Arguably one of the most popular casino games of all time, poker remains loved by gamblers from all walks of life and across generations. In fact, its acclaim has only grown since the introduction of online poker, giving younger players a chance to see what all the hype is about.

While the poker table may inspire many with the promise of riches, it can be heartbreaking to find yourself on the losing end. That’s why poker table dynamics are so important — they can literally make the difference between enjoying a winning streak and exhausting your bankroll. It’s essential to understand your opponents, develop an effective poker position strategy, and choose a table accordingly. It’s all about setting yourself up for the best possible chance to win.

How To Choose the Most Profitable Poker Table

The dynamics when you play poker online are very different from when you play live. Nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to choosing a table to play at. In person, you can take time to read the room and assess your potential opponents, whereas online, you’re only privy to usernames. 

While there may be some exceptions, it’s often better to choose a table with bad players or beginners — especially if you’re an experienced poker player. This immediately gives you the upper hand and increases your chances of winning.

While it may be tempting to go for the table with the deepest stack, that may not always be the best way to approach the question. A deep-stacked table with players who are at your level or better may put you at a disadvantage, whereas a short-stacked table with bad players may prove more rewarding.

A more in-depth approach to poker table selection entails gauging the combined win rates of the people at each table and averaging them. At online poker tournaments, the table selection tools made available by the online casino may also prove quite useful because they give you information about player statistics.

What You Need To Look Out For

Given that table selection can make or break your game, you should lean towards a table with the worst average win rate across players. Here are other key considerations to keep in mind.

Players

At an online poker tournament, the tools at your disposal can offer you more information about the players at each table. In person, you have to use your discretion or your knowledge of the players’ history to guide your decision-making.

Hands per Hour

High-speed poker isn’t for everyone, and if you prefer a more slow-paced game that really allows you to fully immerse yourself in gameplay, then determining the rate of hands played per hour should be a priority. A high number of hands per hour suggests a fast-paced game, while fewer hands are confirmation that it’s a relatively slower game.

Stakes

Depending on your poker bankroll, you need to decide on the stakes and level of risk that you’re willing to wager on.

Table Size

Generally, a larger number of players at a table suggests more conservative play, while fewer players indicates that aggressive play is the order of the day.

Understanding that there’s still a high level of uncertainty associated with poker in both live and online casino games in general, you need to be adaptable and open to changes and balancing range where necessary. Bear in mind that while these guidelines may help you choose the right table, they don’t necessarily guarantee a win.

Methods To Assess Whether a Table Is Good

A big plus of online poker is that you can find table statistics on every table in the lobby. These can help you determine whether a table has the stakes, number of players, and hands per hour to suit your style. More importantly, the Players per Flop column tells you how many players at a table are seeing the flop. The higher this number is, the more people at the table are chasing bad cards. These loose players are typically either maniacs or fish. Tables with a Players per Flop figure of 20% or more are the right tables to go fishing, with 30% being ideal poker fishing conditions.

Adjusting Your Strategy to Table Dynamics

It’s impossible to overstress the importance of position in poker. Every game is different, and you need to be able to deal with the dynamics that different players bring with them. This means having the flexibility to adjust your style when necessary. If you’ve got yourself a table with plenty of fish, that’s great, but what if there’s also a maniac among them? 

Known for their loose play and extreme aggression, maniacs can punish you if they get lucky, so be sure to tighten up when they have position on you. When you have position on them, you can exploit them. The same goes for non-maniac loose-aggressive poker players (LAGs) and tight aggressive players (TAGs). Both are more likely to fold when they’re out of position and confronted with aggressive poker play. This gives you more opportunity to engage with any card-chasing fish still in the game.

Taking Advantage of Table Position

The biggest earners on the poker circuit tend to be LAGs, but you can’t be a LAG before learning how to play tight-aggressive poker – and becoming a TAG means understanding exactly how to take advantage of the various poker table positions. The different poker positions include Early Position (small blind, big blind, and Under the Gun,) Middle Position (Lojack, Hijack,) and Late Position (Cutoff, Button.) Here are some tips for ABC play:

Early Position: You have less information to act on, so play tight and stick to strong hands like premium pairs and high suited connectors while avoiding bluffing.

Middle Position: You have more information than Early Position players, so open up your range slightly with medium pairs and medium suited connectors. Be sure to observe what earlier players are doing.

Late Position: You have the most information about your opponents’ actions, so you can widen your range, steal the blinds, bluff, and play aggressively to put your opponents under maximum pressure.

Navigating Aggressive Tables Successfully

A table with plenty of fish is the most comfortable, but it’s always good to test your skills against more aggressive players. The only way to go in a situation like that is use an aggressive poker strategy yourself – as aggressive as your skill, experience, and bankroll permit. The safest option is to play tight, aggressive, ABC poker. That way, you don’t chase cards or waste money on speculative bets. 

Instead, you crush your opponents when you have the nuts in a poker game. The only problem is that skilled LAGs may be able to read when you are strong-handed, and will fold in time. If that doesn’t sound good, then you’ll want to take the plunge and start changing up your patterns with more loose-aggressive play. Get started by reading the BetMGM blog on TAG vs LAG poker strategies.

Play Poker Online at BetMGM

Exploiting poker table dynamics is a great way to stay profitable when you play poker with real money. To help stretch that bankroll further, players who sign up at BetMGM can enjoy a generous online poker welcome bonus.