Table Selection
I was thinking about this the other day when a local Vegas pro told me he prefers to play at the Wynn because the parking is really close to the poker room... Shouldn't pros be playing almost entirely based on where the weakest players are, not things like parking and food?
Am I wrong in assuming that table-selection (and the willingness to hop tables!) is probably one of the most high-impact skills a player can master?
He probably thinks his edge is so big no matter where he plays that table selection is immaterial.
You are correct in your analysis. The one thing I will add is that while he may say he plays because of the parking, he likely thinks the games there are good. I don't think a pro (myself included) would play a terrible game just for the convenience of close parking. Likely, he feels that the game is nearly as good as a great game elsewhere, but by saving time with convenient parking and shorter lists he can recoup his lost wages by more time at the table due to those aspects of the Wynn
@BentonBlakeman Yeah, you're probably right that that rationale happens a lot. Whether it's correct or not is another story. People are lazy and like their comforts, so there's probably the tendency to think "eh, this game is just about as good as the one down the street", when it may be far worse. And the difference in hourly for a pro at an ok game versus a fairly good game could be 2x or more.
Bottom line: I think people are probably sacrificing more income than they think by not taking the low-hanging fruit of aggressive table-selection.
@robustus I think you nailed it here. In fact, I even wrote an article on AllVegasPoker several years ago about table selection and how to make the most if it.
Is he a local Vegas pro that smokes a lot of weed? Maybe that has something to do with closeness to his car? Hmmmm
I would walk 500 miles for a juicy game (well maybe not in the Vegas desert heat)