Sometimes we get so involved in thinking about deeper and deeper poker strategy that we forget to refresh our memories about some of the most powerful, basic, and profitable concepts. One of those is poker seating. The concept is so important that almost any skillful player who is neglecting this aspect of poker can expect to see profits increase by at least half by faithfully acting on this powerful poker truth
Choosing the right seat in a poker game is one of the most important factors in increasing your profit. You see, there's no such thing as a lucky seat in poker. Luck is always apparent after the fact, looking in the rear-view mirror. But there's no rational reason to suspect, in advance, whether you'll be lucky or unlucky. It's all random. And that applies to poker seats as well as to poker people.
Looking back, there are hot seats and cold seats; lucky seats and unlucky ones. But before that good luck or bad luck happened, there was no logical reason to suspect that it would. The lucky seat could have turned out unlucky and the unlucky seat could have turned out lucky.
Why it works
Let's look at a ludicrously simple example to illustrate this point. Someone has made the first bet. You've got a good hand and are playing an aggressive style, which means you raise frequently to earn extra profit. Suppose your loosest opponent is on your left, holding a weak hand, and acts after you. You raise. Now your loose opponent thinks, "Well, I would have called just to see if I could get lucky, but now I'm going to fold, because even I'm not stupid enough to call a raise." So, assuming you're going to win this pot, how many bets did you just gain from this loose opponent? None, right. He folded. But now suppose he's on your right and you act after him. He calls, because it's just a single bet and that's the kind of guy he is. Now you raise. It gets back to him and he thinks, "Wow. I shouldn't have played this garbage, but it's just one more bet to me now." So, he calls. Now, how many bets has he put in your pot? Two. And that magic happens only because he was sitting on your right and not on your left.
The one other seating consideration we're going to learn today is that tight, unaggressive players belong on your left. They'll still have a positional advantage against you, but they won't profit from it very often, because they don't play many pots. They simply won't interfere with your strategy as often as other players, so you can afford to have them on your left.
http://pokermag.com/managearticle.asp?C=200&A=5594
Choosing the right seat in a poker game is one of the most important factors in increasing your profit. You see, there's no such thing as a lucky seat in poker. Luck is always apparent after the fact, looking in the rear-view mirror. But there's no rational reason to suspect, in advance, whether you'll be lucky or unlucky. It's all random. And that applies to poker seats as well as to poker people.
Looking back, there are hot seats and cold seats; lucky seats and unlucky ones. But before that good luck or bad luck happened, there was no logical reason to suspect that it would. The lucky seat could have turned out unlucky and the unlucky seat could have turned out lucky.
Why it works
Let's look at a ludicrously simple example to illustrate this point. Someone has made the first bet. You've got a good hand and are playing an aggressive style, which means you raise frequently to earn extra profit. Suppose your loosest opponent is on your left, holding a weak hand, and acts after you. You raise. Now your loose opponent thinks, "Well, I would have called just to see if I could get lucky, but now I'm going to fold, because even I'm not stupid enough to call a raise." So, assuming you're going to win this pot, how many bets did you just gain from this loose opponent? None, right. He folded. But now suppose he's on your right and you act after him. He calls, because it's just a single bet and that's the kind of guy he is. Now you raise. It gets back to him and he thinks, "Wow. I shouldn't have played this garbage, but it's just one more bet to me now." So, he calls. Now, how many bets has he put in your pot? Two. And that magic happens only because he was sitting on your right and not on your left.
The one other seating consideration we're going to learn today is that tight, unaggressive players belong on your left. They'll still have a positional advantage against you, but they won't profit from it very often, because they don't play many pots. They simply won't interfere with your strategy as often as other players, so you can afford to have them on your left.
http://pokermag.com/managearticle.asp?C=200&A=5594
