All About Seats

Sooner or later - and online it's usually sooner, since players often wait-list for several games at once - you'll get a seat in the games you want. If there's only one seat open, it will be your seat. But what if more than one seat is open?

What If I Don't Like My Seat?

We're glad you asked: Since a good seat change can make all the difference in potential winnings, the inability to move from one virtual seat to another without leaving the games completely has been a common source of complaints in Internet poker.

In brick and mortar games, you can - by first informing the dealer of your intent - simply move to a seat vacated by another player, with or without posting blinds, depending on the situation. You might want to position yourself to the left of a maniac raiser, for example. As long as another player hasn't already spoken for the seat you want, it's yours when someone leaves it.

In Internet poker (as we go to press), whether you're assigned your seat by the site software or get to choose one, you're stuck with that original seat unless you actually leave the games and re-enter by following the same procedure you used to come in the first time. Therefore, don't try to change seats in a nearly full game unless you're willing to languish on the waiting list while the game goes on without you.

Remember: Keeping in mind that Internet poker programming is constantly evolving, and may sooner or later address this issue, assume unless you know otherwise that making a seat change means re-entering your games as a new player, and that means behind anyone else already on the waiting list.

• Waiting Lists
• Buying In
• Making Use of Checkboxes to Post, Ante, Wait for the Big Blind, or Sit Out
• How Long Can I Sit Out Before Playing?