Multi-tabling...how do you do it well?

[pokerlaw]

I've been playing low level sit and gos for a few months now and am generally pleased w my play. However, on the very few occasions I tried multi tabling, i have yet to win either one.

what is the strategy for all of you who play 2, 4 or even 8 table at once? Do you start them at the same time? are you watching all the players at the tables as much as possible, or do you play each game w same style, not adjusting as much to opponents? How do you play it compared to when you play one table at a time? Thanks

[spentrent]

Buy-ins: $10+1, $20+2, $30+3
At a time: 4
Staggered: No
Display: 1280x1024 display

Small monitor, so I have to overlap the tables. What I lose from reads, I make up in hourly rate/daily return. It's hectic on those magical occassions where I'm ITM on 4 tables, but I don't find it difficult to figure out what my short-handed opponents are up to.

At these buy-ins, a monkey might be able to 4-table with no reads. The solid low-buy-in 2+2 stizzyle is gold.

One day I hope to have dual 21-inch monitors so I can "comfortably" 8-table but I fear that such might feel like a real job and I will be sad.

I have to throw in a PLO/8 session and a few big multis to get out of the grind feeling as it is.

[Dylan Wade]

I don't know if my ROI would go up if I played one table. I don't have the patience to put in a significant number of touneys (oh, say, 200) on one table.

When I was younger, I used to play real time strategy games very competitively, which require great multitasking, quick decision making, and omniscience. You also learn things like mouse control which help as well. In RTS games, played at a competitive level, your screen is literally flashing all over the place scanning you and your enemies territories. Clicking constantly, scouting, doing many things at once. This type of thing comes naturally for me.

I don't know if that type of ability exists in your average old fogie poker player. I know people who are decent players who can barely get their mouse around to click the cards on one table.

Generally speaking, queuing becomes very important. Although its important to know when to queue. There are times when I will use check/fold, but often it's best to use check only, and in late stages (level 4+) I think queuing is a often a mistake. Knowing 10 key is very important (I find it too risky and slow to use the slider while 4 tabling...except at stars, which 1 click anywhere to the right side of slider= 3xBB--very handy). I can get basic reads on players while 4 tabling, but I think thats a quality I have that many may not have, since I believe this is an advantage of comming from an RTS gaming background. While I four table, I'm constantly scanning my tables (I don't have a good enough monitor/video card to fit them all on one screen). I do not know how big of an advantage that is, though, as I can imagine only a small portion of my profits are a result of "reads"..

By the way, you can still get "instant" reads , without even watching the players. You need a little bit of gut to pick these up, but if you are reading the chat on all tables (I do) then you might get a little consensus from the table. For example, if someone is total LAG, there will almost always be comments comming from people in the text area. Also, someone stack much larger than it should be, making a bold play at you, may be overbetting his hand considerably. Again, just keep an eye on guys with big stacks. Scroll up and look at what size the pots he won are (if it says Joe won 3430 chips, Joe won 3450 chips, Joe won 4050 chips, etc...) then you know Joe might be pushing a little loose here.

I know some people like to stagger their games, but personally I like to fire them all up at once. (Naturally things get staggered, as if I get 5th on one table, and am still playing the other 3, I will restart a 4th table immediately). The reason I like to fire them at once is because I like there to be minimal difference in duration of tourney, this allows me to leave sooner if I need to. If you stagger your games, you will pretty much always have a table that is just starting, meaning that if you need to leave suddenly you're going usually going to have to wait for the time it takes to finish a whole tournament.

One thing that I will say really bites my ass, though, is party poker.. and joining new tables. It seems like everytime I'm clicking on seats, and people are taking them ... I've got actions on three other tables. I really really hate how you join games in PP. Stars has a much better system "Register", instead of taking a seat. I bet party gets enough players who take "their lucky seat" so they have not changed this.....Another thing I hate about party is the game list... Every one in a hundred tourneys I'll accidentally click an Omaha or study tourney. I usually just leave my 11$ there , close the table, mark it down as a 10th place,put a note "forfeit", and fire up another NL HE table. I just can't hang!!!

