Multi-tabling (how the heck do y'all do it)

[MattHH]

I experimented with multi-tabling recently and I felt like my play dropped significantly, almost to the point where I would make less per hour play two tables rather than one. I don't understand how some of you guys play 6 tables or more, freakin crazy.

It just seems like there is so many little things to pay attention that make (or save) you money.

What I want to ask those that multi table is:

How many hands or months did you play religously at one table before you upgraded to two, how bout to three?

Is there some way to compare your winrates easily with poker tracker to see how you fare playing different numbers of tables at a time?

Do you have any tricks to make your table scanning more efficient?

Do you avoid "speed tables"?

Would appreciate any info!

[TimovieMan]

Since I'm bonus-whoring at the moment, I'm currently playing mostly 4 tables at a time, using a fairly standard strategy (which makes me fairly predictable - those that follow how I play can and will beat me - but luckily there's plenty of fish at micro-stakes).

I played only a month on one table. I found it a bit too hard to concentrate on everyone else's play the times I was not in the hand, and I was in the hand far too little for it to be exciting, so I quickly went to 2 tables, and fast tables because there seemed to be more fish there (higher VP$IP yet smaller pots).

When playing more than two tables at a time, you MUST avoid the speed tables since they go way too fast the times you have a playable hand on two or three tables at once (and this WILL happen).

The thing to note is that you still have to analyze your play after you've played your sessions. Use PokerTracker to check the stats on your opponents and replay a lot of your hands - either to make notes on how you made a mistake, or made a good play, or to make notes on how your opponents play.
Analyzing your opponents is the key!

If you have a good read, write it in the notes on the site, so you can easily access it in-game. Your reads are what makes you win in multi-tabling (and otherwise too, of course). Knowing when to fold or when to raise for value makes a big difference.
That's why replaying the hands is important: you'll learn to recognize similar situations faster and will make faster decisions on the tables.

Since you have to play tight, you're only in about 20% of the hands dealt, so you're mostly only "live" on one table at a time - even when 4-tabling, so that makes it easier to follow the hands you're actually in.
At times when you have a good hand on more than one (and sometimes 4 tables at once), then come the times when your win rate drops significantly. That's why you have to train in making quick decisions.

But the most important part is: your basic strategy (your auto-pilot play) has to be a winning strategy (not that difficult in micro-stakes, I reckon), and you must analyze your play and that of your opponents after you've left the tables. This gives you the advantage you need the next time you multitable...

A side note: I only play full ring games, I usually get my ass handed back to me (raped) in shorthand games, so I only play longhand tables.
These are slower, so you also have more time to think...

But basically you just have to look for a number you're comfortable with. The way I play the game, dropping one or two tables won't make a big impact on my win rate, so I profit from 4-tabling.
More than 4 tends to get too much for me to handle, so make sure you know your treshold as well.

No idea how you can analyze your multitabling win rates with Poker Tracker. Anyone have anything on that???

[ckj]

I two table at the moment, having moved up from one table. I switched to two tables the same time i switched from full ring to 6-max. I find it easier to keep track of players in 6-max because you keep tangling into the same players over and over and you can develop quick reads.

The difference between speed and regular tables doesn't bother me too much, I actually like having 1 speed table and 1 regular 6-max table, but I just try to choose the juciest games.

My winrate probably is a little bit worse two tabling than one, but not significantly so, the biggest reason I could move to two tables was the fact that I recognized situations and could respond quickly, and did not have to think about what to do. This is especially important preflop.

One last thing, when table selecting, just as important as your table, is your seat. I've had terrible seats because some aggro fish was on my left and some tag was on my right, that became quite good when i moved to the fishes' left. If a table isn't good, then leave.

[Riku]

Try first at .02/.04 with 2 tables till you get the hang of it.

My tables are always the same speed. It's happened once or twice that one of the tables was a speed table, and i thought i had lots of time to make up my mind, but then i just timed out.

[kerowo]

To get used to the mechanics of playing that many tables start at the free tables. No point spending money until you can actually keep up with how many tables you have going. I'd rather play speed tables than regular tables but I mostly only play 3 anymore and 3 regular tables tends to be pretty boring. It's all what you get used to.

[Bona]

I think you have to ask yourself some questions that dig into your motivation for playing poker.

Why am am playing poker? What do I get from it? What do I want to get from it? How do I get there? What is my skill set? What does my skill set have to be to accomplish my goal. What other options are there to accomplishing the goal? Is my goal worthwhile? Thats not a complete list of questions but you get the point.

The answers should point you toward your personal best choices about multi tabling as well as stakes you play, venue, format et al.

