playing more than one

How do you play multiple tables without losing track of whats going on. I do somewhat OK playing two but any more than that and I have trouble keeping up. Yesterday I bit off wayyyyyyyyyyy more than I could handle and had to sit out on one the multiple game.

Before I ever knew trackers even existed, I was regularly doing 4 of Party Pokers freerolls at a time. That was the comfort spot for the monitor I had at the time. It was also before I found CC.

Once I realized I needed help with my game, I found CC, found out about trackers and HUDs, and increased my win rate to the profitable side of the ledger (if we ignore slave wages).

Trackers, and HUDs (Heads Up Displays) keep track of what is dynamically happening at your table. Player 1 is very active, Player 2 is tight, player 3 is playing the same type game as me, etc etc. This info is available right below a players position on the table, right now, and once you know what it is you have chosen to show, you can act on facts.

Popular trackers (with built in HUDs) today are PokerTracker3, and HEM (HoldEmManager).

Both offer trials for free, HEM may still offer a micro version cheaper than a full blown version. I use PT3 and don't know much about HEM.

As of 2 months ago (approximate guess) PT3 was better for tourneys, while many prefered HEM for ring.

Let me add that the conventional thinking is that multi-tabling is a learnable talent. There are several folks here who can do 20 tables at a time. My comfort zone seems to be 6, but I don't do that very often.
Those who do lots say they worked their ways up to those big numbers. There are rumors of 25+ at a time.

The idea is that your win per table will most likely go down because you cannot play optimal poker, however your overall win rate will go up because you are playing more tables.

Play 2 tables and win 2bb/100 hands or a total of 4bb/100.
Play 4 tables at 1.5bb/100 and take home a total of 6bb/100.
Play 8 tables at 1bb/100 and get 8bb/100.

You may not play 'as well', but your overall win is higher.

I just advise everybody not multitasking. Its impossible to pay 100% attention to 2 or more tournaments at the same time. Poker needs 100% attention. Reading other players, knowing who lost at the last hand, knowing players behavior with good/bad cards, who likes bluffing much, whos agressive/tight player etc...

I like two at a time. Any more and I can't get do the web surfing necessary to pass the in betweens boredom.

The question hasn't really be answered so far. Multi tabling is a very worthwhile and profiable skill to learn and it can be learned.

Try doing two tables at the same time first. You'll soon get used to it and it will seem like a breeze. Just act quickly and get in to the flow of things. A big tip is once you've made your action forget about the table, don't keep following the action as it slows you up too much.

Once you feel you are playing good poker and feel comfortable, add another table. Keep doing this until you hit a point where your game starts to suffer. In no time you'll be playing 8 12 or 16 tables and wondering how you could ever have played just 1 or 2 at a time.

I'm upto about 6 comfortably 8 i have to concentrate and i remember when if i had 3 or 4 tables i would panick and lose all my money.

Just another point. This advice is great for cash games as the situation never changes and you can get into the flow and keep making quick standard decisions.

In a tournament all of the above still counts but you may want to try one of two methods for tounament play.

Say you are playing 4 tournaments a reasonable amount as you need to concentrate a bit more in tourneys. You can either play them in batches or keep your number at 4. If you play in batches you load up 4 and keep playing until they are all finished or you are out, then fire up another 4. Or you can keep the total number at 4.

Some people prefer batches as playing tournaments at different levels and swapping mindsets can be hard. It also helps when you are deep in a tournament you are usually only in 1 or 2 and can concentrate. Early on in the boring rounds you have a few tables to help pass the time.

Hope this helps.

i stick with 2 tables at a time.

its more than 1 and it keeps me busy without getting bored.

also if i need to browse the web i can without worrying about missing a hand

question for people who like to play loads of tables at a time. sometimes i'll play three, often with 3 different bookies. software differences get in the way a little bit but its not too horrible to handle. when you are playing a lot of tables at once, is it with the same site? i have like 5 computers but only one of them has windows on it and its a really lousy cheap laptop, and i push it to its limits sometimes. i can share screens easily and use multiple monitors but no poker software runs on BSD, which is fine. but more details on your method from the constant multi-table folks would be appreciated

Anyone try to multi-table with different games? Right now I'm at a Razz, Omaha Hi and HORSE table.

You need those programs to help you watch the table if you play more than 4 tables at a time...
But i think that that you should not play more than 2 or 3 tables.
Otherwise there is no fun in the game at all....

I put a priority on whatever table I need to concentrate more on at the moment, so I stagger the tourneys in case I make it deep in one I can fold more or even sit out awhile in a second. I find two tables helps me concentrate more, since I get bored in long tourneys.

But if you can't play well at more than one, just play one. I got a lot of practice time on no money tables before I started to multitable for money. I tried 3 and 4 tables, but 2 was what worked best.

LizzyJ said:

Anyone try to multi-table with different games? Right now I'm at a Razz, Omaha Hi and HORSE table.

