If there’s one thing that all big-time online poker players have in common, it’s their love of multi-tabling. Players often sign on to more than one online poker site, open up as many tables as will fit on their computer monitor (or monitors, in many cases), and start taking down tournaments and ring games. While multi-tabling may seem like a fast track to winning more, it’s also a convenient and common way to go broke faster. Disciplining yourself when multi-tabling is absolutely paramount. With that in mind, let’s review some ways that you can help you become a top-tier multi-table poker player. Get your pencil out and start taking notes.

1. Don’t start tournaments at different times if you plan on playing several at the same time. When you’re playing in the early stages of tournaments, it’s easy to play a few at the same time. After all, in the first few levels of tournaments, your strategy is pretty simple. If you look down and see pocket kings, you should raise. If you look down and see 3-8 offsuit, you should fold. This tight strategy, based on your hole cards only, will allow you to play multiple tournaments at the same time, provided you’re early on in each. The further you progress through a tournament, the more you’ll need to open your game up. This is when you need to see who’s folding all of the time and who’s being aggressive, which is nearly impossible to do if you have several tournaments open at once and constantly flipping between screens. Therefore, if you’re going to play in a lot of tournaments, be sure that they all start around the same time.
2. Take advantage of the mini table view if the online poker site you’re playing on offers it. This is basically a collapsed view of the action, just showing you the information you need to know: your hole cards, the size of the pot, and a tiny look at who’s at the table. There are no fancy avatars, no cards that are as big as the screen, and no giant Ultimate Bet logo in the middle of the table. This gives you an easy opportunity to play on several tables at the same time. Alternately, you could resize your tables so that they fit in the area you have available. Many online poker sites have this feature, so take advantage of it.
3. Buy a couple of monitors. A lot of the top online pros use two or more monitors when they play. I’ve even seen a setup that utilizes four monitors (along with a very posh leather chair). If you have no idea how to set up a display using multiple monitors, go down to your local computer store and ask. They might even come out to your house and install it for you. The reason you’d want several monitors is that you’ll be able to spread your fleet of tables out, making multi-tabling much easier. Rather than squint to read each of the mini table displays, you can easily see what’s going on at each table.
4. Make sure you have an ample bankroll. If you’re going to play on a number of tables at once, ensure that you have the bankroll to support it. Although you’re spreading out your variability by playing on a few tables at once, you’re also potentially compounding your losses. Make sure that if you went broke at each cash table or failed to make the money in each tournament, you’ll still have money leftover when the smoke clears. Never leave your entire bankroll hanging in the balance at one time. It’s a recipe for disaster.
5. Play at stakes that matter to you. I can’t stress this point enough. If you’re going to multi-table, play for an amount of money that makes it worth your time and energy. Remember, your potential for losses is increasing as well, so put yourself in a position to win by competing for a top prize that is significant to you. If you’re regularly a $20 MTT player, don’t open up seven $5 sit and go tournaments and start dumping money. Play a few $20 MTT tables and improve you skills. You’re seeing several times the number of hands as someone playing at just one table, so make those hands count.

As the last point alludes to, the biggest benefit of playing on several tables is the ability to ramp up your poker skills quickly. The theory is that the more hands you see, the better a poker player you’ll become. Good luck multi-tabling on your favorite online poker sites.