Playing multiple online tables ????

I am one of the many players that comes along that thought they knew poker and knew all the tricks. Well reality set in after playing a year online and finally one day taking a hard look in the mirror and facing the reality and truth. Thus my road to enlightenment and knowledge. There is more to reading books and reading forum topics. I have come to truly realize one must understand what one reads and apply it.

Thru the use of statistical software and 2+2 forums and re reading and grapsing what i read and applying it I have gotten to the point where the numbers are beginning to show positive gains.

I am a single table player only up till now but see that many that I am playing with are playing multiple tables.

1. I would think those playing multiple tables have less of a feel of all things going on at the table since action moves quickly and people come and go. For those of you who do play mulitple tables does the little you miss from not watching a single table actually become a gain due to playing solid on multiple tables ?

2. I see some players playing 4-5 tables which can be seen due to slowness of their actions always and verifying it by checking their name. There has to be a limit to information input for playing multiple tables that can cause misreads and thus errors in ones play. So how many tables can be played smartly?

3. Lastly, once I feel comfortable at a limit would it be better to double up on the tables for a time and see if i can keep the same win BB/100 rate or just move up to next limit and play single table?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Respectfully
The Colonel

[EStreet20]

1. If you play small stakses "reads" on players are a bit overrated. Many play with no rhyme or reason at all, thus playing multiple tables and simply playing what people call "abc" poker will win you money. On top of that, it's not nearly as hard to pay attention when playing four tables at once as you may think, especially if you get a monitor (or monitors) with high enough resolution to display all tables at once with no overlap.

2. I play four tables at once without it affecting my decision making. I also am generally still one of the fastest to act at those tables. You get used to playing multiple tables at once. I don't think I could play more than four though, although I know some who play eight, it's just a matter of whether or not a person can process that much info that fast I guess.

3. I guess it depends ont he person and his/her circumstance. If you want to make the most money than obviously being able to play as many tables as possible for you, at a level you can beat that your bankroll is comfortable with leads to the most financial gain. However if the spedd of multitabling gets to you I guess one table is the way to go. I remember adding one table at a time until I eventually got to four and now I haven't looked back.

Good luck,
Matt

[gabbahh]

What previous poster says also holds true for me.
AND when playing multiple tables it is easier for me to play tighter. When playing one table I loosen up, which I do not want to.
Also since I am playing the nano limits I play the cards and rarely the players. And when I am playing 4 tables most of the time I know a big % of the players I am facing, and I have good notes on them.
So I only have to watch the new players closely and make notes about them.
Also after playing at a certain limit for a certain time, your play becomes automatic. This allows me to play more tables.

[Guernica4000]

Playing multiple live tables is a bitch :-)

Seriously, some players are better playing multi-tables at lower limits with an "ABC" strategy. The more tables the less you will be inclined to play K9s (because it is the best hand you have seen in 10 min). I play 4 tables with out a problem of speed. I tried 6 once but it got a little to crazy.

The question regarding adding tables or moving up should be based on your bankroll. Remember that you do not need a bigger bankroll to play multiple tables but you do to move up.

[SomethingClever]

The answer is that it depends. Some players can play 8 tables comfortably... others only 1.

You should be able to gradually add tables as you become comfortable at a limit, yes. This will usually increase your hourly earn (as long as your bb/100 doesn't more than halve).

After a while, it just doesn't take very long to make reads or decisions when you're comfortable at the stakes you're playing.

Finally, do you play NL or limit? I think most would agree that it's easier to multitable limit than NL.

It is so much easier to play limit than NL. Limit is much more about betting/calling for value.

[ipp147]

It depends on what you want.

The most money to be made (from a right now hourly rate perspective) is to add tables until you are comfortable and monitor your BB/100 figure.

If you play for the game and or really want to improve I would play 1 table at a time.

I usually play between 2 and 4 and have a hud running to help supplement my reads.

[EStreet20]

[ QUOTE ]
I think most would agree that it's easier to multitable limit than NL.


[/ QUOTE ]

Good call, I forgot to include that in my response as well as share that other than occasional tourneys I play limit almost exclusively.

[Guthrie]

I lurked on 2+2 for several months before playing online, so I was well aware of multi-tabling. I started out playing one table on Paradise, and moved to two tables within three days, and three tables in the first week and never looked back. I'm now on Stars where two tables are the same number of hands as three on Paradise. I sometimes play two, sometimes three, both regular and high-speed.

As others have said, in the very low limits there isn't really a lot you can get from reads on other players. Plus they come and go so quickly by the time you do get a read he's gone and another has dropped in.

I find myself playing tighter on multiple tables and folding more. One table gets boring and after a few orbits of junk hands the temptation is always there to play marginal hands just to be playing. With multiple tables that's not a problem at all. There's nearly always action somewhere.

One thing I would advise is getting a monitor which will show four tables at once with no overlap. I can't imagine having to wait for a table to pop up. I want to see all the action all the time.

Even playing three high-speed tables, nobody ever waits on me. I use the pre-action buttons for all hands that don't matter, and wait until it's my turn on the ones that do.

The important thing is how does multi-tabling affect your game, and your winrate. If you are winning 2BB/100 on one table, going to two tables will probably not cut your rate to 1BB/100. But even if it cuts it to 1.5, you're still making 50% more money by playing two tables. The trick is to find your own comfort level.

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]
I am one of the many players that comes along that thought they knew poker and knew all the tricks. Well reality set in after playing a year online and finally one day taking a hard look in the mirror and facing the reality and truth. Thus my road to enlightenment and knowledge. There is more to reading books and reading forum topics. I have come to truly realize one must understand what one reads and apply it.

Thru the use of statistical software and 2+2 forums and re reading and grapsing what i read and applying it I have gotten to the point where the numbers are beginning to show positive gains.

I am a single table player only up till now but see that many that I am playing with are playing multiple tables.

1. I would think those playing multiple tables have less of a feel of all things going on at the table since action moves quickly and people come and go. For those of you who do play mulitple tables does the little you miss from not watching a single table actually become a gain due to playing solid on multiple tables ?

2. I see some players playing 4-5 tables which can be seen due to slowness of their actions always and verifying it by checking their name. There has to be a limit to information input for playing multiple tables that can cause misreads and thus errors in ones play. So how many tables can be played smartly?

3. Lastly, once I feel comfortable at a limit would it be better to double up on the tables for a time and see if i can keep the same win BB/100 rate or just move up to next limit and play single table?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Respectfully
The Colonel

[/ QUOTE ]


Well lets assume for the sake of argument that your winrate suffers if you play multiple tables.

A 1BB/100 winrate I would find painfully anemic. (Although any number in the positive beats the pants off of not winning of course). 2 Bb/100 aint too shabby.

So say you're a 2 BB/100 winner and playing multiple tables caused your winrate per hundred to drop all the way to 1 BB/100.

From a purely results oriented point of view, would you rather play one table or four? Would you like to make double what you're making for the same amount of time on just one table or be able to concentrate like a hawk on your one table for hour after hour after hour...

So yeah, I multi-table and I spend exactly Zero time worrying about whether I would be playing better if I just played one table.

--Zetack