Multi-tabling is a method of playing online poker in which you participate on multiple tables simultaneously. Many recreational poker players choose to multi-table because it's more fun and if they are skilled then they can also increase their profits over time. Professional players will mass multi-table in order to maximize their profit per hour rather than seeking a particular rate of return on their investments.
- Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Ideas
- Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Rules
The general concept of multi-tabling is that if you can be a winning poker player at one table, you might also be able to be a winning poker player at two, three, four, or many more tables simultaneously. Most online poker rooms have built-in features that facilitate multi-tabling and in this lesson we'll examine the two main methods and provided some strategy tips to help you maximize your profits.
Multi-tabling is not a new online poker strategy and has even allowed some players make a living at some low limits such at 50nl. Some player can even make a decent wage multi-tabling the micro-stakes games (10-25nl). I was fortunate enough to be able to pay my way through university by multi-tabling on PokerStars. Like the name suggests, these are tournaments that require more than one table to seat everyone in the field. Almost all the major online tourneys are MTTs; they start at a scheduled time, and run until the winner is declared. You can have an MTT with as few as two tables, or as many as the poker room (live or online) will hold.
The Two Methods of Multi-Tabling
To successfully multi-table you'll need a way of efficiently organizing the poker tables. The two main methods of multi-tabling are; tiling and stacking.
Tiling
Tiling is considered to be the most popular method of multi-tabling. When you tile your table windows, you arrange them such a way so that they're adjacent to each other so that you can see each table in full with little or no overlapping. Most online poker rooms have re-sizeable windows to allow you to change the default size of the tables. How many tables you can fit onto your screen without any overlapping will depend on how easily you can view the tables – and of course the size of your monitor. Some online poker players like to play across multiple computer monitors but for the casual player a single monitor should be sufficient.
Tiling your poker tables means you get to see everything that's going on across all tables and this has some clear advantages. Firstly, you can use the preset buttons to quickly discard your poor hands and therefore concentrate fully on the other tables. It also allows you to follow the action and study your opponents, even when you're not involved in a hand.
Stacking
Stacking is usually the method of choice for players who play a very high number of poker tables simultaneously. Each table window is placed directly on top of the other windows so that they are all positioned in the same general area of your screen. When stacking be sure to check the preferences of your poker software and have it set to bring a window to the front of the stack when it's your turn to make a betting decision. Players who like to mass multi-table sit-n-goes of various types are most likely to use this method since many decisions in the game are more standardized and automatic than those of a cash game player.
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There are advantages to stacking your tables. Firstly, unless you have a very large monitor, you can play on more tables simultaneously – and can increase the size of the tables. Also, since the active tables will pop up in the same position each time, you don't have to move your mouse cursor across your screen for each betting decision.
Which method of multi-tabling is best? Well, it's really down to personal choice. If you're new to multi-tabling then I suggest you experiment with both methods and see which setup you prefer.
Multi-Tabling Strategies
In general, your goal during a session of multi-tabling should be to minimize the amount of different factors coming into play. When you have to think about strategic differences every time you move from one window to the next, you're likely to experience problems and reduce your profitability. Here are some things to consider when multi-tabling:
ABC Poker
Playing poker across multiple tables will naturally result in far more situations than playing on a single table. Therefore you'll want to use a strategy that minimizes difficult decision making. This means you're probably best served by playing 'ABC poker' – which is to play a very basic style and avoid getting into tricky situations. Although playing poker this way might make you somewhat predictable, and won't necessarily maximize your profits at each table, it's a great way of ensuring positive winning percentages and making steady profits in the long run. In higher stakes games you will probably want to reduce the number of tables you play, because experienced poker players will pinpoint your predictability and exploit it.
Stick to One Game
You should avoid playing more than one game type when multi-tabling, so don't play razz while playing 7-card stud! Playing a couple of cash games while playing in a poker tournament shouldn't cause too many issues for most players, but it's generally better to stick to either cash games or tournaments when multi-tabling. This is especially true when using the stacking method. You'll also find it easier to multi-table if you stick to the same table stakes because your bet sizing will be standardized. Remember, the fewer decisions you have to make, the better.
