I want to second the frustrations with this policy. I am constantly being sat at short handed tables instead of other games with open seats. It is also a fairly regular thing to be at a table and see a seat get filled with the “reserved” for multiple minutes and then someone never comes to take that seat. The seat is “reserved” for multiple minutes at a time blocking other people from joining and then no one ends up taking the seat. This is all at 6 max.
Just give us back the lobby. This random seating is so incredibly frustrating and filled with bugs.