How hard is it to multitable?

[Kandahar]

To those of you who play several one-table tourneys at a time: Did your winning percentage decrease when you first started doing it? How much harder is it to play two tables than to play one? How long does it take to get good at it?

[Karak567]

I went 2 at a time, then 3, then 4, took me a day to get used to it.

I am now bored out of my skull playing 4 at a time.

I am moving up to 8 once my laptop gets back.

[Iamafish]

You have to know what your doing before you can multi.

Basically make your desicions right when its your turn, thats all.

When you know how to play a SnG, and you are a winner, you can mutli, easily.

[FatalError]

i 8 table with very little stress these days, it gets a little rough and tumble sometimes when you get ITM or bubble area on 5-6 but other than that smooth sailing unless you need to take a piss, this is at 109's BTW

[runner4life7]

I 4 table 22s and 33s and get bored out of my mind, and I have ADD, so I think if you have any focus abilities, and have your stradegy down you will do just fine. Overlap is an issue though. 4 tabling when you can see all the tables and 4 tabling when they all overlap is very different and much harder to have to tab between them.

[Eric Draven]

[ QUOTE ]
To those of you who play several one-table tourneys at a time: Did your winning percentage decrease when you first started doing it? How much harder is it to play two tables than to play one? How long does it take to get good at it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Multi-tabling is something you have to find out about for yourself.

I find it really easy to do 2 tables at the same time, but 3 tables is still hard, I still try to 3 table once in awhile, it's still hard, but it's getting easier... In a few months I might even be four tabling.... Who knows?

[NYCNative]

I prefer to get reads on my opponents and to try different kinds of plays rather than following a handbook which is the only way to consistantly win SNGs when playing more than a couple at a time. I feel that I can learn from trying soem unorthodox things - even unsuccessful ones - and apply them to other games I play.

The goal of making money at SNGs is secondary for me. My goal playing them is to play better poker in an arena where blinds increase because I enjoy MTTs better than ring games but often lack the time for a MTT.

If you want to make a living playing SNGs you have to multi. If you want to be a better poker player, you shouldn't.

[Blarg]

That's a little too cut and dried. Everyone's different. I would be very surprised if most anyone who could obtain some value by concentrating on a single game couldn't manage two just as well with very little time to adapt to it. They may even learn faster, because they simply see more hands go by.

As you add more tables, the likelihood of still maintaining a high attention and awareness level necessarily drops, but how significantly it drops and exactly when is completely individual.

Talking about something like this, the best we can do is say how we feel personally and our own experiences; but we can't extrapolate too reliably on exactly how multitabling will affect anyone else.

[NYCNative]

[ QUOTE ]
As you add more tables, the likelihood of still maintaining a high attention and awareness level necessarily drops, but how significantly it drops and exactly when is completely individual.

[/ QUOTE ]I agree but the key is that it drops. Some people, not as much, but a drop is still a drop. Anyone who says they can play as well on 12 tables as they would on one is lying. Although I certainly feel that someone can play well enough to win money playing 12 tables at a time and that a player with the right mindset and abilities can play better on 12 tabels than some people can play on one. I was answering the question with all things being equal...

[phredd]

How do you handle it when several tables go short-handed? I find that as long as two or three tables are chugging along in the early rounds, I don't have problems, but when the hand rate hits 100+ per hour per table on multiple tables, I start to lose it. One short-handed table and another one or two on the early rounds is OK, but two or more short-handed at once causes me to make mistakes.

Maybe it is just a personal thing, but how do you keep up with that many hands at a time, and still play clean poker? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

Of course, I AM a newb, having done this for less than a year. Perhaps that's all there is to it.

[Blarg]

100 hands per hour per table is exaggerated even for short-handed tables.

[Messy_Jesse]

First, I think that the difference between 1 and 4-tabling is much greater than the difference between 4 and 8-tabling. In other words, it is harder to adapt to the former than the latter. As someone mentioned earlier, it is simply a matter of making faster decisions. Sure, you can't have as great of reads, but when it counts, when it is 4-6 handed, you will have lost a few and will be able to get some reads on players. You'll have enough time to recognize the tight players, the crazy ones, the solid players, and that guy who doesn't know what blinds are. Basically, it just takes a little adjusting and a solid SNG foundations from which to draw on when you have four tables blinking and four marginal decisions.

Jess

[phredd]

[ QUOTE ]
100 hands per hour per table is exaggerated even for short-handed tables.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, but who really cares what the actual number is? The point is that when the playing gets (arbitrarily) fast on more than one table at a time, it is hard to keep up. How do you deal with that?

[runner4life7]

I deal with it by having no life and playing enough that 98% of the time I dont have to think twice on my moves. i.e. I have less than 5xBB im on button folded to me I'm all in, next table...I don't think I try and make any deep reads on players ever because most are too crazy.

