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Playing Multiple Games
One of the many advantages of playing poker on the Internet is the ability
to play several games at once. Some sites may allow you to play up to 3
games simultaneously while others, like Pacific Poker, limit you to one
game. In any case though, you can always still play multiple games
concurrently by playing at two different sites.
IMPORTANT: The decision of whether to play 2 games at once is NOT to be
taken lightly! Keep in mind that it can have a huge effect on your win-loss
ratio and we don’t mean in a ‘good’ way...
When playing 2 games at once, you'll obviously not be able to pay as much
attention to your every move and will most likely play a little worse. Think
about it : If you average $25 an hour playing at one table, you might only
able to average $18 at each table in a simultaneous set-up when the lack of
focus and concentration plays a role. However, since you're playing at two
tables, you would of course be averaging $36 an hour, which is still better
than the original $25. Therefore, the key factors when deciding whether or
not to play two tables are establishing what you believe you make an hour by
playing at one table; how much this will be decreased if you play at two
tables (the effect lower levels of concentration will have on your ability
to play); and whether or not this new number multiplied by 2 is greater than
the original amount you were making per hour.
Because playing at two tables decreases rate of profit, you must first
establish that you can beat a game consistently in order for it to be
profitable to play two games at the same time. If you are breaking even at a
limit table and decide to play two games at once at that limit, you will
probably begin to lose money since your profit rate will go from 0 to, say,
-$5 an hour per table, which amounts to -$10 an hour. Although this seems
completely obvious, trust us, you wouldn't believe how many players make
this (stupid) error in judgment.
If you are winning a game, you may or may not be able to continue beating
that game if you play 2 tables. For instance, if you're consistently beating
a low fixed-limit game, you can probably still beat the game even if you
play two of them at once. That's because you're probably (and hopefully)
beating this game not by paying close attention to your opponents, but
rather through solid poker fundamentals which have become ingrained in your
head! However, if you're playing no-limit games, you may not do so well if
you play two at once since no-limit games rely much more on reading your
opponents and adjusting your play to the style of those around you
Something else to consider is that playing more than one game can be very
stressful. You'll constantly be checking each game, making snap decisions
every 15 seconds, etc. This may make the game less enjoyable and maybe this
isn’t worth the extra bit of cash you’d be making playing two games at once.
If you're really considering playing two games at once, your choice should
probably boil down to how you answer the following questions:
1. Are you able to beat this game consistently?
2. Are you beating this game because of solid poker skills rather than
reading your opponents?
3. Do you think you'll make more money playing two games at once? If so,
does that money compensate for any potential enjoyment which may be lost
because you won't be able to get into the game as much?
If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, go ahead and try to play
two games at once. See how it goes; some people like it and some people hate
it. If you answered "no" to any or all of these questions, you should
probably stick to playing just one game for now.
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