Should I multi-table or focus on 1 table only?

[LeChatPotte]

Hello, here's my situation: I'm starting out in poker and have had some good results in MTTs, but they're not as good as I'd like. I feel like I make too many mistakes, not because of my hands, but because I don’t know enough about the players. The problem with MTTs is that it's hard to get to know the players since you have to focus on multiple tables. To improve my game—since my goal is to win a tournament, not just to make money, or at least to make it to the final table—should I work on my overall game and continue playing MTTs, or should I play just one table and focus solely on that?

 

[Poker_Mike]

Hello, here's my situation: I'm starting out in poker and have had some good results in MTTs, but they're not as good as I'd like. I feel like I make too many mistakes, not because of my hands, but because I don’t know enough about the players. The problem with MTTs is that it's hard to get to know the players since you have to focus on multiple tables. To improve my game—since my goal is to win a tournament, not just to make money, or at least to make it to the final table—should I work on my overall game and continue playing MTTs, or should I play just one table and focus solely on that?

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[fundiver199]

Not quite sure what you mean by "focus on multible tables?" In an MTT you are playing against the people on your own table. What happen on other tables is not really important except on the final table bubble. Only then it is reasonable to open up the other table as an observer and see, if you can pick up some reads, or if someone is just about to bust, so that maybe you can secure a payjump by delaying the action a bit. But the rest of the time it does not matter, what happen on other tables, and you should basically ignore it.

 

[LeChatPotte]

Not quite sure what you mean by "focus on multible tables?" In an MTT you are playing against the people on your own table. What happen on other tables is not really important except on the final table bubble. Only then it is reasonable to open up the other table as an observer and see, if you can pick up some reads, or if someone is just about to bust, so that maybe you can secure a payjump by delaying the action a bit. But the rest of the time it does not matter, what happen on other tables, and you should basically ignore it.

Yes, I know I'm playing against players at my own table, but I'm actually wondering if I should play multiple tables—for example, play 4 tournaments at the same time, so 4 tables—or if I should focus on a single tournament, so just one table?

I'm also wondering why poker players choose MTTs instead of just playing a single tournament?

 

[fundiver199]

MTT means Multi Table Tournament, which is a tournament consisting of more than one table. So for instance an 18-man SnG on pokerstars is an MTT, because players start on 2 tables with 9 players each. And then when its down to the final 9, the tables are merged to just one, which is then called the final table. What you are talking about is multi-tabling, which means playing more than one game at once. This can be done in all poker formats online including cash games. But for obvious reasons it can not be done in live poker.

The advantages of multitabling is, that you are able to get in more volume, and you are less likely to get bored. The disadvatage is, that your performance might go down, because you are not paying full attention to all the action on each table. All winning online players multitable the vast majority of the time. But if you play for fun, or you are new to the game, its completely fine to only play a single table. Just do whatever you feel most comfortable with and enjoy the most

 

[Pokerpoet2]

Fundiver199 gives an excellent example on what you are trying to do, Playing Multiple Tables at the same time is Really hard if you consider that as you state you are a beginner at Poker, It is not possible to give your full attention to each table While you have multiple tables running at the same Time.
My best advice is to concentrate on Single Table games and play one at a time, until you feel more proficient at the game,
Remember "Rome wasn't built in a Day" it takes time to hone your Poker skills, I have been playing for over 20 years and although I have tried Multiple Tables, I didn't enjoy the games that much and didn't do that well overall, I had better results playing Single tables at a slower pace, Yes I know it is Time consuming but do you want to get better at Winning or Losing?
With Poker variance you will have days where you cannot Win no matter how good you play, It's just not possible to Win every game you enter, On other days you might Win every game you enter or at least cash in every game, I know I have, but I don't consider myself to be a great Player,
A Profitable Player I am, and I can prove that with a bankroll that increases over Time but I don't get upset when I have a bad run and start smashing things like my Laptop or Computer Screen, Learn from your mistakes and give every game your fullest attention, It is easier to do when you play one table at a time, and you can spot the holes in your game play and Plug them.

