s a process to picking the right game for their playing style.

But veteran players know that some thought definitely needs to be put into picking the right ring games.  I always use 4 different criteria when selecting the cash games I play with the first thing being the limit I’m comfortable with.  After playing poker for a few years now, I’ve found that the limit I’m most comfortable with is $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em.  And since I have never really tried to be some big-time pro, that limit has worked for what I do.

Another thing I like to look at when deciding what ring game I’ll play in is the percentage of players seeing the flop as well as the average pot size.  These two stats are easy to see since they’re right next to each table, but many players still ignore the numbers.  They are very important though and should definitely be taken into account when choosing ring games because avg. pot size and players seeing the flop show if a table is loose or tight.  And depending on what type of player you are, you’ll want to pick the table that suits you.

One last thing I check into when choosing the table I want to play at is the people I’m playing with.  On loose tables, players are going to make huge raises and go all-in which can make some people – including myself – uncomfortable.  I normally like to play against tighter players since the pots are smaller and the action moves a little slower, but some people hate this because they want to make lots of money.  But no matter what your preference is, the key thing to remember is that some thought needs to be put into picking ring games.