Texas Holdem, Who to play

Here's some advice that won't improve your Texas Holdem game as much as it'll have a positive impact on your flacid wallet...

Find a mid-sized poker game. This size of game allows you more of a choice of who to sit by. Watch everyone play. Get a feel for who's playing tight, who's aggressive, and who sucks. Note who check-raised, slow played, bluffed or semi-bluffed in your head (or on paper next to your mouse, you cheater).

You should first and foremost decide whether these guys are better than you. Avoid poker games with lots of early pre and post flop raises, and avoid games where it looks like one or two players are about to finish cleaning up some chumps. Very aggressive players can be a source of weal or woe. I suggest steering clear of those if you consider yourself beginner or intermediate.

In one sentence, sit to the right of a tight poker player - to the left of a loose player. Here's why:

1. With the loose guy on your right, you're always evaluating the hand AFTER s/he makes their call.
2. You can steal blinds easier from the tighties on your left.
3. With very loose or wild players on your right, you can re-raise their bets to try to wipe out mediocre and drawing hands.
4. Fish-hole tight players on your left will more likely call a bet than re-raise even though they might have a decent hand. You can more easily scare them into thinking you've got the nuts and buy more free cards despite the fact that they've got a positional advantage on you.
5. The bankrolls of tight players tend to go down in small amounts incrementally, and periodically go up in mid and large amounts. Loose players have bigger swings. Money tends to move clockwise around the table because its easier to read players to the right. When that loose player is about to take a negative swing, you want to be at a positional advantage over him or her.

Even more, you want what I call Crazy Ass Players on your right, and what I call Short-Bus Players on your left. Crazies eliminate poker players with okay and drawing hands. 20-year-old high-school students are more readable, and you profit from being able to act directly after them.