Playing multiple SnG's

[Savo]

Thanks in advance for any help on this.
Having recently started to log my results on low cost (5+1 and 10+1) No-limit SnG's, i'm considering starting to play on more than one table at a time. Are there any specific techniques that you can use in order to play this way while following the games? Obviously this also applies to cash tables. I think this is the one area of the game that I haven't really seen discussed, yet is, I guess, a major benefit of playing online. Is it just a case of taking each hand you play in isolation?

[eMarkM]

Stagger your starting times. So start your 2nd one when you're on level III of the first one. This way you play tight in the first couple of levels of the 2nd one just when you're getting to the point in the first one where you're opening up and getting involved. When the first one if over, you're just getting into level 3-4 of the 2nd one and can then start another one.

You don't really want to be at two tables where they're both on the bubble. Two shorthanded tables can be really fast and mistakes can be made, so try and avoid it. I usually don't play more than two simultaneously because three shorthanded tables is really difficult to handle and it's next to impossible to get up and pee /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Oh, and quit playing 5+1, they're a rip off, stick to $10+1 or go to Stars 5+.50.

[heyrocker]

I can only speak for myself, and I'm sure that there are plenty of people that can do this fine, but I know from personal experience that whenever I'm doing anything but playing the one game I'm on, my play and my return suffer. This, again for me, is an undisputed fact I've learned the hard way. For a while I would play an SNG while working, switching back and forth. Or sometimes I would start a new multi while one was finishing. In every case, both the things I was doing suffered for not getting my full attention. I finally just had to live with the fact that until I get rich and turn pro ( /images/graemlins/ooo.gif ) I just have to limit my poker playing to when I can give it my full attention.

So go ahead and try, but pay close attention to what happens to your win rate, and be conscious and honest with yourself about what you can and can't do.

Oh and what eMarkM said about staggering start times is great advice too.

[triplc]

Hi Savo,

I agree with both HeyRocker and eMarkM, but here's my personal take on it. I like to wait until I get a real feel for my opponents at the first table before I start up a second SNG. I usually only do that when I'm pressed for time and want to play 3 or 4 in a couple of hours(of course, sometimes this happens playing one at time /images/graemlins/mad.gif). Thus, at UB, I will wait until I get to 50/100, 75/150, or 100/200. By then, we are usually down to 4 or 5 players, and I usually have a decent read by that time.

Also, this allows me to play up to 200/400 or so before I really need to get interested in the second game, because the first two or three rounds are not typically where I make my move anyway. If I get AA, KK, QQ, AK or maybe other pocket pairs, I'll play, but I'll get away quickly if I don't hit. Once I get to the point in the second SnG where I might try to steal, or want to start setting up an image (not usually super important at these limits anyway) I am usually either out of the first one, or I'm in the top 2 or three and I've got my opponents read as well as I'm going to.

That said, I am much better (especially in ring games, but also SNGs) when I can really watch play carefully, identify the calling stations, maniacs, timid players, and tight/agressive players so that I can make the right moves against those players. I suppose I could call up the hand histories, but that's not easy to do and keep up with what is currenntly happening.

This strategy might not work as well at Party, simply because the blinds increase so fast and your starting chips are smaller, that you typically need to get aggressive earlier. Thus, you will have to tailor this to the particular site at which you are playing. You might need to start up the second one earlier. My system works pretty well for me at UB.

Just want to say that my experience in SNGs is less than 100 played, so take this for what it's worth. eMarkM and HeyRocker are more experienced than I am, so I'd heed their advice before mine.

CCC

[HajiShirazu]

I used to only play one or two of these at a time, and to be honest, did much better than the time when I played three at once. It's very important to be able to realize which players will make the big calls with garbage when you just want to take the blinds. It's also important to see who the gambling morons are-you know, the type that calls off all their chips with pocket tens on an AK8 board and two have already put it in the middle, only to catch a ten on the river, beating AK and 88.

[BradleyT]

I'm sort of the opposite of everyone else who posted. I play at the same limits as you do and play 3 at a time. The play at these levels is so horrible that you don't have to worry about playing tricky at all like others have said.

30% of the players call PF with any two suited. 30% call with any ace. 40% will call all their chips on the flop on a draw. These calls are even after you raise. The BB can still be 15 and I'll raise to 125-150 with AA or KK and get 4+ callers all the time. It's not uncommon to see 6-8 players seeing the flop in early rounds so you don't really have to pay much attention to playing styles.

Just play good cards and trap when you've got a monster and you'll win playing multiple tables at these levels against these idiots.

[Fmonti]

Kind of curious as to how you can play at another table when your down to one on one, your in every hand and decisions are made rapidly? Thought about playing 2 tables at once but don't know how I would overcome this problem, unless of course I never made it to the final two...

[travisand]

I play the $100 SNG's and I was about to create a post asking the same question. I was also thinking of starting to play two SNG's at a time but didn't know how it would tend to effect results. In the past I played two cash games at once but I just don't know about the SNG's. Any opinions? or would you're answer's still be the same for this level as well.

[Stagemusic]

There is a solution that I use occassionally that seems to work. When one table is down to the bubble (5 on Stars 2 table) I then start looking for the next table. Since the tables at Stars fill up slower than those at Party, it usually takes a round or two before you are actually playing the second SNG. If you are following basic SNG strategy you will be playing quite tight in the second one while finishing up the first. Works fairly well on Party as well but I only recommend it when it is very busy and seats are hard to come by.

[triplc]

While I agree that you don't have to play tricky against most of the players, it is really important to identify the (usually) 1 or 2 decent players that you are likely to go up against when it's decision time. Sometimes you won't need to trap with a monster because you are playing an opponent that won't fold (one of these idiots you are talking about). If I don't watch the play, I may trap myself out of a bigger pot because my opponent would have called a bigger flop bet than I put out there.

Also, it's really nice to know when you are playing someone who is very timid, as you can steal more often against them.

I don't think it's a matter of playing "tricky"...you're right...play straightforwardly and most of the time you'll do fine. For me, it's a matter of figuring out how I can exploit each player at the table. And I can only do that if I am observing closely during the early and middle rounds. Once I have at least a preliminary read on various players, and can identify who is likely to give me the greatest challenge, I feel like I can open up another table.

Example: Last night I get JJ in the SB. I raise to 4*BB (200) and get reraised by the big blind to around $900). Now, this player has been minraising all night, and the only other time he made a big open raise he showed down AA. This guy had been typically timid preflop. On most of my steal attempts he turbomucked. I thought for a long time and folded my Jacks and he showed KK. I'm not saying that I'm a terrific reader, but this player was an easy read, and my paying attention to his play paid off. (Sort of...he rivered me twice and took the SNG down...I finished second.)

CCC

[triplc]

When you are heads up, in some ways play gets a little easier. You've been playing your opponent for the entire tourney, so you're read is as good as it's going to get. You only have to consider the relative strength of your hand against one other hand, which is easier. And the fact that the hands go quickly typically means that once heads up, you will finish that tourney before you even get through another couple of rounds in the other one. If you stagger your tourneys so that you are at 15/30 or 20/40 (still a time to play super tight unless you're very short stacked) you will typically only have one or two hands to play while you are rattling off the shorthanded ones in the other.

It is easier, also, to play multiple tables at sites where the blinds escalate slowly. At party, the tourneys go so quick it's harder to play many tables simultaneously. However, there is less impetus to do so because the tourneys are faster, and there are so many of them you can usually get into on immediately after losing (unless the site is so packed that it's hard to get into one because of too much traffic).

Boy, that last statement sure is negative...guess I'm not winning often enough... /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

CCC