Avoid Distractions
If you take your poker seriously then you'll know that it's important to avoid distractions whilst playing. This is especially true when multi-tabling and you simply won't have time to surf the net or watch TV while you play. You'll be using nearly all of your available time making decisions. Also, you'll have little time for chit-chat. For this reason it's in your best interests to ignore the chat box and if you can, disable it completely. Remember, the purpose of multi-tabling is to multiply your winnings. But by definition, it can also multiply your losses if one is not careful.
Tournament Strategy
When it comes to tournament poker, there are two schools of thought regarding when to actually start the games. Some players like to start all their tournaments or SNGs at the same time, or at least as close as possible. By doing this it's easier to keep track of what phase of the game you're in since each table should only be separated by a level or two at most.The downside to this method of multi-tabling is that all of the games will become short-handed at roughly the same time, resulting in much less time to make decisions. Another drawback is that you would want to complete one set of games completely before starting another round.
Other players prefer to stagger the games so that they have a couple games at various levels of play. Using this method you would start a new poker game right as another game is completed and just keep going for set period of time or after a fixed number of games.This method also makes it easier to play scheduled poker tournaments since these begin at a set time rather than waiting for a certain number of players to join.
Many poker tournament professionals construct their own personal schedule around these scheduled events, adding or even deleting certain poker tournaments dependant on how deep they may go in each game. A player may elect to stop multi-tabling altogether if they make it deep into a big poker tournament, preferring to pay attention to everything in that game in hopes of making a big score rather than the average dollars per hour via multi-tabling.
Start Slowly!
Some players find multi-tabling easy. For others it can be a real struggle. The best advice is to start slowly and do not play more tables than you can handle. It can take time to adjust to playing poker at several tables at once. If you're new to multi-tabling then just start by playing two tables, then once you're comfortable, add another. Progressively add more, one at a time and if you find yourself struggling to make key decisions within the allocated time – or find multi-tabling is negatively affecting your game, reduce the number of tables. It's also important that you be respectful of your fellow poker players so make sure your decisions are made within a reasonable timeframe.
The more you play online poker the more you'll feel comfortable multi-tabling. With experience you'll soon discover your optimum number for multi-tabling – and this will help maximize your profits at the tables!
Related Lessons
By Tim Ryerson
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990's. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief' at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.
Multi-table poker tournaments (also known as MTT's for short) of all field sizes and buy-in levels can be found online 24 hours a day.
Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Ideas
This article will cover basic multi-table tournament strategy at the various stages that a tournament will go through before the lucrative final table.
MTT prize pool structure.
We will start by looking at the key factor of how the prize pool in a multi-table online poker tournament is distributed – and the big influence this needs to have on your strategy in order to maximize your poker winnings over time. Next we go through the early, middle (including the bubble) and later stages of a poker tournament showing what factors influence your strategy at each point.
Tournament prize distribution is very ‘top heavy'. The players who reach the final table will split up to half of the total prizes between them – while those who make it into the first paying spots only will often win less than twice their initial buy-in. Even at the final table the top 3 paying places will give a disproportionately larger payout than the other places.
This has a large effect on tournament strategy for those players who are looking to maximize their long-term profits. Aggressive, positive play is rewarded at all stages of the tournament - by a shot at reaching the final table. Passive play during the later stages may enable you to sneak into the money positions – however this will not make up for just a few final table appearances when adding up profits at the end of the month or year.
Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Rules
Early stage tournament strategy.
In the very early stages of a poker tournament the game plays in a similar way to a cash game table. This is because the stack sizes are many times the size of the blinds, allowing betting on the flop, turn and river for many hands. ‘Deep Stacked' play involves its own adjustments including favoring hands which can make hidden ‘monsters' such as small pairs and suited connectors. Hands that are easily dominated such as Ace-Ten and King-Jack should generally be avoided at this stage.
Your strategy objective in the first few blind levels should be to accumulate chips from the weaker opponents who will still be in the tournament at this stage. At the same time you should avoid big ‘gambles' for all of your chips if you feel that your skill advantage will have time to show over a larger number of small pots.
One saying for the early stages of multi-table tournaments is that ‘you need to take the chips from the weak players before someone else does' – after all they will be harder to take from a stronger opponent later down the line.
