Multi-tabling

I started multi-tabling at $2-$4 a couple of weeks ago and things have been going OK although not great. There are a few adjustments to be made, as basically I am able to only play in ‘no-read’ mode, despite having PA Hud to give me useful stats on my opponents.

Basically, if I am concentrating less than 100% on a particular table then I am unable to make specific player-determined plays based on detailed reads of my opponents state of mind etc. However, I have a solid enough B-game that I am still able to play in a +EV way without fully concentrating on that table. Also, it seems that I am able to play this B-game on 3 ‘side’ tables just as easily as one 'side' table.

So, what I have been doing is keeping one main table, where I start playing heads-up or occasionally join a short-handed table already in progress. This table gets my almost total attention, and on the other tables I play my B-game: very tight in early positions, looser later, aggressive when in the pot. Sometimes this table will stay heads-up or short-handed for a while, occasionally it will fill up quickly. If it fills up, I simply start another table until I have 4 going.

I think the ideal situation is to have one short-handed table and three full auto-pilot tables. That way, I still feel as though I am actually playing a game rather than working a job.

Like I said, so far things have been going OK. One of the problems is that at the moment I rarely have more than an hour or maybe an hour and a half to play a session. So, if there are no seats available I am spending the first 20 minutes or so playing heads-up or maybe 3-handed until things fill up or a seat becomes available on another table. Obviously, the main reason to play at many tables is to increase the number of hands played per hour. In order to truly maximise this it would be better to play longer sessions, therefore reducing the impact of the session start-up. It can sometimes take the best part of an hour to become seated at 4 tables, by which time I am often getting ready to finish.

I’ve also noticed an unexpected anomaly in my results when playing a full table. I have won at a reasonable if unspectacular rate (1.77 PTBB/100) but this has been despite losing a lot of money in non-showdown hands. I have got involved in too many pots where I have put too much money in without getting to showdown. Sometimes I will have folded the winner, sometimes I should have folded earlier, and sometimes I have made the pot too big and allowed my opponent to steal it. This is generally bad play and I need to correct this. Looking back, some of these hands were quite tough to play but I need to have a plan for these types of hands and stick to it.

Here’s an example:

I am in mid-position with JJ and open to $12, Only the big blind (tight aggressive with $372, which I cover) calls and checks the 642 rainbow flop. I bet $28 and he raises to $56. At this point I have no plan as to what to do for the best. Basically I want to get to showdown as cheap as possible but its pretty obvious that a good opponent knows this. After I call the turn card comes a King, which could slow down my opponent if he thinks I would call for $28 more with AK especially if he has QQ or the other JJ. However he bets another $96 which I call again. The river comes another 6 and he bets all-in for $209. I cant think of any hand that I can beat, other than a 3-barrel bluff, and I fold.

I think, on reflection I was OK calling the flop min-raise, after all a Jack on the turn puts me ahead of everything except a flopped straight and we still had more than $300 behind. However, the real decision was on the turn. I really ought to have folded here, at least in part because he should have feared that I could have AK. So, it looks like I wasted $96 here. Obviously, against a loose opponent I would be much happier to get more money in on the flop.

This guy made the check-raise so that the pot-size was just right for him to get all his money in without having to make two really big bets. Well played him!

I played OK too for the most part, averaging about $40 per hour, despite my MT ratio being as low as 2.10. By playing longer sessions I would be able to get this up to 3+ and I should see the hourly rate go up by a similar proportion.