Table-talk
Monday, 25 November 2013
Everyone has an optimum amount of tables and everyone has their limit. We asked the pros theirs.
Luke “LFMagic” Fields
It's quite rare that I find myself playing more than nine or ten tables on a Sunday now. I don't play any turbos at all and just focus on the higher buy-in, better-structured stuff. Because I only reg for stuff that starts between 3.30pm and 9.30pm, if I do happen to make a final the chances are I'll have already been one-tabling it for quite a while, so I can open the other tables in that remaining tourney, usually from five tables out, and keep an eye on what the rest of the field is doing.
I used to play 12 to 15 more regularly but usually only on a Sunday, when I'd add in turbos. However, if I'm 12-tabling, I don't feel like I have as good a grip as I do with nine. I use one 27” Mac. I've never cascaded tables either; I've always tiled, so I can always see what's going on. As I don't really play too many days in the week now outside of an online series, I really look forward to playing Sundays, and I kind of see turbos and stuff like the SuperSonic as diluting my schedule.
If I make a final on a Sunday I want it to be something prestigious, a named tournament that I play week in, week out. It's all about the glory. It's a marathon, isn't it? There's no better feeling than still playing at 8am, knowing that you can find that extra gear and give yourself the best chance to win something some 14 hours in to the session.
Owain “Sngwonder” Carey I have conflicting issues since becoming a full-time player that have caused me to really question my strategy. Moorman, Calvin Anderson and the like talk of 15-25 tabling, and when we look at it they consistently crush and win big money, so do I need to do this kind of volume to win big?
My optimum level is 6-8 tabling higher end MTTs. To multi-table 15-25 I'd have to change my game style to very much a TAG player, purely grinding out an hourly wage, as I can’t play like Moorman or Cal when 20-tabling. How they do it bemuses me, because when they’re doing it it's as if they're one-tabling, never missing a spot. Do I want to change my entire game? I came to the conclusion that, no, I'm an aggro, spot-taking player, so forget Moorman's volume for now. I need to concentrate on what I'm good at and not run before I can walk.
It's very important in poker to never be out of your comfort zone. I'm winning regularly, so why force the issue and maybe lose for a period of time while adjusting, or lose my identity as a player altogether?
I'm totally comfortable with what I do in poker. So let Moorman and Cal do their thing and I'll do mine. After all, I've progressed from two-tabling SNGs, maybe my next progression will be moving onto doing what they do, but for now I must stay focused on doing what I deem optimal.
Chris “Moorman1” Moorman I normally play around 16 tables, never over 20 now. The games are too tough to play any more than that to a good standard. It's tougher to play so many these days. I only really get to 16 on Sundays now. I normally sort the tables from left to right in terms of importance so I know where to concentrate. I use one screen and my laptop monitor. For some stupid reason I play most of the screens on the laptop and have Skype and Facebook, etc, on the monitor.
Adam “AlmostWinnin” York It depends whether I’m sat at my desk with my monitors or whether I’m just relaxing with my laptop. At my desk in full on grind mode, I will play anything from 12 to 18 tables. If I am in chill-out sofa mode I will normally stick to a maximum of nine or ten tables. My girlfriend much prefers the latter as she's much more likely to get full sentences rather than two word responses to her questions.
I used to play on my laptop 100% of the time, which meant I would never really play more than ten tables. A couple of years ago I decided I needed to invest in a proper desk and chair and multiple monitors with an aim to increase my hourly (and also improve my posture whilst sitting at the computer for hours on end).
Nowadays I mix it up depending on what day it is, what time I start my session and what mood I'm in. I've learnt to find a bit of a balance that works for me. I think playing a gazillion tables at once for 16 hours straight is just not healthy or sustainable and sometimes it's good to take the pressure off a bit by playing a more easily manageable schedule.
I move my tables around so that the most important games get the best screen space with no overlap. This will usually depend on how big the buy-ins are, but I'll move them around based on how many players are left and also my stack sizes (eg, the games where I have 10bbs require a lot less focus than those where I have 30bbs).
Stuart 'NutterRutter' Rutter At the moment, I am playing on iPoker and OnGame at the same time, and so the grind is on average about eight tables. I always preferred to play on just one network, but I think it's now necessary to play across networks if you want to have the same level of grind. The stakes are on average $3/$6, but actually anything from $2/$4 to €5/€10. I start the grind about 11am, and continue till about 2am, with just a break for dinner and a chill in the evening. It can be heavy-going and long, so it's really important to stop if I feel tired, or indeed feel anything that stops me playing well.
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