(Distributed March 14, 2006
LUCKYDOG EXAMINES DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEATS AT POKER TABLE
All seats at a poker table are not created equal.
When a card room’s “brush” or manager directs you to an open seat at your favorite cash game, chances are you’re just happy to start playing after waiting for a while. You sit down in the lone empty chair, arrange your chips in neat stacks and brace for action.
Newer players may not realize, however, that elements of the game can be affected in different ways depending on where you’re sitting. Some seat positions actually put certain requirements on a player that can affect the flow of the game.
Let’s examine four seat groupings, starting with:
SEATS 1 AND 9
In a typical nine-handed Texas hold’em game, the players on each side of the dealer carry the most responsibility for keeping the action uninterrupted.
The biggest mistake made by players in seat 1 (on the dealer’s left) and seat 9 (to his right) is interfering with the dealer’s pitch of the cards. Countless times I’ve seen dealers try to pitch a card to seats 2 and 8, only to have it hit the hand of a player in seat 1 or 9 and flip over. When that happens, the exposed card is dead. If it happens to be an Ace or face card, the player sitting next to you won’t be a happy camper.
When you’re sitting next to the dealer, never place your hands in front of your chip stacks while the cards are being dealt. Even a careful dealer can have trouble pitching cards around or over your hands and chips.
When I’m next to the dealer, I like to keep my hands on the table rail during the deal. You still must protect your cards as they come, so when your first down card arrives, just slip one hand out low to the felt and slide the card close to your chips. Snag your second card the same way. To prevent the dealer from mistakenly mucking your hand, keep your cards to the side of your chips away from the dealer.
Two more tips for seats 1 and 9: Give the dealer as much room as possible because they’re quite active when pitching cards, raking in bets and pushing pots to winners. Also, because you can’t see the player on the opposite side of the dealer, you must watch closely to know when he has acted and it’s your turn.
SEATS 2 AND 8
These may be the best seats at a table to observe the betting sequence, chip stack size, and players’ reactions. You can see everyone with very little head movement. Yes, there are times when you want to stare down an opponent, but more often it’s helpful to watch players without them realizing it.
One down side to these seats, as noted above, is that a careless player between you and the dealer can hit your card in midair with his hand and cause it to flip. Instead of complaining and starting a fuss, sometimes I’ll slide one hand slightly beyond my chips on the side away from the careless player before each of my cards is pitched, giving the dealer a target that’s out of harm’s way.
These seats also can be a problem for anyone with poor eyesight, or if the room is poorly lit. You’re at the end of the table, farthest away from the community cards face-up in the center of the felt. An oversized table makes the situation even worse.
If you have trouble seeing the board cards, ask the dealer for a seat-move button right after you sit down. If someone else already holds a button, they’ll have first option to move when a seat opens. If you don’t want to wait, ask the floor person for a table change. Another option is to ask the middle-position players if one of them would like to switch with you.
SEATS 3 AND 7
The table view from these seats isn’t quite as good as seats 2 and 8, but it’s better than the rest. You can see all of the players without much head movement, a handy advantage when you’re trying to determine who might be itching to play their hand if you bet.
You’re slightly closer to the board cards than you’d be in seats 2 and 8, but still might need a seat change if your vision is poor.
Another issue is that you’re the farthest from the dealer. The longer pitch to these positions causes more cards to flip in the air than those dealt to any other seat. The better dealers make sure to pitch the cards at a downward angle to these two seats.
SEATS 4, 5 AND 6
Players with poor eyesight prefer one of these seats. You’re right across from the dealer (seat 5 is smack in the middle), and you’re as close to the flopped community cards as possible.
Disadvantages include table vision. You can’t really look at the two players on either side without being totally obvious, and your head is constantly moving left and right to follow the betting action on each hand.
The biggest problem, however, is that you must be extra careful when looking at your hole cards. When you look at your hand, always use both hands cupped over the cards so your neighbor doesn’t get a free peek. Lift up a corner of the cards just far enough to get a good look yourself, commit them to memory, then put a chip or coin on them and resist taking another look during the hand.
Now that you know all about seat positions, just remember that the best seat at a poker table is — the luckiest one!
E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2006 RUSS SCOTT
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