Following our quick guide to poker table selection, there are some other things to watch out for when you are waiting to play after sitting in to your chosen poker table.

You won’t get to see a whole lot of play before you have to pay your blind, but you might get a chance to see some things that can help you decide whether to stay at the table or to get up before it comes to your turn to ante up.

If you have chosen a table with a reasonably high view flop percentage, you should see at least some activity while waiting for your turn.  Look out for players that flat call or check without ever raising. Make a note of these calling stations and try to see what they show down.

Also note players making low minimum raises. A standard raise is three times the big blind, so note any 1x or 2x big blind raisers.  That can be a good indication of inexperience, or lack of confidence in themselves as a player. It can also indicate a weak player who is not sure of the value of their hands.

Of course, it can also indicate a tricky player who is trying to keep more people in the pot. Note any players that are doing this minimum raising and you can determine later on which type of player they are.

You should always note the cards that are shown down too, paying special attention to players that show less than premium cards.

If you are seeing a lot of things that you like and intend to play at the table, use the notes function that is available at almost all online poker rooms to start building a profile on the players.

One last thing to note is the current chip stacks in relation to the maximum buy in for the table. If there are a lot of stacks that are considerably more than the max. then you may be up against solid players.

A lot of stacks around the minimum amount could indicate that getting paid off on your winning hands will be difficult.

Analyzing chip stacks will take some experience though, so the sooner you start to notice these things the sooner you will be in a position to know how to interpret the tables.

Making a habit of doing all these things before playing will help you to become a more diciplined player, and ultimately a more profitable one.