Many poker players recommend multi-tabling as a way to make the most of your time playing poker, especially when you’re playing online poker. But what is multi-tabling, and is it a good idea for everyone? 

Learn what multi-tabling is, its advantages and disadvantages, and whether it’s a poker practice that you should consider adopting for your own best online poker game experience.

What Is Multi-Tabling in Poker?

In a typical game of online poker, up to eight or nine competitors sit at a single virtual table to compete for each pot of chips, depending on the cash game or poker tournament formats available. However, if you think you have the skill, you can play at multiple tables at once on an online poker game platform. 

Some players choose to multi-table cash games, while others use this method to play more than one multi-table tournament or sit-and-go at the same time. Very skilled players have demonstrated that winning multi-table tournaments is possible when multi-tabling.

It’s important to note the difference between multi-tabling and multi-table tournaments. The terms are often misused, but they are separate parts of poker games online. Multi-tabling is playing more than one table at a time, while multi-table tournaments are MTTs, large tournaments with enough players to fill many tables at the start of the event.

Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of multi-tabling poker online.

The Advantages of Multi-Tabling in Poker

Let’s take a look at the benefits of this way of playing and why people do it:

It’s a Strategy That Can Potentially Boost Your Winnings

It’s quite simple. Since you are playing more games, multi-tabling gives you the chance to increase your potential winnings.

It Helps You Control For Variance

Playing at a single table means you only have one opportunity to win and must play another game to make up for the variance of a game of poker. Playing at multiple tables allows you to better manage the way variance affects your games in the long run.

It’s More Exciting Than a Single Table

When playing at only one table, there are times when another player may max out their time making a decision. This is quite boring when it’s heads-up, but if you’re at a table with more players, the “downtime” and boredom of waiting quickly stack up. However, you don’t have to worry about this when multi-tabling, as there’s always something going on at one of your tables.

It Optimizes Your Time

This is because you are constantly playing instead of waiting for your turn at a single table, which means you can potentially increase your wins without needing the time and mental preparation for long poker sessions.

The Disadvantages of Multi-Tabling

While multi-tabling offers many advantages, there are also downsides to consider:

It Requires Greater Levels of Concentration

If you’re unable to maintain your focus across multiple games, this strategy could backfire and actually cause you to lose money in the long run.

Even Though You Can Win More in Multi-Table Poker, You Can Also Lose More

You know what’s worse than a bad run at one poker table? Multiple bad runs at multiple poker tables. That’s right, even if you’re playing well, sometimes a run of bad luck can hit you at more than one table. 

Your risk is also increased by the fact that you have less time to make a decision at each table since you‘re managing multiple hands, which could also result in more misclicks and timeouts if you’re not careful. 

All these additional pressures could lead to a player going on tilt, when even the best attempts at good poker bankroll management can fall by the wayside

It Becomes Even Harder to Read Your Opponents

 It’s already harder to read your opposition when you play poker online, but this difficulty is multiplied when you play at more than one table.

More Tables and Focus Means Less Energy to Play Over Longer Periods of Time

When you’re playing to win at multiple tables, you’ll need to put more energy into your play than is required when you play a single game. This means that you’re more likely to tire out quicker, even if you focus on developing your stamina. 

Multi-Tabling Tips

If you want to try multi-tabling in poker, make sure you take advantage of these tips:

Make Sure Your Poker Skills are Honed

It goes without saying that you should have a reasonable grasp of poker before you decide to get serious about multi-table play. If you’re new to the game or are still losing more than you’re winning, you should take the time to build up your foundational poker knowledge and skills before you dive into multi-tabling, even if it does offer potentially greater wins.

The best way to test your poker skills before multi-tabling is to review things like poker strategies for beginners and some of the free poker training videos available online. Play one table at a time faster than normal to test your reflexes, then review some of those hands to see if you’re making solid decisions. You can even take notes on some of the best multi-table tournament hands and put those into practice. 

Once you’re confident, give multi-tabling a try with two tables, and repeat the hand reviews and note-taking before taking on more tables.

Manage Your Poker Table Layout

When playing poker online and multi-tabling, you’ll have the option on most sites to tile or stack each of your poker table windows so that you can interact with them as you please. The most important thing to remember when managing your poker table layout is that all the information should be easily accessible to you when you play. The two factors that will affect this are the number of tables you play at, as well as the size and resolution of your screen. 

For example, a tiled layout on a small, low-resolution screen means you’ll likely be unable to view all the information you need in order to win. In this situation, you should rather go for a stacked layout. However, if you have a large, high-resolution screen, you can safely tile many tables next to each other and still see everything you need.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you to assess which layout works for your online poker setup.

 Try the Four-Color Deck Setting

Instead of the traditional two-color deck setup, you can set your games so that each suit has its own color. Using four poker card colors makes it easier to see at a glance what cards you have, which is very important when you’re multi-tabling.

Take Advantage of Hotkeys

If you’re playing on a laptop or desktop computer, many poker clients offer a hotkey feature. Hotkeys are assigned to important actions so that you can act on decisions quickly, and you can customize the hotkeys to your preferences. 

For example, instead of having to move your mouse and click on the fold button, you can simply tap a single key on your keyboard. This can save time, which is an important resource when you’re playing multiple tables, and it makes hand analysis on poker heads-up display tools easier as well.

Start with the Low-Limit Tables

Even if you’re doing incredibly well playing single-table poker games, you should start by playing at multiple low-limit poker tables while you get used to the dynamics of multi-tabling before you join in some high-stakes games. You may even start with micro-stakes poker, but low-stakes poker may work well enough to protect your bankroll while providing the opportunity to experiment with multi-tabling.

Should I Try Poker Multi-Tabling?

While multi-tabling may sound like a great idea, it’s definitely not a poker practice that everyone should use. If you’re an online poker player who is winning more than you’re losing, then it may be time to dip your toes into the multi-table arena and test the waters. However, if you’re still learning poker online, working on basic strategies, or struggling to win more than you lose when playing at a single table, you should stay away from multi-tabling.

Keep in mind that multi-tabling in online poker isn’t necessary. It’s not a mandatory step to enjoy the game or to make money in poker. Deciding that multi-tabling isn’t for you might be a realistic assessment of your own poker journey, and for some, knowing when to stop playing poker may be the result. Ultimately, poker can be what you want it to be based on your level of study and commitment.

Play Poker Online at BetMGM

Whether you have the skills and want to take part in multi-tabling poker tournaments, or you just want to find a good old-fashioned single-table online poker cash game, you can find what you’re looking for at BetMGM Poker. From Texas Hold’em to Omaha and freezeouts to knockouts, we have many exciting variants and formats to suit a range of tastes. All of the action is available, licensed, and legal when you’re ready to play poker for real money. 

To join in the fun at all the tables and slot machines, all you need to do is register at BetMGM. And don’t forget to use our online poker welcome bonus code to take advantage of a stellar deposit deal.