Why do people play a lot of tables at one time

samircyber9

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Man I tried an Experiment tonight and boy was it a failure, I just kept on opening up table after table after table, after table, and I must say that eventually I hit a number of tables which I couldn't fit it all on my screen at 1 time so I then had to force myself to do it and play like that , damn i had hard time keeping track and focuse of what i'm doing
 
DanS87

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I've tried multi-tabling a couple of times. It's never gone well for me either.

I can imagine that as you play more and more poker, and you can start making regular decisions quickly, almost on auto-pilot, then playing multiple tables may become easier.

That said, some people are just better at evenly and effectively dividing their attention, so I would imagine that, that would help in that situation as well.
 
daddybrooks

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If you stick to your range in positions and don't speculate, multi tabling is a way to level out the variance much faster. Also true that it doesn't get boring, as you're constantly going from table to table if you're playing 12 or more. If you like to say "wtf, i'll raise this j,8o from utg, nobody will suspect it" and cbet no matter the flop, maybe multi tabling won't treat you as well..... ;-P
 
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acemenow

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First of all this is usually done by pro's example: Jonathan little will play upwards of 15 tables at a time. Many poker coaches (also pro/semi pro) will do this. The reason as explained to me though I am probably misrepresenting the statement accurately is that you do this in order to reduce variance.

The players that do this consistently and have winning stats study this game and their hands a lot. And take the game very seriously. One guy I know semi/pro studies and coaches many hours a week, upwards of 20 because he also has a full time job.

In addition, instead of just opening a ton of tables his approach is to have strategies in place that allow him to make decisions within seconds. Generally he plays his hands consistently, has a Hud and adapt when necessary depending on his opponents stats.

I don't remember the actual numbers he used but as it was explained in a webinar I was in, a winning player is going to lose x amount of time, and by playing this many games at a time cuts his variance quite a bit. I am not mentioning his name because I do not want to misrepresent what he stated to me but if you check out Johnathan little he discusses this somewhere in one of his webinars unfortunately I can't find the webinar after using google.

But the idea is to spend plenty of hours working on your game get more than just the fundamentals down, develop a strategy and then implement that strategy on more and more tables. You can start with two and move up from their as you get more comfortable.

This is from pokerology regarding stats and variance;

The realities are:
  • Even the top pros only win tournaments less than 1% of the time. For some it was as low as 0.60%. So this means they are winning only 1 out of every 100 times. Of course variance doesn’t always come on schedule and they can go 200-300 tournaments without a win.
  • Top pros only final table around 3% of the time. Some are as low as 2%.
  • Top pros are only cashing about 13% of the time. This means they lose money 87% of the time they play! In fact, amateurs cash more often than pros. The difference is that when pros do cash, they cash deep more often.
    pokerology
 
black and

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With experience, you will be able to stay focused and play at several tables at once. Previously, I also could not play more than one table, but now I can easily play 3-4 tables at a time, and I have pretty good results.
 
ChrisCreys

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It's all about practice! With time people tend to get the feeling to play multiples tables, it was my case.

I belive that people do that because in online poker you have to volume to have results! And the best way to volume is openning the biggest number of tables that you can play with the right attention.
 
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mrc1988

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Man I tried an Experiment tonight and boy was it a failure, I just kept on opening up table after table after table, after table, and I must say that eventually I hit a number of tables which I couldn't fit it all on my screen at 1 time so I then had to force myself to do it and play like that , damn i had hard time keeping track and focuse of what i'm doing


2 tables on zoom is perfect for me. I make about 6bb/100 on those. On cash games it's closer to 8bb/100 but I only play about half the hands. So over time it always checks out for me to play zoom.

3 tables on zoom in my hand histories you start to see some very questionable play. I've found 2 tables to be perfect. In cash games it's just too slow for me.
 
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77ecos

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the ideal is to play with the number of tables in which you don't lose focus or concentration, I usually play 6 at a time and I have to watch them, when I've played more and I don't see them it's terrible, I let important situations pass by not be attentive, an example sometimes enter a hand for a bounty of a player who is all in or is going to be with the minimum number of chips, and that is just one example, I do not realize the way others play, etc. For me it is essential to be seeing the tables to have all the information:jd4::jd4::jd4::jd4:
 
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alien666dj

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People play many tables at the same time to increase the chances of winning. In order to have time to respond to all the tables, they determine in advance the standard situations in which they will make the fastest possible decision.
 
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shopwert

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Start by playing two tables. When you feel comfortable with that and have plenty of time for decisions, add one more table. Repeat.
The final number of tables will be influenced by the skill of your competitors and your own. You’ll notice there different levels of play, not only at different stakes, but also due to:
Time of day.
Day of the week.
The seasons.
Holidays.
Any number of factors.
In the end, aim for an average number that works for you. Go up or do depending on how the tables are running.
Good luck.
 
