Balancing Acts
During Texas Hold ‘Em online poker tournaments, the number of players at each table decreases as online poker players get knocked out. The poker room then will move players around to re-balance the tables since it is not fair if one table has nine players while another has only six. The players at the less populated table have to pay the blinds more frequently than those players at tables with more filled seats. Online poker rooms do this automatically and quickly. One second you sitting in the nine seat, then you are suddenly zapped to the six seat at another table to keep all the tables relatively even in numbers of players. At live poker rooms, table balancing is not always automatic. The tournament director may be busy elsewhere on the floor, and the players have to ask the dealer to flag the director to come over and address the imbalance. Most poker rooms will designate the next big blind to move to another table. In some cases, that player is directed to the next big blind seat at the new table. Sometimes there may be more than one seat open, and the player can choose a seat. This is to the player’s advantage since the player was meant to be big blind next, but might actually find a seat that will not be big blind for several hands. When you are moved to another table with no designated seat given, then look for empty seats behind the button to postpone your next blind posting.
