Choosing a seat is one of the most important decisions you'll make in a poker game, particularly when playing hold'em, ecauseposition is fixed for the entire hand. Unlike 7-card stud - where betting position often varies depending on the exposed cards - if you are late in position on the river.

Game selection, of course, presupposes that you have a choice of games available to you. In Las Vegas or Los Angeles, where there is usually more than one game at each betting level, game selection takes onthe attributes of an art form. Regardless of your skills as a poker player, more of your winnings are the result of poor decisions made by your opponents than tactically clever plays you make. In other words, the best player in the world, sitting in a game with players who are only slightly inferior in ability, will not be favored to win as much money as a good player in a gane populated by weak players.