Why the long waiting lists?

I play 6-max, and when I sign up at a table I pick tables with a high see-the-flop percentage, but with 0 people on the waiting list. The reason I do this is because each person is 16.7% of the field, and smarter tend to be the ones who go through the trouble of waiting on a list rather than sitting at any table with an open seat. I don't want a good player to get at a juicy table and make it tougher.

However, I often see long waiting lists all the times. Does anybody have a good explanation as to *why* the lists get so long at some tables?
I can see getting on the list of a 6-max table if it's really juicy and there is only one person on the list, but what about when there are more people on the list than at the table? What could they possibly gain by being 8th the list? By the time they get there, it's possible that nobody from the original table will still be there. And it very likely that any donk they were targeting has long since gone broke.

Any ideas?

You bring up very interesting points. I'm not sure how to answer your question. However, when I first started playing on line it seemed like all the tables were full at the limit I wanted to play, therefore I had to join the waiting list. It would take a long time till I could get to a table and a few days later I realized the way I was signing up on the waiting list was just putting me on a list for that table. So, I was probably one of the people eighth on the waiting list and didn't even know it. I don't think there can be that many people making the same mistake I did causing you to see this on a regular basis. But, it could be a contributing factor.

Most of the times the waiting lists are high were there is a lot of fish on the table.

Back when the table was juicy a ton of people waitlisted, all pretty much around the same time. When their other tables opened up they forgot about it! I know I don't go thru the trouble of un-waitlisting for a table.

a different forum cash game??