Playing poker has always been great fun, especially when sitting down with a few friends while watching the big football game. But the new online age, with online poker sites offering poker for Windows and other operating systems, allows players to indulge their poker desires more than ever. One of the feats that players can accomplish online that they couldn’t before the internet was invented is the ability to play in many poker games at one time.
Poker players can have many windows open at once, with a separate poker game in each window. This can be a challenge for some players, as the poker windows will quickly clutter up a screen, and switching between the poker windows can be quite a hassle. A few pointers can help make this task of managing all the poker windows much easier, when you are playing in multiple games.
Eliminate as Many Unnecessary Windows as Possible
This first point is essential. There are always some poker windows that can be eliminated or minimized. Playing on only one poker site at a time is a good start. By playing only on one site at a time, you can eliminate unnecessary poker windows such as additional site lobbies. If you only play on one site, you only need one lobby open, and the one lobby poker window can be minimized to further cut down on the clutter. If you are watching friends play in other poker windows, eliminate those as well. Showing concern for a friend’s play is all well and good, but not at the expense of your own play. Essentially, the only poker windows that you should have open are ones that are directly concerned with you, the poker windows of the tables you are playing at.
Rearrange the Poker Windows
This is another essential task. Most poker sites will stagger the poker windows, but this is not enough, especially when you are playing at three or more windows. If you have three poker windows open, have one in the bottom left of your screen, another in the bottom right, and one at the top of your screen. This makes switching between them easier, as there will always be large portions of your screen that are only covered by one of the poker windows. Similarly, if you have four poker windows open, have each one occupy a separate corner of your screen. Being able to switch between the poker windows quickly is vital to playing.
Set Your Limits
Setting limits is always important, and this includes how many different games you are playing in. If you can only play well in one poker game at a time, play only in one poker game. If you can play well in five different poker games, then if you want to have five different poker windows open, go right ahead.
More Ring Games, Less Poker Tournaments
What do I mean by this? It is simply that it is much easier to play in multiple ring games at once than it is to play in multiple tournaments. There are a number of different reasons for this. One is that you get to know the players in the ring games and know their style, while players are constantly being moved in tournaments, so you need to pay attention to many more different people in tournaments. Another reason is that once you fold in a ring game, you are no longer concerned whatsoever about the hand, while in tournaments, you are still an interested party, as another player could be eliminated, or the chip stacks could shift dramatically. I allow myself to have more poker windows open when I’m playing in ring games than I when I’m playing in tournaments. I can typically manage three different tournaments at once, while I can manage five different ring games. It is also a lot easier to play in more games if you make your decisions faster. There are chess masters who can play twenty different games at once against average opponents. This is because they can size up the board and make decisions instantly. Being able to make instant decisions will also help poker players who play multiple games at once, with a screen full of different poker windows.
Keep the Volume High
This is very important. In case you fall behind, or don’t notice the flashing tab indicating it is your turn, your computer speakers can be a life saver. When your computer beeps at you incessantly, you know you need to take an action at one of your tables. This is extremely helpful, especially if you were concentrating on one poker game where excitement was brewing. Your speakers can give you your cue to switch poker windows and take action.
I follow these rules whenever I play in multiple poker games at once. These tips make players playing in multiple games more efficient, as well as make them readier to switch poker windows when it is time to take their turn.
Best Multi-Table Online Poker Rooms
Some online poker rooms are easy to multi-table with, while some only allow one poker window to be open. These are the online poker rooms that we suggest playing at if you are a serious multi-tabler. We are recommending these because each of these online poker rooms allow you to have multiple poker windows open at once. If you have a computer monitor that is capable of processing a resolution of 1600×1200, you can typically fit four windows onto your screen without having to adjust anything.
I’m going to recommend Ultimate Bet Poker over the rest of the online poker rooms for one good reason, their mini-view option. You can actually miniaturize the tables and fit them onto nearly any screen with UltimateBet’s unique mini-view feature.
The second best multi-tabling option that I am going to recommend is PartyPoker. Party Poker didn’t used to have the best multi-tabling software until their update in 2006. Now poker players can actually adjust the poker window to the size of their choice and tile 4 tables onto a screen as small as 1024×728, which is quite amazing.
*Partypoker.com is a registered trademark of WPC Productions, Inc.
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