Transitioning from early to late stages.
As the blinds and antes get higher when compared to the average stacks your tournament strategy needs to adjust to new conditions. Since you must invest more chips to see a flop the value of the speculative hands played in the early stages goes down.
High cards however go up in value when you are the first to enter the pot. Since calling a raise in the middle stages requires investing a large proportion of your stack this should be avoided where possible. Your opponents are often in the same situation – meaning that you're raising requirements can be ‘lighter' than before, especially from late position.
Playing on the bubble.
The bubble is the stage of the tournament where just a few players need to be eliminated in order to reach the money paying places. At this stage the single most important factor affecting your strategy are stack sizes – both your own and those of your opponents.
Having a large stack at the bubble will allow you to pick up many pots uncontested – as players will be less likely to fight with a big stack when they risk busting out before the money. Other big stacks and very short stacks should be avoided here, as they are more likely to call you.
If you have a medium stack at the bubble then you can use the knowledge that bigger stacks are likely to steal pots to your advantage. If you are dealt a reasonably strong hand and expect the big stack to be ‘raising light' you can have a positive expectation situation for a re-raise. Sure you will get unlucky and bust out sometimes – but your strategy for the whole tournament is to reach the final table and doubling up could give you a chance to do so, more than making up for losing the small ‘in the money' payout.
After the bubble ‘bursts' players will often loosen up considerably in an effort to accumulate enough chips to reach the final table. At this stage you need to choose your spots carefully. As with all forms of poker it is better to be the raiser rather than the caller.
MTT final table strategy.
The final table brings in yet another factor into your poker strategy thinking. Stack sizes are still very important, but now the payout structure – and your opponent's strategy in relation to this come to the fore.
The presence of a very small stack is a good example of how this affects the dynamic of the final table. Medium stacks will see that one player is just 1 big blind away from busting and will tighten up to avoid going out before this player. This can lead to some great opportunities to pick up chips without too much risk.
Aggressive and positive poker are again the key elements to success at this stage of the poker tournament. The top three places will pay proportionately more than the rest – aim high by picking fights with those opponents who look like they would like to move up in the money. Big stacks and small stacks should again be avoided, the medium stacks are much more likely to fold to pressure at this stage.
MTT strategy evaluation.
Multi-tabling is not a new online poker strategy and has even allowed some players make a living at some low limits such at 50nl. Some player can even make a decent wage multi-tabling the micro-stakes games (10-25nl). I was fortunate enough to be able to pay my way through university by multi-tabling on PokerStars. Like the name suggests, these are tournaments that require more than one table to seat everyone in the field. Almost all the major online tourneys are MTTs; they start at a scheduled time, and run until the winner is declared. You can have an MTT with as few as two tables, or as many as the poker room (live or online) will hold.
The Two Methods of Multi-Tabling
To successfully multi-table you'll need a way of efficiently organizing the poker tables. The two main methods of multi-tabling are; tiling and stacking.
Tiling
Tiling is considered to be the most popular method of multi-tabling. When you tile your table windows, you arrange them such a way so that they're adjacent to each other so that you can see each table in full with little or no overlapping. Most online poker rooms have re-sizeable windows to allow you to change the default size of the tables. How many tables you can fit onto your screen without any overlapping will depend on how easily you can view the tables – and of course the size of your monitor. Some online poker players like to play across multiple computer monitors but for the casual player a single monitor should be sufficient.
Tiling your poker tables means you get to see everything that's going on across all tables and this has some clear advantages. Firstly, you can use the preset buttons to quickly discard your poor hands and therefore concentrate fully on the other tables. It also allows you to follow the action and study your opponents, even when you're not involved in a hand.
Stacking
Stacking is usually the method of choice for players who play a very high number of poker tables simultaneously. Each table window is placed directly on top of the other windows so that they are all positioned in the same general area of your screen. When stacking be sure to check the preferences of your poker software and have it set to bring a window to the front of the stack when it's your turn to make a betting decision. Players who like to mass multi-table sit-n-goes of various types are most likely to use this method since many decisions in the game are more standardized and automatic than those of a cash game player.
