Game selection

Game selection was never too high on my priority list. I mean I've heard others preach it but I just wanted to sit at an open seat... as long as I didn't have like a known aggro or a known super solid player to my left, I was ok with that. So, I never really got into visiting sites like tableratings.com that would have information on which tables are the most lucrative, etc... plus those always seem to have a huge waiting list like 5 or 6 deep... in a 6 max game... I mean by the time I would get there, it would be filled with sharks who wanted to play in the "juicy" game.

However, recently, with my woes in 6 max, I did take a step back and gave the game some thought. And you know what? The games are actually pretty freakin tough, I think. I mean it's either the games have gotten tougher or I just regressed... or a combination of the two. But in all honesty, I do believe that the games have gotten tougher. Now don't get me wrong. There are still tons of donkeys out there. But in a normal 6 max game, I would have 4 tables open and 4 or 5 of them at each table are regulars... that's generally not a formula for a lucrative night.

When I first converted to 6 max, the thought was that 6 max would be more profitable since you would be forced to play more hands and so if you can make better decisions, it would lead to more profit. The thing is, with the 6 max tables (at least at 2-4NL and above), the games are so much more aggressive and a lot of players are willing to get it all in preflop that I'm not sure too many of us would have as significant an edge as we used to. The thought is this. If I thought 6 max could be more profitable, and hence I make the move there, so would a lot of others who were doing well in full ring matches right? I mean guys who make money want to go some place where they can make even more money. So, it brings over all these guys that already made money, who are willing to work on their game, who dedicate the time to study and next thing you know, you're just passing cash around from one player to another, just to be redistributed the next night.

As I mentioned before, I felt like I was running bad and playing bad. So, I decided to go back to my bread and butter which was the full ring game and I noticed one significant difference. The game is so much slower and more passive. Maybe during my foray in 6 max, I've gotten aggressive. That's probably some of it but the amount of limping in these games were unbelievable. And then I thought to myself, you know what? Since 6 max has gotten so aggressive, any new player who wants to just "try" NLHE is probably back playing 9 handed where it's rare that they would get 3 or 4 bet (as opposed to 6 max which is like pretty much the norm).

So, game selection may not be something I would seriously do yet but I do know now that I would be looking at 9 handed games first and then a few 6 max tables where there might not be as many regulars... no point in being in tougher games when there are plenty of sheep waiting to be skinned.