Fast Tables

To this point, I've only been playing full ring normal speed players @ Poker Stars. I started @ $2NL and I'm currently @ $50NL, but it seems like there's been a sharper decline in the number of fish than I anticipated compared to $25NL. Recently there were a couple of fish I really wanted to keep playing with and both of them were sitting @ "fast tables". In the past, my logic was that I wanted the full time to make decisions and I also wanted a sense of normalcy and familiarity with my games. As I've moved up, I've already had to make a few concessions like playing some Pot Limit instead of No Limit and playing @ 50bb minimum tables instead of the default 20bb minimum tables. I decided I'd go ahead and make the dive into "fast tables" for the sake of finding more fish.

I don't have a ton of hands under my belt, but I've been very pleased with the results so far. It feels like I've opened up a lot of opportunity as far as table selection. There were a lot of loose games, looser players, and bad players. It does take some getting used to - besides having to post blinds and having less time to make decisions, the pots are moved to the winner faster and the showdowns are shown quicker. I suspect it will also have an affect on multi-tabling in that the more fast tables I play, the less tables I can effectively play relative to normal tables.

Anyway, I was wondering how other players here approach the "fast tables". Do you avoid them altogether? Or, prefer them to normal tables? Or, add them as a regular option to normal tables and if so, what is the typical make-up of normal versus fast? Any other discussion or links to past discussions of fast tables would be appreciated. I tried to do a search for "fast tables" requiring both words, but I think it brings up all threads with either word and I didn't find anything useful.

I don't really table select for either, but I kind of prefer the fast tables, especially when I'm only doing ~6 tables of FR, since I don't have to wait around for people to post their blinds, etc. You get more hands per hour, and thats always a plus when you have a bigger edge. Sure, you have slightly less time to work with, but I don't see it being a problem very often.

You've definitely given yourself another big opportunity to pwn more feesh. :)

I don't think that most of the fish really pay attention to normal or fast when choosing a table to play at. I just look for the juiciest tables to play at whether they be NL/PL, 50bb min, fast or normal speed.