How do you all handle multiple tables in SSLHE?

[HoneyBadger]

I can't really keep track of more than 4 tables. As soon as I'm playing more than that, usually either 6 or 8 full-ring tables, I start to miss a lot of information. For example, I'm blissfully unaware of my own table image; I'll happily keep firing that 2nd bullet, and I'll be called all night long because that's what they've been winning on all night; I stop having good reads and only use PT stats, even though the whole table sees this guy bluffs every river, in my eyes it's a 0.3 AF and those don't bluff; even positional play suffers, I start to fail to wickedly c/r the field, or see the difference between the need to bet out or c/r to protect my hand. All these things probably cause a lower win rate. So how do you guys handle it? I often read about people playing 8 or even 12 tables -- or even 26. Perhaps the answer very simple: winrate per table is lower, but absolute winnings per hour are higher? I'm asking this here because there's a big difference between limit and NL when multi-tabling. Limit is much more intense imho.

[Allday Everyday]

Yeah, I've almost always played multiple tables. I've played up to 8 FR. The last month or so I play 3, 4, or 5 tables of short and super-short stuff. Untill recently I somehow still managed to surf the internet in between, and during hands. This is bad practice, and I cut it out.

Yep, WR is less per table, but the earn is higher with a certain amount of tables. Perhaps I could make the same or more money playing less tables, and possibly at a higher limit. But I like to play an extreme amount of hands to get the variance swings (per unit of time) less dramatic. With the amount of hands I play I'm often in and out of a significant dowswing (300BB, etc) within a week. I like a steady amount of poker income.

[Harv72b]

For what it's worth, I'm in the same boat as you. I've never been able to effectively play more than 4 tables at a time and I don't really have much interest in learning to now. For many of the same reasons you mentioned, plus I can only fit 4 standard-sized tables on my monitor w/o overlap (and things look funny to me if I resize tables).

One thing I can think of that would likely help if you do want to add more tables is to add more situational stats to your PAHUD click display (the menu that pops up when you click on a player). This ought to help you keep track of which apparently passive players are capable of bluffing big streets, which players habitually slowplay to the turn, and which guys are showing down any pair, among other things. And of course take mountains of notes when you get a chance during the session, and when reviewing your hands after.

[Bob T.]

I used to be able to play 1 table, and it seemed like 2 was hectic. Then 2 was normal, but it all broke down at 3. After a while, I felt like I could play 4. Sometimes I play as many as 6, and once I had 9 going on my screen at once.

But I feel like I lose track of the game somewhere over 4 tables, maybe 5 if they are full ring. Maybe some day, I will get up to 6 regularly, or 8 or 12, but I think I get enough volume in playing 4, or sometimes 5, and I have a grasp of what is going on in my games. I just don't worry about it anymore. In fact, I figure that I have an advantage over players that play more, because I can usually push them around some, because if I don't push too much, I can probably get them out of some pots that they should play, just because they are too busy to notice that I might be making a couple of more bets than I should when we are in the pot together.

There might be more money to be made playing more tables, but really, there is plenty of money out there that you can capture if you are playing 4. If I was a full time player, I could see that getting the most hands in per day, might make more tables necessary, but I'm a part time player, and even if it is a money making hobby, I think that the enjoyment of knowing what is going on in the game is worth more than making the absolute most money by increasing my volume to the maximum.

[ycjason]

I can usually play 6 tables okay, but the problem is I have a hard time writing down detailed notes while playing that many.

[dudeguy]

i play 12 tables because my debt is high, my bankroll relatively limited and so i need to make the most money with the least amount of financial swing.

it is hectic, which can be fun and exciting too. i see the same players every day and have over 20,000 hands with many players. with them, i have a good idea of how they play and they of how i play regardless of our specific current table images. in fact well over 1/2 the players at any table i play are players i have played at least hundreds of hands with.

however, i'm sure that i am giving up some WR because i can't be too concious of my table image (although somewhat because i position my reduced-size table at different points on my screen to help me remember specific table trends). also, i never have time to use the full HUD pop-up with all the extra information.

overall, i do feel that it is possible to play close to 2BB/100 hand poker even at 12 tables. one thing to consider though is that if i play full time for a month i see the swings usually seen in a year (huge 300BB downswings many months, a 500 downswing every several months), so that can be pretty crazy and emotionally draining to have weeks like that.

overall, if you have the bankroll to play fewer tables and make as much because you are at higher stakes, i recommend it for optimal winrate (although i don't think it is necessarily that much higher) and for less stress. i want to only play one table one day, but i now know that i will have downswings that last for months and might not even break even for the majority of a year based on my 12 table experience. also, there is something to be said for the oppurtunity to learn from a million hands in a year vs. 100,000. i feel like i'm on a crash course in LHE.

[HoneyBadger]

I'll continue playing between 7-9 for a while. I like the fact I'm getting so many hands in. Downswings don't last for ages either. I'm an amateur player, I have another job, but at least I manage to get in between 3-4k hands daily now in the evening. That's quite nice I think. Before I used to play, say, 10k hands a month, and then when it's a downswing you feel like a loser all month.

I'll have to see how it affects my play. It's easy to say I play bad because of the multi-tabling. But do I really? Or is it really a swing like any other that I would have experienced anyhow? Just now I shot up to +80BB in 30 minutes, and an hour or so later I was down at -40BB; that felt like a crappy hour of poker. On the other hand, at only 3 tables it would've been 3 hours and then I'd see it as a normal prolonged downswing. I don't know. I'm in doubt whether I play bad or that it's variance.

I also see different stats now. Over the last session at 9 tables I've turned into a 15/10/2.1 player. I play less hands, and I'm more passive (I usually play about 19/14/3.1). On the other hand, every time I played KK, four people would cold call and an ace flopped; little chance to be aggressive. So I guess I'll have to see how it goes after a month; hopefully I can get some 75k hands in during that time. I'm multi-tabling 2/4 and 3/6 (only...) currently, so I do doubt about 2 BB/100, but anything between 1 and 1.5 would be fine.