Excession, I have read your autorate rules, both sets, and all of your articles about poker tracker. They were extremely helpful and I wanted to thank you for all the hard work you put in.

I was curious what you and others thought of ranking those opponents you would like to see at a table with some system that allows you to definitively decide whether this table is right for you.

Personally, i am a TA in your book, VPIP - 14.18%, Agg factor, 2.52, 1.51, 2.59 (flop, turn river) and my PTBB/100 is 4.2 which makes me your standard TA player. All my ratings here are directed at 25NL tables with 7 or more people.

When I review a table, I definitely agree that I want to see these players:

Extra Loose
Calling Station
Showdown Muppet

first and foremost. In general these players will pay me off more than any other.

However, after that I prefer the rest of the players be tight. I either want to know they have something when they bet, or I want to know they have nothing. A preflop raise from a sL? is a scary thing, regardless whether they are passive, aggressive or neutral. I find myself generally backing down in these situations unless I have what I consider to be a monster hand.

So as I decide, i tend to give certain players point values based on the type of player the autorate determines they are

Extra loose +8 - this is my favorite player to see, unfortunately they usually go broke quickly

Calling Station +7 - I prefer calling stations to showdown muppets, but only slightly. I have a good hand, they are hoping to get one eventually..call call. Touchdown!

Showdown Muppet +6 - These guys are great too..yeah 3rd pair is a winning hand...maybe against a callign station, but not me!

Tight Passive +3 - they only play good hands and only bet post-flop when the hit. easy to read

Loose Passive +2 - they generally dont raise preflop too often...but when they do they usually have a monster, so they are easy to read

Slightly Loose Passive +1 - In more hands than they should be, and post flop they realize that, easy to read. I like loose passives better is because Slightly loosers are likely to raise preflop. I prefer to be the pre-flop raiser myself

Tight Neutral -1 - If they are in the hand they usually have something, but after the flop they may or may not have hit and they may not or may bet. I don't mind them at the table because they play few hands, but when they play I am generally cautious.

Loose Neutral -1 - Generally they raise when they have something and they fold to a bet when they don't. They may bluff occasionally, and I can generally deal with that...although I would prefer not to.

Tight agressive -2 - You would think these guys would be lower, but I actually don't mind them being at the table too much. First, I generally know them because they play alot. Second, I understand what its like to play like they do. Third, they are rational and logical. I guess its true, good players like playing against other good players.

Weak Tight -2 - These guys are either really good, or really bad. There is nothing worse for me than being uncertain.

Loose Aggressive -3 - They force me to only feel comfortable with very strong hands. Even worse, i will occasionally think i have the best hand against one of these guys, but will be wrong because I was swayed by their stats. These guys live off uncertainty, YUCK.

Slightly Loose Neutral -4 - So I don't mind the Loose neutral too much. I don't mind the tight neutrals too much...but a slightly loose neutral is a another world. Do they have a big hand..last time they didn't but the time before they did. They just folded the small blind so they have some sense of a good hand...but is this one of those times. FOLD. Uncertainty

Slightly Loose Agressive -6 - I cant read these guys and they force you to make difficult decisions. I want nothing to do with them and unfortunately they are in many hands. No thanks!

Ultra Aggressive -7 - You said it in your articile...these guys are scary. Only when I know I have a winner am I playing against these guys and often times these players won't allow you to draw to a straight or flush.

Note that my preferences do not agree with the PTBB/100 in Excession's new autorate rules -

My ability to understand how somebody is going to play is worth far more to me than anything else.

So after all this, I add up the values and if it is positive I will take a seat. Sure, it requires patience, but its worth it in the end

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments?

Steve - mapleleaf