The PokerStars lobby is the gateway to being dealt into a hand. You may wll have noticed that the ring game lobby has recently changed in a few very noticeable ways. Among the improvements, there are now a total of six ways to get directly seated in the ring game of your choice.
Some of these seating methods only show up with certain lobby view options or for full/empty tables. Use the 'Combo View' along with a graphical preview of the selected table to have full access to all of the seating methods discussed here. Have a play around and see what works best for you.
Combo View groups tables of specific type in the right pane. All tables of that group are listed in the middle pane and a preview of the selected table is shown in the left pane.
1. Find me a seat
The 'Find me a seat' button is great if you know what type of table you want to play but don't care about which table you're on. This button immediately seats you at an open seat of a specific game, stakes, and type.
The 'Find me a seat' button is shown in the right pane for each row: it's that square button with a Play symbol. It's also shown if a table with no open seats is selected, under the table preview area.
Multi-tabling tip: If you're already sitting at a table and don't want to open the lobby to add another table of the same type, try pressing Ctrl+S!
2. Seat me
The 'Seat me' button allows you to be seated in an empty seat at a specific table. It will open the table and seat you automatically, saving a couple clicks!
The Seat Me button is shown under the table preview area for tables with at least one open seat.
3. Table preview pane
The third pane of the lobby shows a graphical preview of the selected table. This preview shows who is at the table in which seats and where the open seats are. If you have a preference of a certain open seat, just hit the open seat graphic on the table preview.
4. Waiting list
Join the waiting list of a full table to be offered a seat when one opens. The waiting list button only shows up on full tables, for the table you have selected.
5. Table starters
Table starters allow you to be seated at a table without waiting for an open seat or playing shorthanded. Table starters open a new table and seat players on the list once a certain amount of players have joined. More detailed information on table starters is available at the PokerStars website here.
6. Easy Seat (Beta)
This powerful feature seats you at the number of tables you select at a specific type of game and stakes. This feature is useful for multi-tabling and is currently in Beta mode. Try it out by selecting 'Options' > 'Beta Options'. The 'Easy Seat' button sits beneath the middle pane.
Roy 'GodlikeRoy' Bhasin is a member of Team PokerStars Online. Read his bio here.