Multi-site play....

I play on several sites and was wondering if a strategy for play I was thinking of was a good idea. I really would like to be a well rounded player. What I mean is I would like to learn how to play all forms of poker effectively and profitably. I thought about using my smaller bankrolls(2 for around $20 to $30) for learning Sit n Go play. For the sites I have larger BRs on(around $60 on 2 sites) I thought about cash game and small buy-in tournament play. What do you guys think of this? Is it counter-productive? Should I just concentrate on one at a time? I don't know...I just know I get bored with one form and get the itch to try others. Thanks

Yeah, me too! Unfortunately I'm still working on learning to play ONE form of poker profitably and effectively. Seriously though, pretty much the standard line is find the game you enjoy the most or are the most naturally suited for and spend most, if not all, of your time focussed on that. It can get a little boring though, so I take your point. I don't really see the need for different bankrolls on different sites though.

When I play my main game (in my case full-ring NLHE) I just play at my normal stakes and on my normal number of tables. When I get bored or feel I just need a quick change of pace, I see no particular need to change sites etc. I just drop way down in stakes and go play a little Draw/Stud/PLO8 or some very small buy-in STTs or MTTs. But that is all just for a change of pace.

90% (at least) of my time/effort/play/study and bankroll are reserved for my main game. I can't even imagine how much time someone would have to have to do justice to the study/practice required to maximize your skill in every game.

I think it really depends on what type of player you classify yourself as. If you are more than just a recreational/hobby player and you want to really make a run at poker, then I would probably say this is not the best idea. However if you are just a recreational player, I really don't see the harm in it. I am like you and I get bored with one type of play, and tend to switch it up. I don't feel like it will make you any worse of a player to do more than one. Practice even when it's not focused and deliberate is still practice, and you can always take some sort of lesson away from a session on any type of game.

I FIND PLAYING ON MULTIPLE SITES COUNTER PRODUCTIVE
IF YOU PLAY ON 1 SITE YOU GET A GOOD FEEL OF HOW THE CARDS COME OUT FOR EXAMPLE POKER STARS FORMAT SEEMS TO REWARD THE AGGRESSIVE PLAY BUT PKR REWARDS THE BIGGER STACK SO YOU CAN ALTER YOUR GAME ACCORDINGLY TO THE SITE BUT YOU HAVE TO PLAY ON THE SITES FOR A GOOD WHILE TO PICK UP ON THE SLIGHT DIFFERENCES

I'll definitely agree there. Sometimes, when I'm feeling impatient at the NL Holdem tables, I'll just got play RAZZ for a bit. Helps me to remember to wait on good starting hands.

Well, after chasing aournd a lot of different types of games, I settled on one type of poker MTT NLH and only play that now. I play at Cake, City, and PDC. Cake is the most fun so far, and the tourneys are good. I think you have to go slow, and master one thing at a time, one site at a time, then branch out. I don't get bored because when I play, I try to figure out as much as I can about the other players at the table as they play, and then make notes about them, this helps me out a lot!

Agree on the note-taking. I find that if I use any spare time at the tables for that, it's a big help. I'm curious though, Lizzie, are you multi-tabling while taking notes? I can handle about 4 tables at a time and still have time to make notes, but much more than that and I just don't seem to have the time to make good notes and still keep up with the play on the other tables.

Are you serious ? No poker site rewards any stack or playing style ...LOL !

I am not comfortable with multi-table efforts. Not good at it I suppose. I find note taking beyond one table is just too hard for me to do. Good luck in your efforts.

Thanks. I used to have trouble with taking notes on more than one table too. But, over time and through abbreviating most of the notes I want to make I find I can now handle 4 tables, but can't seem to get any higher while taking notes.

Part of the problem is I play on a laptop with the tables stacked. Invariably if I add more than 4 tables another table will require an action from me while I am trying to make a note on a different table. The way I have things set-up, this means that the table requiring some input from me pops to he top of the stack and interrupts my note taking - very frustrating.

I have thought of staying at just 4 tables, or maybe even dropping down to fewer tables, but moving up in stakes to keep my hourly win rate up. Don't know if that is a viable solution or not. I have also thought of trying a third-party program like Table Ninja to, hopefully, facilitate easier multi-tabling while taking notes. Anyone here use this program? What's your opinion of it?

If I find myself getting bored of playing poker or a certain style, I usually find myself playing worse. For this reason it's important for me to mix it up. Dropping to super low stakes once in a while to try something different may be a good idea -- I think using your different bankrolls on different sites could be a good way of managing things. If you are disciplined enough, you could also just keep a strict record of things for yourself in an excel file or use a paper ledger.

This might not be applicable to your situation -- as I'm not sure how new you are to the games you want to try. However, if you are just starting out with a new game that you have never even played before, it's probably a better idea to familiarize yourself with it via playchips. The same thing goes for when moving to new software.

Sometimes it's good to have a fair amount of playchip reserves so you can test things out on people. This can be a new game you are learning or a new strategy/style you want to test. The top rungs of playchip play can sometimes have regs and players that are better than the lowest rungs of real money play.

I too get tired of just one game (sometimes) and have to take a break. I do not try and play several different games at the same time but do multi table with NLH.

My primary poker game is NLH and I come back to that all of the time but when I take a break I only play at one table for 5cd, razz and 2-7 single draw. I enjoy a game of one of these sometimes but my heart is in NLH.

I play the other games the best that I can but I have not made an effort to become as good at them as I have NLH.

In my case, if I tried to play several different types of games at one time, I would mess them all up because I would not have to time to really think about which is which. I have tried this and it really does not work for me.

If you want to be a profitable player then I say find a site that you like and will give you a decent bonus system for lower stakes and grind it out at one site.