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waynaldo009

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I can have pretty good results up to 4 tables. Anything after that I feel I am rushing my decisions.
 
Alex70793

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It's simple, the more tables you play at the same time, the more you can win, well, of course, taking into account that you are a good player, you also need to have powerful auxiliary software for such a game, and also be able to keep yourself in concentration for a long time.
 
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fundiver199

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Multitabling has two purposes:

1) Increase your hourly winrate
2) Avoid boredom

Of course its important to find your sweet spot and not overdo it. At some point your performance will start to decline so rapidly, that your hourly winrate goes down and eventually might even become negative. And of course if you are not even a winning player to begin with, then adding more tables will just cause you to lose your money faster ;)

The sweet spot will be different from player to player. Maybe its 15 tables for Jonathan Little, because he was playing professionally online for several years. But for most amateur players like myself its probably somewhere around 3-6 ring game tables, or alternatively 1-2 Zoom tables or heads-up tables.

It also depends on, what equipment you are using. On a phone you probably want to stick to just 1 table. On a laptop up to 4 is fine, maybe occationally 5-6. Anything more than that and you should be using a 2 monitor set-up, so that you can watch all your tables at the same time. Otherwise your performance will start to decline to much, and you might even end up doing things like accidentally sitting out on a table without noticing it (been there done that).
 
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LetterRip

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Man I tried an Experiment tonight and boy was it a failure, I just kept on opening up table after table after table, after table, and I must say that eventually I hit a number of tables which I couldn't fit it all on my screen at 1 time so I then had to force myself to do it and play like that , damn i had hard time keeping track and focuse of what i'm doing

You have to build up slowly.

Some players have their strategy down well enough that they can play 20 tables at a time.

The reason players massively multitable is that a slightly lower winrate per table, but far more tables is usually much more profitable per hour of play.


Also some players earn 'rakeback' - a percentage of your total rake paid back to you from the cardroom based on number of hands played.

4 tables is usually pretty easy to maintain good focus on even for recreational players after a modest amount of experience and practice.

For me I can do 4-6 and maintain decent focus; but for my best play about 2.

9-12 I fall behind too easy and can't evaluate tables very well at all and easily make dumb mistakes.

Of course it depends on how many people are at the table - 9 max tables I could probably handle more tables.

Also HUDs can make multitabling drastically easier since you don't have to spend as much time establishing reads and taking notes.
 
afecho

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I only play multi-tables if a freeroll is bumping into my current game. I don't like playing more than one table because I can't get a read on the people at my table at all. I end up just playing my cards and do better if I learn the other players. I use 2 monitors when playing multi-games which I find very helpful to focus on the game I'm doing better at. Monitors are so cheap now that I highly recommend adding a second one if you don't already have one.
 
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tyktyk

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Yes, everything is simple, you do not need to wait for some combination of cards, do not press on one steel 10-15 hands in a pass
 
Sintubai

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I usually play 4 tables at the same time.. playing more at one table is good to have more game volume, of course if you're used to it, and you don't lose focus of the games.. having this already planned makes a lot of difference instead of opening new tables randomly in my opinion.. GL
 
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I play multiple tables because I know that I don't have patience to only play one table per session. But I rarely play more tables that can fit my screen, so, for me the maximum are 6 tables.
 
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digdug0037

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its not easy, but 1 way to deal with varience. The more hands you play will likely reward you somewhere.
 
wagon596

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I get bored, then start playing to see flops with trash cards.
 
StomatologT

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Man I tried an Experiment tonight and boy was it a failure, I just kept on opening up table after table after table, after table, and I must say that eventually I hit a number of tables which I couldn't fit it all on my screen at 1 time so I then had to force myself to do it and play like that , damn i had hard time keeping track and focuse of what i'm doing

It is more profitable to play at several tables, but of course not to make an absurdity of it and open five or six tables. Two or three tables are more than enough. But of course it's done by those who are bored at one table, who can easily cope with it and catch all the information from all tables. We are all individual, so look for what you are more comfortable and easier, and find it. Don't forget to have fun!:D
 
Poker Orifice

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Man I tried an Experiment tonight and boy was it a failure, I just kept on opening up table after table after table, after table, and I must say that eventually I hit a number of tables which I couldn't fit it all on my screen at 1 time so I then had to force myself to do it and play like that , damn i had hard time keeping track and focuse of what i'm doing



Because they can!
 
Stringy

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I tried playing 2 tables during the sat freeroll, and couldnt concentrate enough. I find i just become super aggressive on one table
 
jrgum25

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I play one table at a time usually just because as you say it's harder to concentrate when you're multi tabling. I occasionally try to play more than one table at a time but it usually doesn't go well for me so I stick to one table. You have to do what makes you comfortable so if you find you can play well playing more than one at a time I say go for it.
 
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