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There are advantages to stacking your tables. Firstly, unless you have a very large monitor, you can play on more tables simultaneously – and can increase the size of the tables. Also, since the active tables will pop up in the same position each time, you don't have to move your mouse cursor across your screen for each betting decision.
Which method of multi-tabling is best? Well, it's really down to personal choice. If you're new to multi-tabling then I suggest you experiment with both methods and see which setup you prefer.
Multi-Tabling Strategies
In general, your goal during a session of multi-tabling should be to minimize the amount of different factors coming into play. When you have to think about strategic differences every time you move from one window to the next, you're likely to experience problems and reduce your profitability. Here are some things to consider when multi-tabling:
ABC Poker
Playing poker across multiple tables will naturally result in far more situations than playing on a single table. Therefore you'll want to use a strategy that minimizes difficult decision making. This means you're probably best served by playing 'ABC poker' – which is to play a very basic style and avoid getting into tricky situations. Although playing poker this way might make you somewhat predictable, and won't necessarily maximize your profits at each table, it's a great way of ensuring positive winning percentages and making steady profits in the long run. In higher stakes games you will probably want to reduce the number of tables you play, because experienced poker players will pinpoint your predictability and exploit it.
Stick to One Game
You should avoid playing more than one game type when multi-tabling, so don't play razz while playing 7-card stud! Playing a couple of cash games while playing in a poker tournament shouldn't cause too many issues for most players, but it's generally better to stick to either cash games or tournaments when multi-tabling. This is especially true when using the stacking method. You'll also find it easier to multi-table if you stick to the same table stakes because your bet sizing will be standardized. Remember, the fewer decisions you have to make, the better.
Avoid Distractions
If you take your poker seriously then you'll know that it's important to avoid distractions whilst playing. This is especially true when multi-tabling and you simply won't have time to surf the net or watch TV while you play. You'll be using nearly all of your available time making decisions. Also, you'll have little time for chit-chat. For this reason it's in your best interests to ignore the chat box and if you can, disable it completely. Remember, the purpose of multi-tabling is to multiply your winnings. But by definition, it can also multiply your losses if one is not careful.
Tournament Strategy
When it comes to tournament poker, there are two schools of thought regarding when to actually start the games. Some players like to start all their tournaments or SNGs at the same time, or at least as close as possible. By doing this it's easier to keep track of what phase of the game you're in since each table should only be separated by a level or two at most.The downside to this method of multi-tabling is that all of the games will become short-handed at roughly the same time, resulting in much less time to make decisions. Another drawback is that you would want to complete one set of games completely before starting another round.
Other players prefer to stagger the games so that they have a couple games at various levels of play. Using this method you would start a new poker game right as another game is completed and just keep going for set period of time or after a fixed number of games.This method also makes it easier to play scheduled poker tournaments since these begin at a set time rather than waiting for a certain number of players to join.
Many poker tournament professionals construct their own personal schedule around these scheduled events, adding or even deleting certain poker tournaments dependant on how deep they may go in each game. A player may elect to stop multi-tabling altogether if they make it deep into a big poker tournament, preferring to pay attention to everything in that game in hopes of making a big score rather than the average dollars per hour via multi-tabling.
Start Slowly!
Some players find multi-tabling easy. For others it can be a real struggle. The best advice is to start slowly and do not play more tables than you can handle. It can take time to adjust to playing poker at several tables at once. If you're new to multi-tabling then just start by playing two tables, then once you're comfortable, add another. Progressively add more, one at a time and if you find yourself struggling to make key decisions within the allocated time – or find multi-tabling is negatively affecting your game, reduce the number of tables. It's also important that you be respectful of your fellow poker players so make sure your decisions are made within a reasonable timeframe.
The more you play online poker the more you'll feel comfortable multi-tabling. With experience you'll soon discover your optimum number for multi-tabling – and this will help maximize your profits at the tables!
Related Lessons
By Tim Ryerson
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990's. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief' at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.
Multi-table poker tournaments (also known as MTT's for short) of all field sizes and buy-in levels can be found online 24 hours a day.
Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Ideas
This article will cover basic multi-table tournament strategy at the various stages that a tournament will go through before the lucrative final table.
MTT prize pool structure.
