Playing Multiple Tables on FullTilt

[kingskash]

Early on in my online poker career, I started noticing that some of the players at my 1/2 cash tables were always at my table. Of course it made more sense when I typed their name into the "find player" box and saw that they were sitting at 16 tables at once.
"Of course", I thought to myself..."Why didn't I think of that?" It made so much sense to me, all they had to do was wait for premium cards at any one of their 16 tables and then raise the heck out of them, simple right? Wrong.
I soon found out that playing eight tables was hard, forget about sixteen. I couldn't beleive how quickly my money went up and down. And this is because just limping in to eight tables say at the .25/.50 games is tricky, especially if you don't hit anything, that 8$ lost quickly adds up.
I soon adapted though, and realized that folding hands like AJo, K10o, QJo, and especially any Ax suited hand in early position is essential to playing mutliple tables. If you're playing .25/.50 limping in with pocket pairs is a huge part of my game and if I get raised more than 1.75 I throw my hand away. Of course when I hit a sit it's usually a nice pay off.
You have to turn into a folding machine. And you have to become immune to bad beats. I have lost with pockets Aces so many times I cain't even count...but I have won with them more. It's this attitude that will make you money, playing multiple tables is all about the long run. You are seeing many more hands than the average player, and therefore you can, in fact, have to be, much more selective. And remember like Daniel Negreanu says, "Play hours not results".

[infinii]

IMO you are looking at this the wrong way (no offense).

The reason for multitabling is to increase your hourly winrate. You need to actually record your results and determine how much $/hr you're making and then when you increase the number of tables, see if your hourly rate goes up or down.

i.e.
You normally play 2 tables of .25/.50 NL at a time and within a hour you win on average $4/hr on each table. That's an hourly rate of $8/hr.

Now you try playing 4 tables of the same stakes. Obviously your attention to detail is affected and you probably don't play 100% of your A game on each table because you can't pay attention to as much details. For 4 tables you win on average only $3/hr per table. Now your hourly winrate is $12/hr.


Note that when I save "average", I'm talking about a decent sized sample...not just 2 sessions of each and then voila you have your average winrate. You need to really play alot in each scenario to get a good idea of what your real average is.

FWIW, the style of play you described is extremely nitty and unless playing totally unobservant donks, it's hard to win much. It will quickly become apparent that each time you limp it's with pocket pairs....one thing I always notice is the limper who calls a preflop raise and then plays a hand super strong when the board is mostly rags...obviously a set.

[kingskash]

I agree that keeping track of details over an extended period of time is necessary. And at the .25/.50 tables, no offense to anybody, but the majority of players are "unobservable donks". The intent of my thread was to outline a very basic and general outline to playing multiple tables, while highlighting some areas where people might get into trouble. However, you seem to have a solid amount of knowledge and I am interested in some of your ideas...If you have anything else to add or wish to elaborate more on the subject..please feel free...I am always open to learning and intellectual discussion. Thanks =)

[taddl]

Playing Multiple Tables on FullTilt

[rlg476]

I am not great at malti tasking

[Poker Orifice]

Can't say I agree with reasoning behind playing multilple tables,.... then again I'm not one to limp into many pots from EP either. I always try to play my A-game, it's what I enjoy most about poker. I prefer to just stick to a few tables at a time myself (2 to 3 in 6-max; 4 in full ring). Where I'm at right now with my cash game play I'm finding I need to concentrate alot, as I'm normally a tournament player and am just making the transition to cash game play now.

[infinii]

If you're playing .25/.50 limping in with pocket pairs is a huge part of my game and if I get raised more than 1.75 I throw my hand away. Of course when I hit a sit it's usually a nice pay off.

When playing pocket pairs to set mine, you need to realize that you'll average getting a set about 1 in 9 times. So you need to look at your stack sizes and determine if the possible payoff is greater than 9 to 1 or not. If not then yes, throw it away. But to just throw away here because someone raised behind you is not necessarily the correct play.

On the other hand, setmining out of position is hard to get paid off.


Poker Orifice, what don't you agree with in my post about the reasons for multitabling?

[irishpkr]

And at the .25/.50 tables, no offense to anybody, but the majority of players are "unobservable donks".

"Limping in with pocket pairs is a huge part of my game"

Don't be throwing stuff from in there, gonna break some glass



For me, there are a couple of reasons to multitable:

1. I wanna win money faster- I don't wanna be playing £20NL the rest of my life, so the more I make per hour the faster I can move up :P
Which brings me to the point - bb/100 isnt a reason to play more tables, its $/hr. If you make 10bb/100 playing one table, is it really worth playing two tables at 5bb/100? Sure you get more experience. I think its most important to find out the maximum number of tables you can comfortably play, while making the maximum hourly.

2. I want experience - more tables = more hands = more spots

3. One table isnt enough - for me, I can't even imagine how someone could play one cash game table and not be bored out of their minds I need like 3-4 min to keep me occupied. Mind you I play 5tables max, so its 4-5 tables always

[Vito_Nuccio]

Multi-tabling is unique to online poker as we all know you can not sit at 5 tables in a brick and morter poker room.

Infinii said it correctly, the amount of tables played should be determined by how you handle the situation. Some people make more money playing one or two tables at higher levels. Others play many tables at lower levels. Find your personal optimal formula.

As for the pair statement, be wary of performing and following too strict poker play. Limping with pairs, hoping for trips is not going to win money in the long run no matter how many tables or stakes are in action. Tight play is fine but you still need to play poker even if multi tabling. You must still follow trends of each table and player. You may not be able to peg all players at all tables, but you should spend enough time at each table in turn to determine the current situation, label the opponents then move to next table and decision.