[Blarg]

Partly it's experience, because you get used to the pace after a while. Partly it's how your own particular head works, because some people just naturally find it more or less overwhelming than the next guy.

It's also knowledge, though. The more you understand a game, the more obvious a lot of situations are to you. After a while, most of what you do comes to seem mechanical, and it's only the exceptional situations that really stand out. The more expert you are, I would imagine, the fewer situations trouble you or slow you down.

I'm not far advanced in either hold'em or SNG's, myself. But you can play SNG's, and even multitable them, profitably without being anything like an expert at all.

For what it's worth, I think it's probably much easier to learn to multi-table while playing limit hold'em ring games. The pace is more steady, and the game doesn't vary so much. I can play 8 ring games without much difficulty, but anything over 4 SNG's I find distracting and uncomfortable still.

[A_Junglen]

2 is extremely easy. Hell, I do 2 at at time, and get some reading done at the same time w/o a problem. 3 isn't bad, but 4 requires my full attention. I just don't see how some people 8-12 table...that's just ridiculous in my mind. Although I think most people that 8 table+ play limit, and I'd think that'd be a lot easier.

[jgunnip]

[ QUOTE ]
8 table+ play limit, and I'd think that'd be a lot easier

[/ QUOTE ]

There are defintely plenty of people here that do this in NL SNGs. However, I'm not one of them.

[raptor517]

[ QUOTE ]
Although I think most people that 8 table+ play limit, and I'd think that'd be a lot easier.

[/ QUOTE ]

i 12 table no limit sngs. holla

[johnnybeef]

[ QUOTE ]
2 is extremely easy. Hell, I do 2 at at time, and get some reading done at the same time w/o a problem. 3 isn't bad, but 4 requires my full attention. I just don't see how some people 8-12 table...that's just ridiculous in my mind. Although I think most people that 8 table+ play limit, and I'd think that'd be a lot easier.

[/ QUOTE ]

several thoughts here....first off, with an open mind anything is possible. if you dont understand how people can 8 table, you will never be able to do it. 2nd: i 8 table and really didnt have too many problems adjusting. however, i can probably attribute this due to the fact that i waited tables for 4-5 years. playing 8 tables of poker is cakemix compared to coordinating 6 tables full of individual guests. finally i find this statement:

[ QUOTE ]
Although I think most people that 8 table+ play limit, and I'd think that'd be a lot easier.

[/ QUOTE ]

ridiculous, especially if you play in sets. early sng strategy tends to be something that you can almost autopilot. it is very rare to have 8 bubbles going at once, whereas playing ring games you can easily have to play 6 hands on all 5 streets simultaneousy.

[A_Junglen]

Well I don't ever intend to play that many tables..I was just saying that it seemed overwhelming, compared to the 3-4 tables I'm used to.

[The Yugoslavian]

[ QUOTE ]
To those of you who play several one-table tourneys at a time: Did your winning percentage decrease when you first started doing it? How much harder is it to play two tables than to play one? How long does it take to get good at it?

[/ QUOTE ]

EZ!!

Just move up in buyins and play 8 at a time...

While deciding to play 400 in 4 days....

SHIP IT BITCHES!?!?!?!

BWAHAHAWHAHHWAHAWHAWHAH

3u0

Yugoslav

[GrekeHaus]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To those of you who play several one-table tourneys at a time: Did your winning percentage decrease when you first started doing it? How much harder is it to play two tables than to play one? How long does it take to get good at it?

[/ QUOTE ]

EZ!!

Just move up in buyins and play 8 at a time...

While deciding to play 400 in 4 days....

SHIP IT BITCHES!?!?!?!

BWAHAHAWHAHHWAHAWHAWHAH

3u0

Yugoslav

[/ QUOTE ]

Why the [censored] are you Raptor now?!?!?

Also, with regards to the question at hand.

When I first found out people were playing 4 at a time, I didn't really believe it was possible to do so and still have any reads on your opposition. I spent most of my time this weekend 8-tabling SNGs, and have 8-tabled limit as well.

When doing 8 continuous, the toughest part for me is trying to start up a new one when I'm on 4 bubbles at once and the crappy party software doesn't update the lobby quickly enough and you keep opening up stupid tournaments that started 5 minutes ago instead of getting a new one. When you 8-table limit you just click join waitlist and you get a new table as soon as one is available.

Other than that, it's hard for me to evaluate the differences too much because I'm relatively new to SNGs. I'd say limit is easier for me, but SNGs are much easier than I expected. You do occasionally get many playable hands at a time at limit tables, but it doesn't seem to happen so frequently that it's a huge deal. You can also use Poker Tracker and something like PlayerView or GT+ to help keep accurate reads on your opposition, which isn't as useful with SNGs (though still somewhat useful).