 

[LeChatPotte]

Fundiver199 gives an excellent example on what you are trying to do, Playing Multiple Tables at the same time is Really hard if you consider that as you state you are a beginner at Poker, It is not possible to give your full attention to each table While you have multiple tables running at the same Time.
My best advice is to concentrate on Single Table games and play one at a time, until you feel more proficient at the game,
Remember "Rome wasn't built in a Day" it takes time to hone your Poker skills, I have been playing for over 20 years and although I have tried Multiple Tables, I didn't enjoy the games that much and didn't do that well overall, I had better results playing Single tables at a slower pace, Yes I know it is Time consuming but do you want to get better at Winning or Losing?
With Poker variance you will have days where you cannot Win no matter how good you play, It's just not possible to Win every game you enter, On other days you might Win every game you enter or at least cash in every game, I know I have, but I don't consider myself to be a great Player,
A Profitable Player I am, and I can prove that with a Bankroll that increases over Time but I don't get upset when I have a bad run and start smashing things like my Laptop or Computer Screen, Learn from your mistakes and give every game your fullest attention, It is easier to do when you play one table at a time, and you can spot the holes in your game play and Plug them.

okay thank for the advice

 

[LeChatPotte]

MTT means Multi Table Tournament, which is a tournament consisting of more than one table. So for instance an 18-man SnG on PokerStars is an MTT, because players start on 2 tables with 9 players each. And then when its down to the final 9, the tables are merged to just one, which is then called the final table. What you are talking about is multi-tabling, which means playing more than one game at once. This can be done in all poker formats online including cash games. But for obvious reasons it can not be done in live poker.

The advantages of multitabling is, that you are able to get in more volume, and you are less likely to get bored. The disadvatage is, that your performance might go down, because you are not paying full attention to all the action on each table. All winning online players multitable the vast majority of the time. But if you play for fun, or you are new to the game, its completely fine to only play a single table. Just do whatever you feel most comfortable with and enjoy the most

I play seriously, but I think that playing multiple tables and not focusing on the players, thereby playing less effectively, might be less profitable than concentrating on one table and focusing fully, right?

 

[fundiver199]

I play seriously, but I think that playing multiple tables and not focusing on the players, thereby playing less effectively, might be less profitable than concentrating on one table and focusing fully, right?

With experience you dont give up much winrate by adding a few more tables, and you are able to get in more volume. This is why, all long term winners in online poker multitable. Of course there is a big difference between playing 2, 4, 8 or 16 tables, and its important to find the number, which works best for you. The more tables you add, the more you will be auto-piloting and missing out on information and sometimes even action. Like maybe you think, it folded to you in SB, but actually someone limped into the pot.

But only playing one table gives a risk of overthinking situations and making plays, because you feel bored, rather than because they are profitable. If a table play 50 hands per hour, and your VPIP is 20%, you are only doing anything besides folding preflop in 10 hands per hour or one hand every 6 minutes. The rest of the time you are just watching the action, which far from always gives the amount of information, you might think. Lets say UTG open, and BB defends. Flop comes whatever, UGT C-bet, BB fold. What did you learn from watching that? Nothing and thats why, your time is generally better spend playing some hands on other tables.

 

[LeChatPotte]

With experience you dont give up much winrate by adding a few more tables, and you are able to get in more volume. This is why, all long term winners in online poker multitable. Of course there is a big difference between playing 2, 4, 8 or 16 tables, and its important to find the number, which works best for you. The more tables you add, the more you will be auto-piloting and missing out on information and sometimes even action. Like maybe you think, it folded to you in SB, but actually someone limped into the pot.

