Multi Tabling

One of the biggest advantages online poker has over live poker is that you are able to play at numerous tables at a time. Most online poker rooms allow you to open up more than one table window and sit down and play poker at each table simultaneously. Some online rooms such as 32red have actually created a ‘mini-mode’ view that allows players to shrink the table window down so that you can fit 4 tables onto one 1024x768 screen without overlap.

Multi-tabling has become increasingly popular amongst regular online players, who will happily play at 2,4,8 or even 16 tables simultaneously. However, the majority of players will stick to multi-tabling around 2 to 4 tables at once.

The advantage of playing at multiple tables.

The main motive behind multi-tabling is to increase a player’s win rate per hour. If you are a consistent winner at the $100NL table, imagine how much more you could potentially win per hour by playing 2 tables at once instead of 1. How about opening up 3 or 4 tables at once? It all seems pretty simple, open up some more tables and you could be doubling, tripling or even quadrupling the amount you are currently winning per hour. However, there is one important factor that we have to take into consideration before assuming that things are this simple. We have to take into account that fact that our play will deteriorate for every extra table we sit down at.

Every time we multi-table we can assume that the amount we expect to win every hour from each individual table will decrease. This is because our attention is now going to be divided between two or more separate tables, whereas we would be able to focus all of our concentration on one table if we were not multi-tabling. It will be more difficult to pick up reads on players because we will normally be too busy making our plays on one table to analyse the plays of our opponents on another.

However, this is not necessarily such a bad thing, because there is still a good chance that we will be making more money overall. Say for example when we play $100NL one table at a time we win $8 per hour, and when we play two tables at a time we win $5 on each of the individual tables. Therefore overall we will be making $10 per hour multi-tabling instead of $8, which means an extra profit of $2 per hour.

The biggest problem with multi-tabling for extra profit is finding the optimum number of tables to give us the biggest win rate per hour. If we play one table at a time we will win a smaller amount than if we multi-table, but if we play at too many tables at a time then our win rate per hour on each of the tables could decrease so much that we win less than if we were playing at one table at a time. There is some middle ground here where the graph of our win rate per table meets the number of tables being played at to provide us with an optimum win rate. This is usually between 2 and 4 tables for the majority of online players.

The best strategy for multi-tabling is to play standard ABC poker, where you bet your strong hands and fold your weak hands. It is difficult to find enough time whilst playing multiple tables to be able to make any tricky or advanced plays. If you try too hard trying to analyse the styles of each of the players at the tables you will simply become too exhausted and your ability will deteriorate even further. Just think of your opponents as robots and play a solid style of poker against them. You are not going to be able to outsmart all of them all of the time, but if you play better than the majority of them every time you sit down at the table, then you will be a winner in the long run.

Another reason why people decide to play multiple tables at once is to reduce the boredom of having to wait been playing hands. Players can become accustomed to the fast style of Internet play and so the wait been playing hands may become frustrating after a while. This frustration can sometimes lead to players loosening their starting hand requirements just to subdue the boredom, which is not a profitable way to play. So in some cases it can be beneficial to play more than one table at a time to prevent yourself from entering too many pots and throwing away money on hands that you should never have played in the first place.

Best Rooms For Multi-Tabling:	1]		32Red	The best room for multi-tabling, mini-mode is incredibly effective and useful.	Room Review
	2]		Titan	Also has a very useful mini-mode option. Good, but not as good as 32Red's.	Room Review
	3]		Bodog	Easily resizeable windows. Action remains clear even at small window sizes.	Room Review

Evaluation
Multi-tabling is a great option for players looking to increase their win rate per hour or are looking to liven things up with their online poker. It takes no special skill, nor is it as difficult as you may think to play at more than one table at a time. It is recommended however that you ease yourself in by playing 2 tables at first, and then increase the number of tables as you become more comfortable with playing at numerous tables.

You will also want to try and make sure that you set the tables up in an order across the screen that you feel comfortable with. Another great room for multi-tabling is Titan Poker as you are able to view the tables in a mini-mode just like at 32Red, and tile them across the screen via a button in the options menu, which I have found to be an incredibly handy feature. Always try and make the tables as visible as possible on the screen so that you are able to glance over all of them to keep up with the action. By following these tips and practicing you will soon be able to squeeze more from your time spent playing online poker.

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