So we’ve determined that table selection is key to a successful strategy. We’ve said that were looking for loose players so we’re trying to find those nice high %player seeing the flop tables right? Right! We’re also looking for a good pot size, like maybe 10-30x the BB.

But am I the only one who has noticed this phenomenon?
You login to your favorite site, filter for your favorite game and then sort with the highest Players Per Flop % and start hunting down the list for a nice fishing pond.

When all of a sudden you see these tables at the $25NL

Table Name %Plyrs Per Flop Avg Pot$ Wait List
Guppy’s 65% $3.50 17
Minnow’s 60% $3.25 12
Blue Gill 38% $2.75 7
Shark Tank 8% $.65 0


Thus my hypotheses is, had you logged in just an hour before, this list would have looked a bit like this:

Table Name %Plyrs Per Flop Avg Pot$ Wait List
Shark Tank 88% $5.00 20
Guppy’s 75% $3.50 10
Minnow’s 70% $3.25 9
Blue Gill 38% $2.75 7

What happens is, all the players looking for the fishing pond all show up and either clean out the whole or scare the fish away.

Take the Blue Gill table that is currently at 68% with a Avg pot of $2.75, this is, currently, a great game! But if you look you’ll see that one hour later the Blue Gill table has dropped from 68% to 38% and further if you pay attention to the Blue Gill table you’ll likely find that in less then 2 hours it will be below 15% and often as low as 8% or 9%.

The reason should be clear. The fish have all left and this is now a full table of sharks! Who do you think those 17 players on the list are?

My strategy ( which for now seems to be working OK ) is to find tables around 20% Players Pre Flop and about 5x to 10x the BB. These games seem to hold around that 20% just a bit better and even can go up when the “school” starts to expand either through attrition or another “avg” player get’s tired of the beats and leaves making room for more fish.

So, am I the only one who’s seen this?