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All things being equal, the best games are always the ones that are the most loose-passive, populated with calling stations. For a skilled player, beating a loose-passive game should be like shooting fish in a barrel, so to speak. You want loose because there will be so much dead money in the pot from opponents who call and chase with nearly-hopeless cards. And you want passive because that means you will usually be the aggressor in the hand, as well as the bonus that you can stay in and draw cheaply when you so desire.

But the main thing you want to look for is a game with a lot of poor players at the table. That’s it. You want opponents who are worse than you. As the old poker saying goes: It does not matter if you are the tenth-best poker player in the world, as long as you are sitting at a table with numbers 1 through 9 - you’re still going to get clobbered. Poker skill is relative. All that matters is that you play better than your opponents. When that’s the case, you will always win in the long run.

You also should consider your own playing style when deciding which game to select. It’s very important that you feel comfortable and happy while you play. Some players enjoy shorthanded games; others prefer a full table. Some people don’t mind playing the waiting game at a passive table, others get bored with slowly grinding it out and long for the excitement of a wild, aggressive table. As long as you can play profitably, seek out the type of game that suits your personality. If you love to draw for big hands like straights and flushes, then a full loose-passive game is ideal. This type of game is also better if the thought of wild swings in your bankroll makes your stomach do back-flips. If you love to play big cards and hammer at your opponents with them, games that are shorthanded and aggressive will work much better for you - as long as you don’t mind the extra variance.

So how do you find the best game? Online, it’s easy. First of all, there’s a great abundance of games to choose from, at a wide array of limits, during any hour of the day or night. Secondly, the online cardrooms make it easier for you by posting important stats about the games in the lobby, right next to the games themselves. The two most important statistics you should look at are the percentage of players seeing the flop (this tells you how tight or loose the game is) and average pot size (this tells you how passive or aggressive the game is). Almost all poker sites provide both of these statistics for their games. Online, you also have the added advantage that you can watch railbird on a game for as long as you like, and the players in the game will never know what you’re doing. This way you can get a very good read on the players in the game before you sit down to play.

In a live setting, it’s a bit more of a challenge to find the best game. In the smaller cardrooms, you really might not have much of a choice. If they only have a handful of tables and a long waiting list to get in a game, you’re almost in the position of having to take what you can get. Almost. You can sign up for more than one game, you can sign up to change tables even after you’ve sat down, or you can even decide to walk away and come back again another day. The ability to walk away from a game that’s bad is just as important - if not more important - as the talent for finding a good game.

If you have to wait for your table (as is frequently the case) you can use the time to walk around the cardroom and scope out the different games. Don’t feel awkward about being a railbird - these are public games after all. While there are no handy-dandy stats for you to consult, you can get a rough idea of what percentage of players are seeing the flop, and how big the average pot is, simply by watching the games closely. Generally speaking the best live games are the ones full of casual players and tourists, chatting it up and having a good time.

It also helps if you walk into the cardroom flexible about which games you are willing to play. Don’t lock yourself into only one game at only one limit. If the best game is at a lower limit than you usually play, consider dropping down to that limit for awhile (temporarily playing at a higher limit is another matter altogether). And it really helps to learn how to play other games besides Hold’em. Oftentimes the Hold’em games will be too full or too tough, but there will be a seat available at a soft juicy game of Omaha.

Something else to keep in mind is that game conditions can and often do change quickly. Especially online, there can be quite a high turnover rate in the players. So in addition to finding the best games, you must always be able to adapt your play for changing game conditions. In this sense, playing poker can often be like shooting at a moving target. You can never truly relax, never take it for granted that the game conditions are favorable to you. Just keep your eye on the target at all times, and be willing to adjust your aim when necessary.