[pokerlaw]

Thanks for the meaty replies. I never thought of multitabling as akin to computer games, but i can see the analogy. Hope my Phd in multi-player Goldeneye pays off, lol.

Bankroll followup:

If i am going to multitable 2 at once, to start, what bankroll is good for the $10's? My gut tells me $400-$600, but let me know. How much does that change when you shift to 4?

[poboys]

4 at at time, 1600x1200 monitor, so no overlapping. I start them all at the same time.

My strategy is to completely ignore play except all-ins until Level 3. Then I focus on the table with the most conflict each hand.

If you start with 2 and play for a while, it will become second nature, then add a 3rd, then a 4th.

Your ROI will certainly go down when you add tables, but the most important stat will go up... $/hr.

[Barcalounger]

Buy-ins: $20+2, $30+3
At a time: 4
Staggered: No
Display: 1600x1200 display

The biggest drop in ROI I've experienced is from 2 tables to 4. Going from 1 to 2 as a first step should be a minimal drop for an intelligent player. If you're a winning player then the bankroll shouldn't have to change when you add tables. That said, I stick with around 50 times the buyin, and if I get down to 20 times the buyin I will go step down a level. PokerTracker plus PlayerView gives you some help making instant reads. After awhile 4 tabling will become second nature and then you won't be able to concentrate when you're only 2 tabling while experimenting in the $50s.

[wiggs73]

[ QUOTE ]
what bankroll is good for the $10's? My gut tells me $400-$600

[/ QUOTE ]

Anywhere between 220 and 550 depending on how good you are and how confident you feel on a smallish bankroll. I'd generally say between 20 and 50 buy-ins for a level is sufficent, at least at the 10+1s and such. When moving up levels, you'll want to gradually move toward the 50+ buy-in bankroll.

[spentrent]

As a recovering Red Alert addict I definitely agree with your statements about poker multitabling vs. RTS games. Played Red Alert CONSTANTLY back in the dorms in 96. I think I really was sick.

[Myst]

I currently am 10-tabling the $20+2 at Party, PokerNow, and EuroBet (The last 2 being party skins).

My setup is 3 17" LCD monitors, with the resolution at 1280X1024 (there is only slight overlap). I fire up all ten at the same time, and dont start any new ones until the set is complete.

I dont find there to be any considerable drop in my ROI 10 tabling as long as you keep total concentration on all tables. Associating tables by blind structure is VERY important. Once I hit 50/100, I seperate those tables from the others that are still in 25/50 mode and lower. Once the blinds hit 100/200, I seperate those from the 50/100 etc. ZeeJustin was right in saying that 95+% of the time you dont need a read to make the correct move in an SNG, b/c most of the money is won or lost in the utilization of the GAP concept anyway.

So in short, I dont do very much thinking, as my game is, for the most part, on autopilot, and my productivity is increased 2.5x fold with a pretty big hourly rate for the stakes Im playing at (about $60-$70 inc. rakeback: for reference, an ROI of 22.5% + rakeback is needed for $60, 10 tables per hour). The downside to this is that you need a large bankroll to play 10 tables at a time, b/c the swings can be nasty. I keep, at a minimum, 90 buyins, 30 for each site I play at.

BTW, it also helps that I played a lot of first person shooters back in da' day (not to brag, but was #1 on the 1 v 1 ladder on Tactical Operations ladder, a mod for UT ). Add all the porn I look at, and fast hand-eye coordination comes naturally to me [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[onthebutton]

[ QUOTE ]


At these buy-ins, a monkey might be able to 4-table with no reads. The solid low-buy-in 2+2 stizzyle is gold.



[/ QUOTE ]


Where can I find this strategy? I've looked, and picked up bits and pieces, but I haven't seen where someone has laid it all out on one page.