Concentration

I'm learning quickly that you should really be concentrating on your table and not watching TV, chatting on messenger etc in between hands. This helps you make notes on the players around you.

The thing that confuses me is that quite a few people are playing on more than one table at a time. I've tried this and it just leads to meltdown!

How does everyone manage while playing more than one game?

When you fold a hand on one table, you play another hand at another table. This prevents you from being bored. When you bored, it leads to watching tv using the IM and surfing the web for porn (did I say that out loud?).

But how do you get a good read of the players around you on both tables?

I think when you're multi-tabling, you have to concentrate more on your cards than player reads. To me it would seem that playing multiple games would force you to play only premium hands. Take this with a grain of salt, since I myself have a hard time multi-tabling, and usually never do it.

If I were you, I would forget about multitabling unless and until you are very good indeed. Most of the guys you see multi-tabling at low-stakes tables are doing it from boredom, exactly as you say, and they aren`t good enough. I always make a note of them and I usually find I can take their chips easily (at one table).

As JQ says, they will be playing the cards straight and not watching the play. They will fold to your raise unless they have the nuts. If they play back at you, you know to lay it down. You can read them like a book.

Try this trick - have one of their other tables open and keep an eye on it. Whenever you see them playing a pot at the other table, you can steal their blind at yours and they`ll give it right up, even if you`ve got 72o.

The only good reason to multitable is because you`re crushing the game at that level, making loads of money and are ready to move up a level. Playing a second table at the same level is an alternative to consider against moving up. The object is to increase your hourly rate.

If you are bored, listen to the radio. You can do that while still keeping your attention on the game. Don`t listen to head-banging music though, it tends to put you in an impatient/aggressive mood and this affects your play. A chat show or some chillout music is best.

Personally, I quite often read a poker magazine while playing online. I find I can manage to do this still while keeping a pretty good eye on the game, and it`s a reinforcement of the poker-playing mood, rather than a distraction as TV would be.

I two-table (STT SnGs, not cash games) pretty much exclusively and have success, but any more tables than that would definitely be detrimental to my game. I can't imagine being more successful playing 3, 4, or more tables at once, but there are people that can, and hats off to them.

It took me a while (weeks or so) to be able to play just two tables at once without any real drawbacks, because player reads is of course a part of my game. I think if you're very TAG early on, reading others in the earlier stages is less of a factor than it would be if you were more LAG. It's not until I'm 5 or 6-handed in each game, generally, that reads become a lot more important for me, so it's not a completely overwhelming number of people to keep track of. Multi-tabling 10-player Cash games would probably be a lot more difficult since you want a read on the whole table at all times.

The bottom line, I think, is whether you're more profitable multi-tabling or not. I'm sure there are some people who are profitable playing one table, but playing two or three at once adversely affects their game so much on each table that it isn't profitable. I'd suggest multi-tabling at micro limits if you want practice at getting better at it.

yeah i try to make note of players at my table that may be playing more than one table. if you see that person play a hand at your table, you can more often assume that they are playing decent cards.

Another little trick that`s worth trying:

If you`re in a pot with a multi-tabler, play real slow. Use every second of your time allowance. You`ll spoil their rhythym. They will have other windows needing their attention and can`t afford to spend too long on your game.

With any luck you`ll induce what stealthy calls "meltdown"

Everytime i`d multi-table i would lose on every site im playing, so i dont do it anymore, you have to concentrate on what everybody is doing at the table or you will lose in the Long Run,, >>>>>>>>>> buck

The most i've played at once is 5 tables and i did well in all of them. I always just concentrate on the cards. If i'm playing only one table i've either got music going or i'm watching T.V. I've always done that and it seems to work for me IMO.

There are 4 golden rules for multi-tabling :-

1) Dont mix your games (ie If you have 4 tables going, make sure they are all the same game. eg all PL Omaha Hi-Lo)

2) Dont mix vastly different buy-in levels (eg dont have a $22 going in one table and a $215 in another)

3) Dont mix any tables which are short-handed with tables that are full.(the decisions will come too rapidly at the short-handed table, and need finer attention).

4) Only play games you have truely mastered. IE games where you have played so much volume that nearly all decisions are instinctive and therefore can be made without a seconds thought.

If you choose to ignore any of these rules you are essentially asking for trouble in the long term.

Welly

Porn? There's porn on the internet? Damn, learn something new every day.

that is a great tip egon.

I usually (bordering on "always") play three tables. I can't say that my "rhythm" would be spoiled by anyone timing out or playing slowly. It's not like I play the tables in order, I simply attend to the table where my attention is needed the most, and if it's not yet my turn to act on the table I won't even really notice it until it is.

Deliberately slowing the game down will likely piss some of the people who actually are playing only one table off, though. I don't so much care, I have other tables that keep me busy, but those who only play one game will usually start boiling and you'll see remarks like "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" and "oh ffs!"

Best way to beat me? Play better than I do. I raise preflop with ~17% of my hands, adjusted for position, so you know my range. I almost never coldcall preflop, except for in the big blind. I checkraise the flop pretty often if I'm in the BB. I continuation bet very often if I raised preflop. I sometimes raise or checkraise the flop with very strong hands, I sometimes wait until the turn. Most of this can be done without any reads whatsoever on the other players, but while playing three tables I still keep notes on most of my opponents.