Best Online Poker Sites for Multi-Tabling
Which poker sites have the best multi-tabling options?
Arguably the greatest innovation brought about by online poker is the ability to play more than one game of poker at a time (for some people, many more; the record is dozens and dozens simultaneously). While it may seem a simple feat to juggle multiple games of poker, those who try quickly realize that doing so is a unique skill unto itself.
That skill - and the online poker rooms where you can best execute it - is the focus of this article, in which we'll discuss the practical effect of multi-tabling on your profit, factors that create environments conducive to playing multiple tables and the top-rated rooms for those who have decided that one game just isn't enough.
Playing More Poker Tables at Once Online: Impact on Your Earnings
Generally speaking, playing more tables (ideally) involves the following tradeoff: Make less money per table to make more money overall thanks to your increased number of hands played. While there may be some select players who can maintain the same standard of play across multiple tables, for most players there will be a measurable drop in performance across all tables for every table they add to their screen.
The trick, of course, is to find the amount of tables where you're adding to your expected return instead of taking away from it. There's no magic number - each player will have different thresholds, and each player will approach that threshold at a unique pace. The best strategy is to simply start with a single table, and then add no more than one additional table per session moving forward. As you increase your overall number of tables, use a program like Holdem Manager that can track your winnings under a variety of conditions - including by number of simultaneous tables in play. Rely on this data (along with your own instinct) to help you find your optimal number of tables.
Multi-Table Poker Sites - Things to Look For
All online poker rooms let you play multiple tables at a time, but the experience you'll have doing so will vary greatly from room to room. Below are some of the characteristics of rooms that offer a smooth, pleasant and intuitive multi-tabling experience.
Interface and Management Matter More Than Maximum Tables: Don't get too hung up on the maximum number of tables a room will let you play at once. It's more important to choose a room that has a good internal interface for multi-tabling and that offers you tools and features to help you manage multi-table play.
Compatibility With Add Ons Can Be Valuable: Third-party programs such as Table Ninja help make playing multiple tables a much more efficient experience by giving you extensive keyboard shortcuts and advanced table control options. You won't find such programs available for all poker rooms, so a room that does support them has an edge over a room that doesn't.
Stability is the Trump Card: It does you no good to be able to play 20 tables at once if your computer throws a fit after just a few. A quick check of your task / resource monitor should give you a good guide to what rooms are processor hogs and what rooms will scale acceptably with you as you increase the amount of tables you play.
What is the Best Option For Multi-Table Play?
PokerStars is far and away the top option for online poker players looking to stack virtual table on top of virtual table. The room is something of a pioneer when it comes to multi-tabling, offering players a level of control and stability that most other rooms are still attempting to achieve. Additionally, PokerStars software is designed to aggressively limit the amount of resources multi-tabling consumes and is compatible with products such as Table Ninja.
That total package of features, performance and control easily puts PokerStars at the front of the race for best multi-tabling experience at an online poker room.
What is the Best Option for US Players and Multi-Table Poker Sites?
Carbon Poker wouldn't have topped our list before their update in June of 2012, but with the software upgrade came a much-improved experience for players engaged in multi-table play. Online poker players will appreciate the variety of controls Carbon now offers, including a variety of efficient views for managing play on several tables at once and more effective switching between tables for stacked play.
Those improvements, along with the increased stability of the platform as a whole, are enough to give Carbon the top spot on our list of best US-facing poker sites for multi-tabling players.
