If we play MTT we will have to put large volume of play to overcome the variance they have, normally online poker players tend to play multi-table and many of them decide to open more than 10 tables at the same time, but also use support software, which I have never done and at the moment I don't think I use it. This has the consequence that I can only open a few tables, at most 6, but it gives me the opportunity to have more presence in the game, having more personal character, with greater capacity to analyze my rivals and the table in general, what which leads me to make better decisions in every situation of the game. I think that for an mtt player, support software can be helpful, but much more important is not losing the presence in the game. What do you think?

Originally Posted by BRANCASLIM

If we play MTT we will have to put large volume of play to overcome the variance they have, normally online poker players tend to play multi-table and many of them decide to open more than 10 tables at the same time, but also use support software, which I have never done and at the moment I don't think I use it. This has the consequence that I can only open a few tables, at most 6, but it gives me the opportunity to have more presence in the game, having more personal character, with greater capacity to analyze my rivals and the table in general, what which leads me to make better decisions in every situation of the game. I think that for an mtt player, support software can be helpful, but much more important is not losing the presence in the game. What do you think?

Open a lot of tables, lose your concentration

How do you beat the variance if you don't play many tables?

For me comfortable playing 4 tables, more to lose concentration.

I feel too boring if I have less than 8 and not any end-games going. I normally play 12-14 MTT at the same time. I have laptop where's all the lobbys open and 32" screen where's all the tables. 16 tables is the maximum what fits to the screen.

I'm good with 3 to 6 tables at Pokerstars. Depends on how alert/awake I am at the time. A lot depends on the poker client software. Some other sites I find the table appearance/contrast to be so poor that I can barely manage one table at a time. My eyesight isn't the best even with my glasses.

For my 4 tables, it is appropriate in cash or tournaments. If I open more, I get confused and start playing badly.

I agree with everyone, I like to play 4, but I have added one more monitor to my notebook that has a screen of 14 and I played for a time of 8 tables. But I prefer to be more attentive to the action! Good luck to you all!!

The true answer to this will be what you feel comfortable with as far as how many you should have open. Its a different answer for everyone and the only way to know is to guess and test. Many players seem to like 4-6 which I think is fine for cash but I personally like only 2-3 open at one time if playing tournaments. Just easier for me to keep track of things. Even with 5 or 6 tourneys open I feel I am missing things that are detrimental. Go with what you feel comfortable with but at the same time also try to play as many at once as you can while still feeling comfortable.

More than two I cannot play with focus and take the right decisions . Maybe two good buy in tournaments (one of them maybe cash game occasionally ??) , the other ones (one or two more ) just freerolls (not caring so much for the lack of concetration or mistakes in them . ) . I noticed it recently in a series in bwin/partpoker lobby , my concetration with 5, 6 ,, or more buy-in tables was not good at all , the decisions and the outcome /results were not satisfactory by all means overall .
This is probably because I have to think very much for spots/occassions , were most of the players have complete strategies/moves/push-fold-call made decisions due to experience or having studied push/foldcharts , or other stuff (books,threads , etc)

I currently play no more than 4 tables. But I watched the players who played 16 tables. These were quick tables and there often went to allah.

Originally Posted by BRANCASLIM

If we play MTT we will have to put large volume of play to overcome the variance they have, normally online poker players tend to play multi-table and many of them decide to open more than 10 tables at the same time, but also use support software, which I have never done and at the moment I don't think I use it. This has the consequence that I can only open a few tables, at most 6, but it gives me the opportunity to have more presence in the game, having more personal character, with greater capacity to analyze my rivals and the table in general, what which leads me to make better decisions in every situation of the game. I think that for an mtt player, support software can be helpful, but much more important is not losing the presence in the game. What do you think?

It really just depends on how fundmentally sound you are, along with how fast you can decipher HUD stats. There was a time I could play as meny as 12 without timing out. I stopped playing online as much, focused on live play for about 6 months. Now I can play about 6-10 without timing out, but I like to stay around 4. 4-5 is my sweet spot that allows me to still be able to focus on Vil Player types, and able to exsploit weakness in thier game. Anything outside of that is a very standard ABC game.

I think the number of plays such depends entirely on the player's preferences! Personally, I love the thoughtful game for no more than 6 tables. You can take good decisions (bad one that is difficult to fill a greater distance, and as a consequence of the strong influence of the dispersion)!

3 Tables is my maximum any more and I lose concentration.

Playing to many tables will increase your variance in some ways. You will not be able to play as well as you could if playing 1-2 table missing opportunities and worse still making mistakes as you play.

Honestly, I play my best poker at one table when I can think through decisions carefully, but online sometimes you have to multi-table to take advantage of big tourneys, satellites, etc. often scheduled at the same times. I can handle up to three tables without getting lost. Anything more than that and I feel like I'm just clicking buttons. For others, some people can play 16 or 32 tables and be profitable. More power to them, but its not for me.

Patrick Leonard (pads), one of the best online MTT players, told that it's better to play fewer tables, but be concentrated on the action and your opponents, so you can adjust and make better decisions, than to play the higher number of tables with ABC-game and making fast, standard decisions.

For me it's comfortable to play 6 tables.

I prefer 3 to 4 at most.