I like to play 2-4 games at a time. Usually a mix of cash tables, sitNgo, and big tourneys.

Play what you can handle where you find the most success. Also, unless playing for house payment, assure you keep it to where the game is still enjoyable for yourself to play.

Thanks,

[rakmupagain]

Limping pocket pairs in any position is horribly ev-. Folding to any small raise is even worse. Here's a formula u might try to make your little pairs profitable, which as you are playing them in the long run i guarantee they are losing money for you, which you can tell of your using a pokertracking program.
First off , if your hands good enought to enter the pot, raise! If someone else raised even better, call with your little pair. Now, unlike stated above, your odds of flopping a set are 7.5 to 1 (not 9 to 1). Now sometimes you will flop a set and lose or not get any action, so your implied odds need to be about 10 to 1 to call a reraise with your small pair. So you should be aware of the stack size that reraised and others in the pot, to see your profit potential. Practice this and your small pairs will all be profitable in the long run, assuming u maximize profit post flop. Right now it is a terrible leak that needs to be fixed.

[kingskash]

I currently am not using any tracking software...I might be mistaken but I thought they were illegal?? If not please let me know which one you use or know of to be good. I know that I am a good poker player, I tend to go deep in large tournaments fairly often... but, I have not had the good fortune to win one of them yet, I do feel like there is a major gap in my game in the EV department. I hear plenty of players talking about it and I am not ashamed to say I don't really fully understand it. Nobody has ever really took the time to explain it to me. If you have some spare time I would really be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter as i can tell you know what you are talking about. Thanks...and if it is too much trouble don't worry about it.

[locksmith00]

Limping pocket pairs in any position is horribly ev-. Folding to any small raise is even worse. Here's a formula u might try to make your little pairs profitable, which as you are playing them in the long run i guarantee they are losing money for you, which you can tell of your using a pokertracking program.
First off , if your hands good enought to enter the pot, raise! If someone else raised even better, call with your little pair. Now, unlike stated above, your odds of flopping a set are 7.5 to 1 (not 9 to 1). Now sometimes you will flop a set and lose or not get any action, so your implied odds need to be about 10 to 1 to call a reraise with your small pair. So you should be aware of the stack size that reraised and others in the pot, to see your profit potential. Practice this and your small pairs will all be profitable in the long run, assuming u maximize profit post flop. Right now it is a terrible leak that needs to be fixed.

#1 Bolded: I certainly hope you are speaking of LHE, not NLHE. In NLHE set mining is one of the most profitable plays because of the incredibly deep stacks and the huge implied odds with a inferior post flop player. In NLHE cash (esp. FR) I open limp all small pairs from any position and depends on mid to bigger pairs. This is all so standard so I wont go on

#2 Bolded: Raising 22 in EP would be much worse than open limping because it cuts your implied odds and for a donk like me if HU makes me want to Cbet too many flops (leak of mine). But I do agree with flatting a lot with most pairs (if opponents stack is deep enough obviously).

This is obviously more geared towards the .25/.50 NL area and applies much more to fullring.

[infinii]

#1 Bolded: I certainly hope you are speaking of LHE, not NLHE. In NLHE set mining is one of the most profitable plays because of the incredibly deep stacks and the huge implied odds with a inferior post flop player. In NLHE cash (esp. FR) I open limp all small pairs from any position and depends on mid to bigger pairs. This is all so standard so I wont go on

#2 Bolded: Raising 22 in EP would be much worse than open limping because it cuts your implied odds and for a donk like me if HU makes me want to Cbet too many flops (leak of mine). But I do agree with flatting a lot with most pairs (if opponents stack is deep enough obviously).

This is obviously more geared towards the .25/.50 NL area and applies much more to fullring.

What exactly do you mean by "cuts your implied odds"?

Regarding your second point. I think the reason for raising an unopened pot here is that you always have the chance of taking down the blinds right there without having to see a flop.

Question, what other hands do you open limp in EP? Reason I ask is you need to balance your hands or it's so obvious what your holdings are if you are always limping small pocket pairs and raising +AJ

[Hakimakli]

Playing 9 tables on FT Nl50

[BUILDMO]

It is extremly important to remain completely focused during muti table games.
I have noticed that the raisers in this situation take advantage of situations of the unfocused.
Can you notice the unfocused gamers? Personally, I think if you take to long to bet or fold, you are unfocused. Most of the time if you take this stance, a raise will push these fakers out.

[pdutty]

yeah.. you can play up to 15 tables at the same time on a FullTilt. but who would want to? can you really play quality games on all these tables?

[Huskers314]

yeah.. you can play up to 15 tables at the same time on a FullTilt. but who would want to? can you really play quality games on all these tables?

Possibly.....but I'd need a bigger monitor.

[fitchburg]

Thank for your service to our great country sir. good luck at the tables

[AnArkhos]

Thank for your service to our great country sir. good luck at the tables

Umm.. like wtf?

[raythelaw]

What exactly do you mean by "cuts your implied odds"?

Regarding your second point. I think the reason for raising an unopened pot here is that you always have the chance of taking down the blinds right there without having to see a flop.

Question, what other hands do you open limp in EP? Reason I ask is you need to balance your hands or it's so obvious what your holdings are if you are always limping small pocket pairs and raising +AJ

Stealing the blinds in early position with 22?