Easy to follow tips

Get great hints on table selection. Use it to your advantage to begin increasing your chances of winning by watching out for the things other players are missing!

Plenty of people now study the rules to getting ahead when playing on-line, but lots of players fail to recognise whether or not a game is actually worth playing. By following a few simple tips, you can give yourself the edge when it comes to winning:

- Sort the tables by viewed flop-percentage & hands per hour
- Spot your fish
- Colour-code the players
- Start your own table

Let's start with viewed-flop percentage. Start by looking at the lobby and sort the tables by flop percentage. Generally, the higher the percentage the better the table. But be warned – some tables may have a misleadingly high viewed-flop percentage as they've recently been playing shorthanded. A good way of establishing if a table has been playing short handed is to observe the hands per hour. As a general rule, the more hands per hour, the more likely it is that the table has only just filled up.

Still in the lobby, try to pinpoint players that aren't playing with a full stack – these are quite often fish. Essentially, a fish is just there to play and doesn't have the edge the regulars do. Although there are some regulars that will play with a short stack, by the main most serious players will have their auto top-up on, so that they are maximising their winning options by having their full stack available.

Once you've recognised your fish, keep tabs on them. On most sites there is the option to colour code your opponents, allowing you to identify them the next time you enter the lobby. Use this option to take note of the regulars too – the good, the bad and the short stackers.

As obvious as it sounds, one of the best ways to get a good table is to either start your own. The short stacked fish tend to follow rather quickly and a game weighted in your favour will start. Alternatively you could sit with another regular on their own and wait for the fish. It is unlikely that another regular will join if they are following the rules of table selection!

The final rule to table selection is to leave when the table gets bad – if the fish leaves and you're sat at a table full of regulars, its best to move on. By continuously re-evaluating the tables you can minimise your losses.