Many Multi-Tablers at your table... +EV or -EV

[wall_st]

I mainly play NL and generally try to avoid any multitablers. I think this pertains more to NL, but hand reading of these guys can be really easy after you have played with them for a while. Most of them do not mix up their play AT ALL and their raises sometimes scream what their cards are. Generally these players are weak tight and prone to BIG mistakes if you have been frustrating them with re raises or they have been playing for a long period.

That said I would rather play with a strong multi tabler than a strong single tabler any day of the week.

[47outs]

People play multiple hands at blackjack all the time. This doesn't make them better, it must be some kind of personality trait. I think the BJ/Poker comparison works in this case.

outs

[cianosheehan]

I think it can be fairly easy to determine whether they are good or not. The first thing I would put against them is that they dont have themselves hidden from table search. I think most good players would know to hide themselves from table search, because if the fish decide to search for you and see you have 3 buy ins on 3 tables, they are going to make notes. Also, if the player you are searching for doesnt have a full stack on all of his tables, thats another reason to think he is a multi-tabling fish. Some fish do it, not many, but some.

[pokerswami]

[ QUOTE ]
So I started checking around, fully 50%-60% of the players on my table were multi-tabling.

Are all these players presumed to be pros or winning players?

So does this indicate I'm playing in a shark tank?

[/ QUOTE ]

Recently I have played several times in the $25. max. buy-in Pot Limit Omaha 8/B tables very late at night, actually the wee hours of the A.M.

I was wondering whether the multi-tablers, in general, were more likely to play superior poker or be so distracted that their play suffered. So I got in the habit of searching the players at my table. I only play 1 table at a time, and this can be a very slow moving game, so I've gotten in the habit of doing this search routine every time I play.

I can tell you definitively that at the Party $25. Pot Limit Omaha 8/B tables in the very early morning hours that it is not unusual for all 9 of the other players I am sitting with to either be multi-tabling or be hidden from search. Often it is 6 or so players multi-tabling and 3 hidden from search. I frequently have searched some tables manually and found that some of those hidden from search to be multi-tabling.

I HAVE PLAYED SEVERAL TIMES AT TABLES AT THIS BUY-IN WITH ALL 9 OTHER PLAYERS MULTI-TABLING!

I started a thread a little while back asking for comments on multi-table players' tendencies in this game but got only a limited response (if you're interested you could search my name).

Anyway, my main comment is that if you think Party is a fish tank at low buy-in Pot Limit Omaha 8/B, you're wrong. It's a shark tank. Of course, there are some poor players, but having 2 bad players at your table doesn't make up for having 6 or 7 semi-knowledgeable to better/fearless players as your opponents. It increases your fluctuations, and makes the long run very long.