Hey everybody, today we’re going to talk about what you should look for first when you sit down at a low-stakes cash game. These rapid-fire tips can help you quickly figure out whether you’ve found a profitable table or whether you should start looking for a better one.
1. What are people drinking?
One of the first things I look at is what everybody is drinking. If you see a bunch of players drinking alcohol or soda, that can be a good sign because those are often people who are there to relax, have a good time, and enjoy themselves.
If everybody is drinking coffee, Red Bull, or water, that can sometimes be a less encouraging sign. Obviously, you can’t judge somebody’s entire poker ability based on their drink, but a table full of people who look like they’re settling in for a serious session can be very different from a table full of vacationers having a few drinks.
2. How much limping is there?
Casual players love seeing flops, and many of them believe the cheapest way to do that is to limp into pots. They often haven’t spent much time studying why aggressive poker tends to be more profitable than constantly entering pots passively.
If you sit down and immediately see several people limping into nearly every pot, that’s usually an encouraging sign. Lots of limping often means lots of multiway pots, weaker ranges, and players who simply want to see what happens after the flop.
Those are usually the kinds of games I want to be playing.
3. Are there lots of raises and reraises?
On the other hand, aggressive poker is generally a sign that people have spent some time thinking about the game. If you constantly see raises, three-bets, and reraises that result in heads-up pots, you may be looking at a much tougher table.
That doesn’t automatically mean every player is good. However, if everyone seems comfortable applying pressure preflop and fighting aggressively for pots, there are probably easier games available somewhere else.
At low stakes, you usually don’t get paid extra for choosing the hardest table in the room. If another table has more passive players and more multiway action, I’d rather be over there.
4. How many streets are people betting?
Pay attention to what happens after someone takes the betting lead. Do they make a small continuation bet on the flop, size up significantly on the turn, and then regularly follow through with another bet on the river?
That can be a sign that you’re dealing with players who understand how to construct bets across multiple streets. Players who are comfortable using different bet sizes and applying pressure through the river may be more experienced than the average low-stakes player.
Again, there are exceptions. But if half the table seems comfortable running sophisticated three-street lines, that probably isn’t the softest game available.
5. Do people look confused in multiway pots?
One of my favorite things to see is a multiway pot where nobody seems completely sure what to do. Someone makes a small bet, several players look confused, and then three people call anyway.
That is usually a much better sign than seeing clean, aggressive heads-up poker.
You want opponents who are entering too many multiway pots and then calling down with mediocre pairs because they don’t really know where they stand. Confusion combined with excessive calling creates a lot of opportunities for a disciplined player to make money.
6. Is there a lot of conversation?
A table with plenty of conversation is usually more appealing to me than one where everybody is staring silently at the felt. If people are talking about football, casino promotions, sports betting, vacations, restaurants, or whatever else is going on, there’s a decent chance they’re there primarily to have fun.
That doesn’t mean somebody who likes to talk can’t be an excellent player. But a social, relaxed table often contains more recreational players than a table where everyone is wearing headphones and studying every decision.
Poker is entertainment for a lot of people. When the table feels like a social event, that is frequently a good thing for the game.
7. Is the table extremely quiet?
A very quiet table can be a warning sign. Silence often means people are concentrating, paying attention, and treating the session like work rather than entertainment.
There are obviously quiet recreational players and talkative professionals, so this isn’t a perfect indicator. Still, if the entire table looks intensely focused and nobody seems interested in doing anything except playing cards, I start wondering whether there might be a softer game somewhere else.
You want opponents who are comfortable and having fun. You generally don’t want eight people who all look like they showed up for a shift at the office.
8. Do people seem happy or frustrated?
The general mood of the table matters as well. A lot of recreational gamblers are happy to be away from work, throw some chips around, play cards, and see a few flops.
Players who are trying very hard to make money from poker can sometimes become frustrated when the game doesn’t immediately go their way. They expected to win, and 45 minutes later they’re angry because poker hasn’t cooperated with their plans.
You need to pay attention to what that frustration actually causes them to do.
If somebody is angry but continues folding everything, you may simply be dealing with a frustrated nit who isn’t going to give you much action. There isn’t necessarily much money to be made from somebody who is irritated but still disciplined enough to sit there waiting for the nuts.
If somebody becomes frustrated and suddenly starts playing every other hand, that’s a completely different situation. That player may be getting impatient, forcing the action, and becoming increasingly willing to put their stack into the middle with marginal hands.
That’s somebody I’m much more interested in playing against.
9. Is someone lecturing the entire table?
Watch out for the player who spends the entire session explaining poker to everybody else. If someone is constantly telling other players what they should have done, criticizing their decisions, or explaining why they played a hand badly, that person may be destroying the game.
Recreational players usually don’t go to a casino because they want somebody grading their homework. They came to have fun, and being publicly criticized every time they make a mistake is a great way to make them leave.
By the time you sit down, that player may have already chased away some of the people you would most like to play against. Even worse, they may continue driving away any new recreational players who join the table.
If the atmosphere is bad because somebody won’t stop lecturing everyone, consider asking for a table change. Sometimes the best poker decision you can make has nothing to do with the cards.
10. How deep are the stacks?
Finally, look at how many chips are actually on the table. If several stacks are significantly larger than the maximum buy-in, that often tells you there has been plenty of action and chips have been moving around.
That’s generally what you want to see.
A table where multiple players have accumulated large stacks may have already produced several big pots. More importantly, those chips are still sitting there waiting to potentially move again.
Compare that to a table where everyone is nursing a short stack and folding constantly. Even if you’re the best player at that table, there simply may not be enough money in play to make the game particularly attractive.
Deep stacks don’t automatically mean a good game, but deep stacks combined with loose players, limping, multiway pots, and plenty of action are exactly the kinds of conditions I’m looking for.
Put yourself in better games
Game selection is one of the easiest parts of poker to underestimate. You can play great poker and still make life unnecessarily difficult if you consistently choose tables filled with serious, aggressive players instead of looking for softer situations.
I recently took a friend to play cards and chose a smaller casino because I immediately noticed several of the signs I’ve talked about here. The game looked social, there was plenty of action, and we ended up having a great time while he also made some good money.
Later, we went to a much more prestigious casino. The property was nicer, but the poker action simply wasn’t as good.
We played there for a couple of hours because we didn’t have many other options at the time, but it wasn’t nearly as profitable. That experience was another reminder that the fanciest poker room isn’t necessarily the one containing the best game.
The next time you sit down at a low-stakes cash table, spend your first few minutes looking beyond your cards. Watch the drinks, the limping, the aggression, the conversation, the mood, and the stack sizes, because those details can tell you a tremendous amount about the game you just joined.
Put yourself in profitable situations whenever you can. Wishing you the best of luck on the felt.
Alex Fitzgerald is a best-selling author published by D&B Poker. Check out Alex’s most recent book, ‘How to Beat Players Who Never Fold.’
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