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

[Fantam]

I think that you need to be confident enough in your game to believe your play is +EV, before you start multitabling.

I think that this also includes having a reasonable amount of playing experience on one table, so that you are able to make a number of your decisions fairly quickly.

If you are doing things like counting outs and calculating pot odds for continuing (admirable as that is) in fairly basic situations, because you are relatively new to the game, then you probably should not multi-table.

Basically, I think that it is like anything else and requires practice.

I played a single FR table for quite a while when I first started playing, then progressed to 2-tabling.

I enjoy 4 tabling now, but sometimes I will prefer to 3-table as 3 tables are obviously easier than 4. I think that it just depends upon what you feel comfortable with.

I doubt whether I will progress beyond 4-tabling though. Thats simply because I feel that if you can play that many tables profitably, that the next step should be moving up in stakes as opposed to playing even more tables.

Then, I will probably go back to either playing a single table or 2-tabling for a while.

To answer your original question, as to how do you do it ? You have to be able to make your playing decisions quickly when necessary, and be comfortable that you are still playing close to your best game.

As for speed tables, I am still experimenting with playing on them, but so far have not noticed too much difference between them and normal tables as I think that I tend to play quite quickly overall.

[LukeSLTS]

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I'd also add that moving up limits while multitabling is best done (IMO) one table at a time. So if I'm 3 tabling and reach a threshold to move up, I'll play one table at the higher limit, and 2 at my usual limit (which I have a proven winrate at). Switch over more tables as you progress and gain confidence. It saves you from the precipitous crashes that can come from a lot of action with money amounts you are not used to (I speak from experience).

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I used to take this approach too. I left online poker for about a year. Since i have returned I have rethought my approach and now I refuse to play more than one limit at a time. There was artcile featured on pokerpages.com that discussed the negative consequences of playing multiple limits. The one reason that I found hindered my play was that I started paying more heed to the higher limit table while becoming significantly looser on the "old" limit tables.

As for multitabling it is a mental adjustment. I remember thinking during my first month or so on online poker that the game moved so fast. Eventually I became bored waiting on just one table and added a second. That became three, and four, and now i play primarily at six because it fits comfortably on my screen and I don't feel I am leaving too much money on the table by being overwhelmed.

[Smurph64]

I can multitable 5 with 6 max for about an hour but rarely do it. Timeouts are frequent and the occassional misbutton hurts plus I drop about 1.5 bb/100 when I play that many. At two tables I make roughly the same but I pick the tables carefully.


Generally adding one table at a time and taking notes on the table first before you switch focus makes things easier.

I think people multitable because they have different motivations than those that don't.

The game becomes a reflex rather than a thought process. If it weren't for rakeback I doubt people could make a lot of money multitabling and in fact most people would want to move up instead.

Which is the catch 22 of the phenomena since a good chunk of people who make a lot of money multitabling would get their asses handed to them if they moved up.

[OrigamiSensei]

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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.

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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!

[neurotiq]

I've played upwards of 9 tables at once. I definitely haven't always felt comfortable enough to do this, though. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

When I felt like there were leaks in my play, I'd force myself to single table until I figured out what on earth they were and internalized the correction to the leak. Multi-tabling--especially a large number of tables--in my opinion, requires that you have internalized your play so that you don't need a lot of time to think through decisions.

It doesn't matter to me whether tables are speed or not when I'm multi-tabling.

[LukeSLTS]

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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.

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Ain't that the truth. If I am only playing on one or two tables then I am highly likely to take on additional tasks to have something to do during downtime. For me, analyzing individual styles of players at my table is too difficult and/or boring to focus on.

[TimovieMan]

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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.

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Ain't that the truth. If I am only playing on one or two tables then I am highly likely to take on additional tasks to have something to do during downtime. For me, analyzing individual styles of players at my table is too difficult and/or boring to focus on.

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QFT

That's why I only played a week or so on a single table. The game got boring really fast.
I'm more comfortable playing multiple tables and having lots of action going on whilst not paying any attention to the hands I'm not involved in. Otherwise I'd probably start to play a lot worse (too loose for instance).

But since you're not really reading your opponents on the spot, it's important to analyze your entire session and make notes on your opponents and their play. Next time you meet them, you're prepared...