We will start by looking at the key factor of how the prize pool in a multi-table online poker tournament is distributed – and the big influence this needs to have on your strategy in order to maximize your poker winnings over time. Next we go through the early, middle (including the bubble) and later stages of a poker tournament showing what factors influence your strategy at each point.
Tournament prize distribution is very ‘top heavy'. The players who reach the final table will split up to half of the total prizes between them – while those who make it into the first paying spots only will often win less than twice their initial buy-in. Even at the final table the top 3 paying places will give a disproportionately larger payout than the other places.
This has a large effect on tournament strategy for those players who are looking to maximize their long-term profits. Aggressive, positive play is rewarded at all stages of the tournament - by a shot at reaching the final table. Passive play during the later stages may enable you to sneak into the money positions – however this will not make up for just a few final table appearances when adding up profits at the end of the month or year.
Online Poker Multi Table Tournament Strategy Rules
Early stage tournament strategy.
In the very early stages of a poker tournament the game plays in a similar way to a cash game table. This is because the stack sizes are many times the size of the blinds, allowing betting on the flop, turn and river for many hands. ‘Deep Stacked' play involves its own adjustments including favoring hands which can make hidden ‘monsters' such as small pairs and suited connectors. Hands that are easily dominated such as Ace-Ten and King-Jack should generally be avoided at this stage.
Your strategy objective in the first few blind levels should be to accumulate chips from the weaker opponents who will still be in the tournament at this stage. At the same time you should avoid big ‘gambles' for all of your chips if you feel that your skill advantage will have time to show over a larger number of small pots.
One saying for the early stages of multi-table tournaments is that ‘you need to take the chips from the weak players before someone else does' – after all they will be harder to take from a stronger opponent later down the line.
Transitioning from early to late stages.
As the blinds and antes get higher when compared to the average stacks your tournament strategy needs to adjust to new conditions. Since you must invest more chips to see a flop the value of the speculative hands played in the early stages goes down.
High cards however go up in value when you are the first to enter the pot. Since calling a raise in the middle stages requires investing a large proportion of your stack this should be avoided where possible. Your opponents are often in the same situation – meaning that you're raising requirements can be ‘lighter' than before, especially from late position.
Playing on the bubble.
The bubble is the stage of the tournament where just a few players need to be eliminated in order to reach the money paying places. At this stage the single most important factor affecting your strategy are stack sizes – both your own and those of your opponents.
Having a large stack at the bubble will allow you to pick up many pots uncontested – as players will be less likely to fight with a big stack when they risk busting out before the money. Other big stacks and very short stacks should be avoided here, as they are more likely to call you.
If you have a medium stack at the bubble then you can use the knowledge that bigger stacks are likely to steal pots to your advantage. If you are dealt a reasonably strong hand and expect the big stack to be ‘raising light' you can have a positive expectation situation for a re-raise. Sure you will get unlucky and bust out sometimes – but your strategy for the whole tournament is to reach the final table and doubling up could give you a chance to do so, more than making up for losing the small ‘in the money' payout.
After the bubble ‘bursts' players will often loosen up considerably in an effort to accumulate enough chips to reach the final table. At this stage you need to choose your spots carefully. As with all forms of poker it is better to be the raiser rather than the caller.
MTT final table strategy.
The final table brings in yet another factor into your poker strategy thinking. Stack sizes are still very important, but now the payout structure – and your opponent's strategy in relation to this come to the fore.
The presence of a very small stack is a good example of how this affects the dynamic of the final table. Medium stacks will see that one player is just 1 big blind away from busting and will tighten up to avoid going out before this player. This can lead to some great opportunities to pick up chips without too much risk.
Aggressive and positive poker are again the key elements to success at this stage of the poker tournament. The top three places will pay proportionately more than the rest – aim high by picking fights with those opponents who look like they would like to move up in the money. Big stacks and small stacks should again be avoided, the medium stacks are much more likely to fold to pressure at this stage.
MTT strategy evaluation.
In summary, tournament strategy involves adjusting to the various stages which a poker tournament will go through. At the same time your goal in every tournament should be to reach the final table. Busting on the bubble never feels good – however if for each time you bubble you reach another final table then your long-term profits will be better than that of opponents who tighten up in order to make the money.
Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.
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