But only playing one table gives a risk of overthinking situations and making plays, because you feel bored, rather than because they are profitable. If a table play 50 hands per hour, and your VPIP is 20%, you are only doing anything besides folding preflop in 10 hands per hour or one hand every 6 minutes. The rest of the time you are just watching the action, which far from always gives the amount of information, you might think. Lets say UTG open, and BB defends. Flop comes whatever, UGT C-bet, BB fold. What did you learn from watching that? Nothing and thats why, your time is generally better spend playing some hands on other tables.

I understand, and I also think it's better for me to play at least 4 tables because I get bored very quickly and sometimes let my emotions take over, and I even give up sometimes. However, when I play my 4 tables, at the end of the day or the next day, I don't know how to analyze everything I've done and how to learn from my mistakes.

Maybe this should be part of another topic, but how should I analyze my hands and mistakes, and how do I even know if I've played well or made a mistake?

 

[fundiver199]

Maybe this should be part of another topic, but how should I analyze my hands and mistakes, and how do I even know if I've played well or made a mistake?

First step is to get a tracker, so its easier to find the hands again later, and then play on a site, which work with trackers. To make it even easier you can mark interesting hands "review", when they happen. And then there are several ways to review. You can look at the big pots, you won or lost, and see if you still like your line, now that you are not limited by time and perhaps emotionally involved.

If you are still not sure, you can post select hands to a forum like this and ask someone elses opinion. Or you can check, what a solver would do to see, if you were playing GTO or not. For preflop push/fold spots you can import hands to ICMizer and find the nash ranges to see, if that push with A9o for 13BB was good or not. You can also replay an entire game and see, if you find spots, where you cant quite understand the action, you took.

 

[fundiver199]

Here is an example of, how I would review hands from one of my own games. The game is a $10 18-man SnG on Stars. I would use the replayer of PokerTracker4, which also show HUD-stats, but for the sake of this post, I imported the hands to CCs replayer. So lets look at the first few hands, where I got involved, since folding preflop is something, we can just study from a chart.

Hand 1 AJo from BB

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Preflop I could have 3-bet, but its an UTG+1 open, and making an enormous 3-bet with AJo out of position against a strong range does not seem particularly appealing to me. So I still like my decision to just call, even though it allowed 3 opponents to see a flop. On the flop its not ideal, that everyone has decided to continue, but even so folding TPTK seems to tight. I do not want to check-raise here though, because we are 75BB deep, and I do not think, I am in good shape, if I get action. So calling again still seems fine to me. On the turn there is a huge bet and a jam, and now I definitely dont think, I have the best hand, which by the way is not even top pair any more. So still ok with folding here, and I was in fact drawing dead to a flopped straight. Against their actual holdings, a preflop 3-bet would have been good, but all in all I am fine with, how I played this hand.

Hand 2 QJo from UTG+1

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Slightly loose open preflop, but presumably I wanted to get involved with BB, who was a very loose maniac style player. However when he donks out for full pot on the flop, and I missed completely, its to expensive to continue, and I like my fold.

Hand 3 J5o from SB

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We can limp a lot of hands from SB, and this opponent was somewhat passive, so definitely ok with preflop. On the flop I stabbed with bottom pair, which I am ok with, since I am also stabbing a lot of other hands. On the turn I sized up with trips, which is also fine, even though the opponent folded.

Hand 4 AJo from BB

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BTN only started with around 12BB and open raised for almost half his chips. Not much to analyse here. All the chips in the middle, and luckily I had the best hand and held.

Hand 5 ATo from UTG+2

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ATo is the worst offsuit AX, I open from this position, and facing two jams for 14BB effective, its a trivial fold.

Hand 6 KK from BB

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This one played itself.

Hand 7 AQo from CO

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This one also played itself.

Hand 8 KTo from HJ

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Here I called the rejam from the same maniac player, who was involved in hand 2. I ran this hand in ICMizer, and at the Nash equilibrium this is a losing call. However if I widen his range, it becomes slightly profitable. Even so I think, this was a slight mistake, because if I call and lose, I also loose the comfortable position I had as the table chip leader with 10 people left. And the call is never that profitable, even if the maniac is out of line. So this might have been a slightly emotional decision, because its tiring to fold to maniacs.

