I want you to think back to when you were in your early teens in junior high or high school. Remember those classes where you got to choose your seat the first day, but once you chose it, you had to write your name on a seating chart, locking yourself into that desk for the rest of the semester? That decision came with a little bit of pressure. Do you sit next to your best friends so that you can socialize? Do you sit next to the smartest kid in the class so you can cheat off his paper? Do you sit near the hot girl so that you can enjoy the scenery? Or do you just not care? No matter where you sat, who you sat next to could possibly affect how you fared in that class.
The same goes for where you sit at the poker table. Sure, everyone gets the same two cards and the button moves around the table every hand, but the players all stay put. The player on your left will be on your left for the duration of the session. The player on your right will be on your right until one of you leaves. And while you will not always have the opportunity, it is in your best interest to hand-pick your seat based on who will be flanking you.
One of the basic tenets of poker is that in comparing two players, the player on the left holds an advantage because he gets to act last. He will already have information on his opponent because that opponent has already committed to a betting action. There is one type of player, however, to whom you should actually want to give that advantage. The overly tight, very conservative player. Whenever possible, sit to his right. Let him act after you. Why? Because his blinds will be ripe for the picking. This type of player will fold more often than the average person, so on most hands, if you have the chance, raise his blinds and let him lay his hand down.
Even if he isn’t in a blind, you can still use his willingness to fold to your advantage. For example, if you are in the cutoff and he is on the button, you will know that, more often than not, you will be able to raise and only have to concern yourself with the two players in the blinds, not the two players in the blinds plus the button. It just makes your life easier. Besides, if this player at any point calls or re-raises you, you will know to proceed with caution, as he likely has a good hand.
Personally, I don’t really care if this kind of conservative player is experienced or not when they are on my left. Most people wouldn’t want a skilled, experienced player to their left, but if they are uber-tight, that’s fine with me. Tight and skilled usually means predictable. For instance, I have been playing a lot of Double or Nothing Sit and Gos lately and because I use a tight style when playing these, I often find myself in situations where the best move is to shove or fold pre-flop.
If I am confident that the guy to my left knows what he’s doing in these types of Sit and Gos, I know that he will also be playing fairly tight and will not call me with a marginal hand (unless, I suppose, he has a massive stack). While a marginal hand from my opponent might mean I am the favorite, I don’t want to be just a slight favorite when I’m all-in – I typically want a fold in these situations. An experienced, yet tight, player to my left will fold more often than not, giving me a chance to build my stack up by stealing blinds and antes.
On the flip side, you want aggressive players to your right. If they are on your left, it will be hard for you to raise with anything but premium holdings, as they are liable to play back at you frequently. The last thing you want is to get stuck in a situation where you are trying to make a move with an iffy hand only to have someone raise you right back. It is not fun to be put the test with a hand that might not be able to hold up on its own. When an aggressive player is on your right, however, you will already know his intentions, so you can get away from marginal hands before you commit any chips, while at the same time penalizing him for his reckless play with your strong hands.
As far as experience is concerned, I really don’t want an experienced, skilled, aggressive player to my left. I might be able to outplay a novice on my left who plays a similar style, but a skilled player like that will make my session miserable. A novice maniac on my right, on the other hand, can be a gold mine. Sure, it will still take some patience to find the appropriate moment to strike, but when that time comes, the novice will likely spew chips in my direction. In general, a novice should be easy to beat (short-term variance not withstanding) no matter where he is sitting, but on the right is still preferable.
So, to review: tight, conservative player on your left; loose, aggressive player on your right. And stop playing footsie with the student next to you or I’ll have to separate your desks.