Online Poker Strategy Articles

Jon Eaton

This week I decided to write a little about multi-tabling online poker. It's a big topic since so many people are starting to do this in an effort to increase profits. Let me address a few topics before I get into strategy for multi-tabling.

First, yes, it's possible to make more money this way. But you must first be a winning player at one table at a time. This sounds obvious but many people seem to think that they are 'winning players' when they really aren't, and then expect multi-tabling to actually break them out of their losing ways. Just because you can play two, three or even more times as many hands doesn't mean you'll suddenly be a winner!

Second, this will actually hurt your earning rate a little. That's because you don't have the time to think each decision through clearly, as your acting on instinct and playing auto-pilot. You can't possibly make as solid decisions as you could at one table. If you work on it, your instincts will improve, and your decisions will usually be close to optimum.

With that in mind, I recommend starting out slowly. If you've never played more than one table at a time, start at three tables and work your way up. Four-tabling sit and goes is the minimum I would recommend to anyone interested in that line of work. I'd also say on average, most people multi-tabling have three or four games open at once.

Limit Hold'Em is the easiest and fastest game to multi-table, since most decisions are pretty much standard. You get aces on one table out of five at once? Raise. You don't even have to think about how much to raise as you would in no limit. Just make your decisions quick and make them meaningful.

I also don't recommend playing different games unless you are used to it. I can four-table four different games, but I don't usually do so because it can be confusing. Your mindset also changes from game to game, which is hard to adjust to. I really recommend sticking to at most two different games, preferably just one though.

I don't recommend going past four tables until you've logged 100 or more hours at that level. Move up maybe one or two games at a time, until you reach what you feel is the maximum number of games you can play profitably at a time. Maybe that's six, eight or ten, or more if you can handle the tables on your computer. Another limitation could be your monitor itself, in that you might not be able to see all the tables well enough to play as many as you wish you could.

I run ten tables of sit and goes at a time, and make my decisions very quickly. I fully utilize the action buttons ahead of time, always checking the fold button when, no matter what the action is to me, I am folding. I always click the 'call big blind' button if there's a situation where I would limp along with a few others, but won't call a raise with a hand. For instance, if I quickly glance at a table with a bunch of early and mid position limpers, and I have a small pair in late position, I will click it with the intentions of just calling behind. I won't do this with many hands, since often it will depend on what the action is to me.

Say I have two tens or jacks early in a sit and go on the button. If there's five limpers, I'm very likely to just limp along behind and hope to flop a set or over-pair. If no one calls and it's folded to me, even though the blinds are small, I usually put in a raise in late position with such a hand. I have position and there are very few hands left, and I usually will have the best of it. I will charge them to out-flop me, or I will pick up a small pot quickly.

Always make sure you are focusing your immediate attention on the table that needs your response the fastest. If you've put off playing a few hands on two tables and you're trying to focus on how to make a difficult decision with a marginal hand on one table, I usually make my decision as soon as I can. Then I switch to the table where I have the least time remaining to make my decision, or the one with the easiest and quickest move needed.

Don't try and spread yourself so thin that it's difficult to play a ton of games at once. A lot of players shy from using the check/fold button in the big blind, but I disagree. It only speeds up your game, and helps you move through hands and tables quicker, making better decisions when it matters. You might miss a little something here or give something away there using these buttons, but you speed up your play overall, which makes up for the loss.

There are few players at lower limits, even middle limits, who are aware enough to know what the check/fold button really indicates on your part: weakness. Sure, some might pick up on it, but if you're folding anyway, then you have lost nothing and are giving very little away about your playing style, since you were folding no matter what the action was to you.

If, on the other hand, no one does raise, and it's checked automatically by you, then your opponent might know that you aren't too happy with your hand-pre-flop. This is where I think most people forget that regardless of what your hand is, just because you don't like it pre-flop doesn't mean the flop can't hit you. All my opponent knows is there is a moderate chance I will fold for a bet. It doesn't mean the innocuous flop missed me.

If my opponent really held a strong hand, he would have probably raised my blind anyway. Therefore, I know that my opponent knows my hand isn't a monster, and that he is still in the dark with where I stand. I can pick off bluffs and re-bluff at aggressive players who I expect to attack my sign of weakness, and pick up extra bets when I literally hold nothing, but suspect my opponent does, too.

I remember what information I give away by multi-tabling, such as this example, and use it to my benefit. Some limitations are not as bad as you would think when you multi-table, such as this supposed sign of weakness.

Multi-tabling successfully is all about quick reactions, good instincts, and feeling comfortable. Go slow and find a level of comfort that will make your profits come in at their maximum level.

note by gank: Jon Eaton is an extremely talented online and real life poker pro living in Las Vegas. He was the Editor in Chief for my website Poker Trails.