One of the things that I’ve been noticing more and more lately is how important it is to be at the right table, and to recognize when a table has gone “bad.” I believe I’ve lost more than I needed to when players have changed at a table and I’ve stubbornly tried to stick it out, instead of changing, or just getting up and leaving.
Last Friday night I got into what often is a profitable situation: starting a new table. But I quickly realized that wasn’t going to be the case. First, I was card dead out of the gate. Second, there were a couple of players who had no clue how to respect the game, the table, or the other players, making the experience an overall unpleasant one.
But being a Friday night, there were 4 other $6/$12 tables to choose one, and I spotted a gem, with several players I knew tended to play loose, passive, and predictable. I put in for a table change for that specific table.
One drawback to asking for a specific table is that it may be a loooong time before a seat comes open. this was the case here. I basically hunkered down and waited, in this case for close to an hour.
But I got a great seat, to the left of most of the people I knew, and right next to someone who commonly called most anything preflop is she had face cards, suited cards, or connectors, and would muck post-flop if she missed, but stay in and call on any sort of draw, even a backdoor draw, and who would bet out if she made a hand.
This was the type of game I like: congenial and passive. Preflop raises were rare, and most of the players led out after the flop only if they had made anything.
This is also the type of game perfect for patient players. You can wait for decent hands, push small edges, and get paid off. And that’s exactly what happened.
Interestingly, we were joined, for a brief time, by a “young gun” type who plays the limit game like a no-limit final table. He tried to bully people around, but most of the players quickly picked up that he often tried to push with nothing. He lasted less than an hour, and as I said when he got up and walked away, it wasn’t a matter of “whether,” but of “when.”
After I’d already made a nice profit, two of the older players started talking about leaving, and so that was the time that I began to consider it too. I knew that if they left, the tone of the table would likely change dramatically. What I didn’t know is that it would change sooner than that.
A new player arrived in seat 3 (I was in seat 9), another “young gun” type with the designer dark shades. The blinds were already coming around, so I was thginking of getting up when they came to me, and I found a pair of 8s in my hand. I limped as did several others, including the new player.
The flop came 10-high rainbow and it was checked around. the turn brought another low card, and I decided to bet out, figuring that someone at this table would have bet a 10 if they had one. the new player raised, which immediately raised my own suspicions.
I had a strong, strong feeling that this guy saw the table as a bunch of marks and was trying to come in and be a bully. Everyone else folded, but I decided to call. A jack hit on the river and I check-called.
Incredibly–or maybe not so incredibly, considering this particular type of player–he tried to slow roll as he said “you win.” I’m sure he figured he could angle shoot seeing my cards for free, but his was the called bet, and I waited for him to show that he’d tried to raise on flopping bottom pair and an undercard. My eights took down a decent pot, and when the blinds hit, I got up and walked away, knowing too that I really didn’t want to try and fight that type of player.
It is this type of decision, not one during a hand, that can turn into higher long-term profit.