Multi Tabling for Profit in Small Stakes Poker

Winning players at the small stakes poker tables can often increase their overall profits by playing several tables at once. Doing this requires several adjustments to both your poker strategy and to bankroll management. This article looks at multi-tabling for a profit for small stakes poker players in such a way as to help you decide if this is right for you.

Adjusting to Multi Tabling

Firstly we look at the process of adding more tables one at a time and the effect this will have on the information available to you and your decision making process. Next we look at the possible effects on your bankroll – from the perspective of expectation per hand and overall hourly rates. Finally an alternative is covered, moving up levels will be compared to multi-tabling.
For players used to a single table the thought of playing 4, 6 or even more tables simultaneously can seem strange. After all, you make your profit at the poker tables based on changing your own actions to exploit the weaknesses you observe in your opponents. Keeping up with 6 tables at once would mean that you will potentially miss some important information – not to mention the risk of ‘timing out’ on one or more of the tables.
Most people actually increase the amount of tables played one at a time. Starting with 2 tables for many hundreds of hands until this becomes ‘normal’, and then adding a 3rd
and so on. Many stop at 3 or 4 tables, having reached a good balance between profitability and the ability to keep playing. There are small stakes poker players who regularly play 12, 16 or even more tables – however these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Adjusting to more tables involves playing in such a way as to keep your decisions as simple as possible. Since you will have less time to consider the meaning of bets over several betting rounds you will need to actively ensure that tricky post-flop decisions are avoided.

This can be achieved in several ways. The first is to cut down your pre-flop starting hand selection. While this may involve folding some hands which are marginally profitable over time – the simplified decision making, combined with more tables, means that your overall profits should improve.

Betting Strategy

Betting slightly larger amounts can also simplify your post-flop decision making. An example is with continuation betting. Making the bet slightly larger may not be ‘optimal’ from an expectation (profits) perspective. However since the information you get from an opponent is likely to be more accurate your reaction to their re-raise (for example) will be easy. This small loss of ‘ev’ is then made up for by the extra tables that you play.
One way of looking at the balance between expectation per hand and the number of tables played is to work with ‘hourly rates’ instead of blinds won per 100 hands. For example, as a winning small stakes poker player you averaged 10 big blinds at your level per 100 hands while playing one table. Adding a second may decrease this to 7 big blinds per hundred, due to less information and folding some marginally profitable hands. However since you are now playing twice as many hands you will be winning 14 big blinds on average in the same time period you were previously winning 10. Continuing with this math a 3rd table may reduce your profit to 6 blinds, the 4th table to 5 blinds and so on. As long as the total profit is rising for the same time spent then your decision to play more tables is making you money.

Bankroll criteria need to be slightly stricter when multi-tabling. With less information on which to base decisions your variance (swings) are likely to increase. Counter this by ensuring that you move from 20 buy-ins to 30 or so before adding too many tables.

Multi Tabling Alternatives

An alternative to adding more tables is to move up to higher stakes. Once you have proven yourself at one level this is a natural progression. The advantage of this method is that you are moving ever upwards and improving your poker skills – while multi-tabling only increases your current profit. The down side is that you do not yet know whether you are a winning player at the new level, increasing your risk while you adapt.
To summarize, small stakes poker players wishing to multi-table for profit must account for the lower amount and quality of information available on opponents. Multi-tabling will usually reduce your profit per table – however the additional tables will increase your hourly rate. Players should use profit as the measure of balancing the number of tables played – when the next table added does not add any more cash to your hourly rate it is time to cut-back.