[arborman]

Lately I've been focusing a lot on table and seat selection when multitabling. I play 3 tables, but it usually takes me the first 15-20 minutes of a session before I'm actually sitting somewhere I want to be at all 3 tables (with the fish on my right and all the TAGs and Rocks on my left).

For months I would just pick the first 3 tables I could find at my level with an avg flop percentage of >35%, and it was fairly profitable. But now I am much more selective on where I sit (Pokertracker helps a lot with that), and it has had a significant positive effect on my winrate.

I am willing to drop down a limit for one or even all three of the tables if I can't find a good one at my chosen level. It is much more important (for me) to have optimal games than it is to be at a given level. If all the tables are full of rocks, it's better to go downlimit and wait for some fish to come along (but pay attention to the higher tables and watch for a good opening).

It is also important to pay attention to the changes at the tables you are on. If it is profitable for awhile because it has a lot of fish, rest assured the tags and rocks will slowly gravitate to the table as seats open up. Eventually it will be a squeaky tight tagfest, and time to find another table. Lots of tag multitablers get their seat and never even look at the table unless they have a playable hand - that's why you see micro tables with flop percentages of 14% sometimes - they are all tagging each other and treading water at best.

It is always best to be the first shark to arrive, and to move on when the rest show up - lots of people get table inertia for no good reason. (If there is a prodigious spewfish to your right it can be worth sticking around, but mostly it is better to find another school of fish).

[HermannTL]

Why am am not playing poker? (Sorry)

I want at least three things: I want to build my skills and my bankroll so that I can gradually move up in level...and I want to have some fun doing it. At this very novice stage I think I do much more skill-building playing one table. OTOH if I can multitable and maintain a positive winrate/100 then my winrate/hr is higher. Obviously some of you have more fun multitabling because of more frequent action. That sounds like--for me--I should do a mix of the two, building skills at one table and building bankroll at two tables until I have enough experience to build skills at two tables. Likely I'll single-table any time I move up to a new level.

Meanwhile, I am *brand* new to multi-tabling. I did one session at .02/.04 and one session at .05/.10, both successfully, up significantly more at one table than I was down at the other. I know I made more mistakes than single-tabling (and will review in more detail)...including one time that I accidentally clicked "Fold" holding 99, which is funny considering the 99 thread I have running. Another time I clicked "call" without considering the VP$IP of the raiser, producing a "you idiot" moment.

[OrigamiSensei]

[ QUOTE ]
I think you have to ask yourself some questions that dig into your motivation for playing poker.

Why am am playing poker? What do I get from it? What do I want to get from it? How do I get there? What is my skill set? What does my skill set have to be to accomplish my goal. What other options are there to accomplishing the goal? Is my goal worthwhile? Thats not a complete list of questions but you get the point.

The answers should point you toward your personal best choices about multi tabling as well as stakes you play, venue, format et al.

[/ QUOTE ]
As a fairly strict single tabler (every once in a while I'll open a second table but it's rare) I'll echo this sentiment of understanding what you want. In my case I'm a married guy in my 40s with an excellent career for whom poker is strictly a hobby. There is no way I will ever risk enough money playing poker that the money involved would affect my standard of living one way or another. My motivation is to be a student of the game and the money is strictly a way to keep score of whether I have learned and applied my lessons well. I play one table at a time and try to play it to the best of my abilities.

For those whose purpose is making money and grinding for bonuses and unmentionable then quality of play on each individual hand is far less important than maximizing overall winrate and income. For them multi-tabling makes a lot of sense. Perhaps the winrate on each individual table falls somewhat but the overall earnings are the key. Also some people are ADD and they are better off multi-tabling and keeping the focus on poker than playing one table and surfing pr0n or IMing or whatever.

The answer will be individual - but whatever you do work your way into it gradually. You don't jump from one table to four or six or eight in an instant and you need the right equipment (i.e big monitors with high resolution and a site that supports resizable tables) to do it effectively.

[MattHH]

Thanks for all the great responses guys. It seemed like a common question was "what are your goals". My goal is to make correct plays and continue to learn. It would be an added bonus if I could find a level and number of tables that would generate $10/hr. I am playing at stars so I'm not bonus whoring (yet). I am at the point where I don't reference hand charts frequently while playing preflop, but sometimes when I'm unsure, I will get a "second opinion" from my books, oftentimes after I have already played the hand and want to see if it matches. Postflop I feel a lot more comfortable and natural. Since I started hitting limit hard I've put in 2,000 hands at .25/.50 with a positive BB/100, which really means nothing yet. I guess what I could do is play single table for a month, then two-table for a month and then rinse and repeat and compare the long term results. If I ever do become a crazy multi-tabler, at least I already have a crt monitor that could probably fit 8 tables, that would be insanity!