How to Select a Poker Room

Selecting a poker room is just like picking out a fine suit or elegant dress. You want something that suits the occasion, but also something that compliments your own features; something acquiesce to your personal taste, but also something that makes you stand out amongst your peers. That last thing you want to do at an online poker room is blend into the crowd of mediocre players.

To select the right poker room, you have to ask yourself what it is you want out of your online poker experience. Winning, obviously, but what else? Are you a better cash games player, or tournament player? Maybe you like a mix of the two.

What games will you play?
What kind of tournaments suit you best? Do you do well in the early rounds, but falter just before the bubble? This won't do at all in a standard tournament structure, but in bounty tournaments (a.k.a. knockout or head-hunter tournaments), it could prove amazingly profitable without even finishing in the prize pool.

What about cash games? Do you like the simple NL Holdem or Omaha tables, or a road less traveled, like Stud, Draw and Lowball games? Not every online poker room has a large selection of poker variants, while the largest poker rooms tend to have the best variety.

What limits will you be playing?
Stakes are another thing to consider. Most poker rooms have micro-limit stakes that start at $0.01/$0.02, but not every site is going to offer the same high stakes action. One poker room might offer its highest stakes at $100/$200, while others scale up as high as $2,000/$4,000.

Do you consider yourself a fish, a shark or an all encompassing poker strategist? If you say fish, you need to stay away from the real money online poker tables altogether until your skills improve! As a shark, you are eating the fish, but may have a harder time against other sharks like yourself. Sharks play best at low to mid level stakes where most of the competitors are inexperienced, unskilled poker players. A true poker strategist will adjust their game to overcome any oppositional situation.

This information will help you to select a poker room by the type of player traffic that frequents the tables. Some networks are well known for their loose, fishy player base, while others have tighter competition. While building your bankroll and developing your poker strategies, hunting the fish can be a perfect gateway to exponential success.

But why would a poker player choose to face tighter competition, when there are so many fish out there just waiting to have their chip stacks plucked from the sea? Because it translates to higher stakes games, a tougher challenge, and further growth in your poker education and skills.

If you've ever pictured yourself seated at the final table of the WSOP Main Event, you're certainly not going to get there by playing against an ocean of fish, nor will you find very many fish at a WSOP table, early rounds or not.

Discovering the level of opposition is a simple matter of skimming the tables in the poker lobby. The column labeled VFP, VF% or Flop% (viewed flop percentage) will tell you what you need to know. The higher the viewed flop percentage, and the higher the number of players at the tables, combined with that %, the looser the table is. A high VF% with only 2 players doesn't mean much, but with 5+ players, 50% or more is a very loose, fish table.

Make sure the room suits your goals
Last, we mentioned your new attire (poker room) fitting the occasion. So what is your occasion? Are you looking to make a little extra cash while having a good time, to pull in a supplemental income, or to make a career out of this? Career poker players are looking at the long term, and that often includes major live tournament entries.

It takes $10,000 to buy into the World Series of Poker, for example. Why not spend your time in the poker room working your way towards that goal by playing in WSOP satellites? Many of the industry's largest poker rooms offer satellites and qualifiers to the WSOP and other major live events, so if that's your goal, that should be factored into the selection of your poker room.

The first poker room you join won't likely be your last, but if you follow this guide and put a little mental effort into your decision, you can save a lot of time in the long run by learning how to select a poker room.