Conclusion
After looking at 8 hands I found a slight mistake in hand number 8, but everything else looks fine.

 

[amonlima]

In mtts, don't focus on winning tournaments. Try to constantly evolve, what really matters is your ROI! And the greater the roi, and the number of tournaments played, the greater your profit, which is why it is important to have volume. However, only play an amount that is comfortable for you, as you progress you add more screens.

 

[kaynbergo]

start playing at 2 tables, play for a week and see if you can play 2 tables at once, if it's easy for you, connect 3 tables and so on, over time 10 tables will become one

 

[Poker_Mike]

Hello, here's my situation: I'm starting out in poker and have had some good results in MTTs, but they're not as good as I'd like. I feel like I make too many mistakes, not because of my hands, but because I don’t know enough about the players. The problem with MTTs is that it's hard to get to know the players since you have to focus on multiple tables. To improve my game—since my goal is to win a tournament, not just to make money, or at least to make it to the final table—should I work on my overall game and continue playing MTTs, or should I play just one table and focus solely on that?

I forgot to give you the link...

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[millya5]

I repeatedly had bad results because I played at several tables . This distracted me a lot and that’s why today I only play no more than two tables . There's nothing more to say . You must analyze for yourself what is your best result in several places when playing or in one . Personally, when I play in the League for a team, I don’t register anywhere else so that nothing distracts me

 

[andron205]

At first, of course, a lot, but it's better to play the final at no more than three tables, this will allow you to play more focused

 

[ramdon p358]

All this depends on your concentration, if you play a table and you are 100% focused you can add another table; and so on, play the number of tables on which you are fully focused

 

[Igor Popadyk]

the dispersion in poker is large, and in order to smooth it out, you need to play as many tables as you are comfortable with, because sometimes you play automatically, but in any case you need to play a comfortable number of tables, gradually increasing, this should bring in more money

 

[antonis32123]

The results that you have , your winning rate will dictate to you how many tables worth playing at the same time. How Many you can play profitably . Or else there is no meaning . The same applies every, not only on cash games imo .

 

[ObbleeXY]

Is your game, as it stands, profitable? If so, play as many tables as you can manage whilst not losing any quality in your game play / decision making.
If your game is not yet profitable, then mulit-tabling is just going to make you go broke faster.
Take the 30 day Cards Chat poker course.
Play low stakes.
Find your edge. (ID what is your super power? Is it patience? Is it spotting the bluff? Is it bullying the blinds? )
either : Learn GTO theory or Learn explotative poker techniques (or both).
Take notes.
Get a HUD (e.g. Poker Tracker 4)
Review your games after your session is complete.
Stop playing so many hands.
3-bet more often.
Be tighter.
Be more aggressive.
...

 

[finaltable1]

You can play 8-12 or even more tables wihout losing focus, you just have to practice for several weeks or months to make it you habbit. If you'll step down from average 6-8 tables to just 1 table then you will find it boring and have a feeling that you're wasting time.

There is nothing too special about it, these guys are not super humans... It's just practice

 

[fundiver199]

You can play 8-12 or even more tables wihout losing focus, you just have to practice for several weeks or months to make it you habbit.

And you need to sit at a desk with 1-2 large monitors as shown on the picture. If you prefer a more relaxed style like playing on a laptop, you definitely dont want to take multitabling to far. For starters you cant really have more than 2 tables fully displayed as on the picture without them becoming to small and difficult to read. So for me at least on a laptop 4 is kind of the ideal number of tables to have running, although I do regularly push it to 5 or 6.

 

[martDdart]

When I play maximum 3 tables at once I let my experience make fast decisions based on my gut feeling. Choose the amount of tables you enjoy the most and suits your a game the best.