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Yeah I have played a couple 90 person NLHE sngs mixed with some PLO heads up sngs. I usually try to stick with one game and I usually won't mix tournaments with ring game.

I struggled for ages with Multi-tabling.

Now I'm happily playing 4 tables and will be getting a bigger monitor in a month or two so that I can increase this number.

One key point to multitabling, is that you have to play a relatively tight style. Looser styles mean too many decisions, where as tighter styles mean you have less decisions to make and therefore have more time to make them.

As far as I'm concerned, the most profitable hands are the premium ones. The only way to increase your premium hands is to play more tables in a shorter period of time. If I don't play at least 10 tables, I get bored and start trying to make something happen by playing too many hands. It's hard to force non-premium hands into being profitable. Stealing in position is pretty profitable, too -- it doesn't take much time to see when you have the opportunity. Betting and raising almost always make money.

LizzyJ said:

Anyone try to multi-table with different games? Right now I'm at a Razz, Omaha Hi and HORSE table.

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I guess if you can do it profitably on all the different tables and game types, then who is to tell you not to do that? As for me, I want one game type. That way I'm focused on one poker variation and not having to think about all the different games and how to play them. So, I feel you would play better poker if you just picked one game type on all tables you play.

ted80 said:

question for people who like to play loads of tables at a time. sometimes i'll play three, often with 3 different bookies. software differences get in the way a little bit but its not too horrible to handle. when you are playing a lot of tables at once, is it with the same site? i have like 5 computers but only one of them has windows on it and its a really lousy cheap laptop, and i push it to its limits sometimes. i can share screens easily and use multiple monitors but no poker software runs on BSD, which is fine. but more details on your method from the constant multi-table folks would be appreciated

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Some poker sites take a lot of Ram. If your computer can handles it, then go for it. There are times due to CC games and other tournaments I'm in where I have to have more than one poker client open. However, when most people are multi-tabling they are playing one poker client. I would also say most players are multi-tabling ring games. Like someone else said if you have a lot of tournaments going at different stages, that can hurt your decision making process. I can play six tables in ring, and I've never tried more than two tables for a tourney. When I do play tourney's I usually prefer just to play one table.

Once you get used to making quick decisions multi-tabling becomes much easier. I normally play 3 or 4 tables. The biggest suprise to me was that it actually made my play a lot easier because I play less marginal hands. When I play one table I tend to become a lot looser but with 4 tables on the go I tighten up and become a lot better. With more tables you're dealt more premium hands so you don't start getting bored and playing crap you should have folded. My winrate has gone up since I started multi-tabling, I'm not sure if it's because I fold more marginal hands or if I'm just running well at the moment. It could be a bit of both

I don't play poker since a very long time, and I must admit that when I tried to play on several tables, I really had some problems, but I did not use any software or hud, so, as suggests dj11, it must definitely be worth a try !

TriggaLos said:

Some poker sites take a lot of Ram. If your computer can handles it, then go for it. There are times due to CC games and other tournaments I'm in where I have to have more than one poker client open. However, when most people are multi-tabling they are playing one poker client. I would also say most players are multi-tabling ring games. Like someone else said if you have a lot of tournaments going at different stages, that can hurt your decision making process. I can play six tables in ring, and I've never tried more than two tables for a tourney. When I do play tourney's I usually prefer just to play one table.

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ah. i figured most people multi tabling were using the same client, and 99/100 times it was ring. i don't quite think i'm good enough for the ring yet, nor do i have any br's stacked enough where i wouldn't feel like i'm risking too big a hit. i generally play sng's or tourney's though and when i'm playing more than one at once, it means one is just overlapping the other. i feel good about making quick decisions, no problem; but i feel i become more of a robot instead of trying to figure out how people are playing unless its really obvious and sometimes i think its just enough to hurt me...you know, like accidently calling that raise to that guy who had i been paying attention hasn't raised a bet for the entire hour i've been playing at the table.

here's another question, out of curiosity. how often while multitabling ring games do you find you're up against many of the same players on several tables?

ted80 said:

here's another question, out of curiosity. how often while multitabling ring games do you find you're up against many of the same players on several tables?

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Happens quite a bit. When it does happen they are usually on two of my tables, not all four or six. I play a lot at PS, so there are a lot of cash tables. So you'll have a handful of players sitting at more than one of the tables you are sitting at, not big deal really, unless they are a real solid player. Can't say I've ever left a table due to just one player. However, if I can't get anything going on a table, I have no problem leaving and getting a better table.

I like to play at least 2 at once. keeps the boredom to a minimum. I have played up to 8, that is too many for me, 4 is manageable. I will play 4, all starting at close to the same time, and if I get knocked out of one I then only play 3 etc. I don't like to start games while I'm in some already.
I am going to check into the pokertracker.

Stick with 2 tables at once if that is what you are comfortable with. When you get more comfortable with multtitabling then increase to 3. Always stay with your comfort zone.