Why I stopped 4-tabling constantly

[Zeke]

This is a quick observation that has really helped me refine my game and refocus my attention, that I thought might be helpful to other players who may find themselves in a similar situation to the one that I was in.

I have been playing poker online for about a year and a half now, seriously at times and sporatically at others. I recently decided to dive in again and try to really work on improving my game and want to see how far some hard work, reading and my ability will take me. To build my bankroll I've been playing strictly .5/1 party games. At first I eased myself back in with 2 tables at a time, but I quickly made the jump to 4. Now for building my bankroll, this has been excellent. I can easily play winning poker while 4 tabling at .5/1 because of the poor play of many of the players. But what I've recently realized, is that winning poker isn't neccesarily my best poker, and at times probably isn't even good poker. I had picked up all sorts of bad habits from playing 4-tables of .5/1 that I was getting away with because of the attrocious play of many of my opponents. But when I sat down at a single table of 2/4 a couple of nights ago I realized exactly how bad my play had been. Not only had I loosened up considerably to get involved more often with the fishies; but playing 4 tables at once had rendered me unobservant. I was on auto pilot all the time while playing, and when I joined a single game of 2/4 I found that I wasnt paying nearly enough attention to all the action and I wasn't picking up on things that I should be.

So essentially, my new plan is to 4-table to build my bankroll, as it is supremely good at doing that. But every day I play, for some amount of time I am going sit down at a single table, be it .5/1, 1/2 or 2/4 and focus all my attention on that single session and try and play my best poker. So far it has not only given me more confidence, but it has also improved my game while 4 tabling, even if I'm still somewhat on auto pilot.

I hope this hits home with someone else who reads this as well. As I really believe taking this time to play at a single table has been excellent for my game, my confidence and my progression as a player.