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Is there some general rule of thumb you guys follow when deciding?
Example: sat at 1/2 NL game yesterday. Everyone but one player had max buy-in-sized stack (100 to 200 BB) except one player who had 600 BB. Table had only been open for about an hour.
Seated to right of big stack. He was on a roll, catching virtually all flops, picking up hands, etc. Great heater for sure.
About an hour in, I hadn’t picked up many hands at all, was down a half buy-in from folding flops/turns. I added to my stack to bring me back to 100BB and I thought about switching tables. But the rest of the table seemed normal to weak players. So I stuck it out. Long story short – I lost my stack to the Vampire on a Heater with his flopped set vs my 2 pair.
Thinking about this on the way home, I realized that the rest of the table had tightened up considerably due to the Vampire Vortex sucking all the chips his way (joking). So, it wasn’t really a favorable table at all.
Thoughts on when to switch tables? How soon do you evaluate the table and make the decision to ask for a table change?
TIA
I generally look at two factors when I think about making a table change – the players at the table (are they weaker than me, stronger than me, or same level as me) and the level of action at the table (super tight table, super loose, somewhere in between).
The types of players are pretty obvious, if you feel you are on par or better than most of the players at the table (which it sounds like this is the case), then you want to say. But if you are the weakest player, I’d probably ask for a table change.
The table dynamics can change, so that one is a little harder to figure out. One or two players leaving/joining the table can change this, as can a few big hands.
It sounds like this was a great table overall, but when the action tightened up due to one player winning all the hands. That can be hard to judge. You need to decide how long you want to stay (is it even worth a change if you only want a short sessions?). Get up and look at the other tables and see if they are better.
I know some players will ask for a table change when they are card dead, but I personally don’t do that. You have the same chances to get good hands at any seat you are at. I’ve been card dead for hours and then gone on a heater without changing seats, and I’ve gone from a heater to card dead. Mathematically you have the same chances to get good cards no matter the seat so I never take that into consideration.
Hey Randy, switching tables is a good decision if there are reasons to believe that you’ll make more money at the table you’re thinking about switching to. This would be the case if there are fewer good players or perhaps if there are one or more big fish in the game. I hope you’re not beating yourself up too much about not switching. In this instance, it sounds like you may have gotten coolered.
Personally, I don’t often switch tables unless there is almost no chance I’m going to make money. Obviously it may be a case where I’m out of my league, but more often than not it’s just due to the table being too tight (the lunch time high hand grinders at some spots being a prevalent example).
I also teams to switch if my chair has been notably hot since I’ve sat down. I’m one of those people who figures it all evens out in each seat, so if I’ve been particularly hot in one seat, I don’t want to be there when it regresses back to the average lol. But that is just a personal thing.
Hi Randy. Game selection will directly affect your win-rate. I’m switching tables if there are 4 trappy Old Man Coffee types at the table. I’ll change tables as well, if the game is too nitty, or if I’m up against tough competition. Lastly, I’ll pay attention to the pot size, and if its pretty small relative to the stack sizes, for about an hour, I’d leave the table.
I actually good you recognized how the table dynamics changed. Seems like a cooler, so it was a good decision to head home and hit the felt another day.
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