24-Tabling Like A Pro: Part I

I've been multi-tabling since the beginning of my poker career, ~4 years ago. It really has been a gradual progress from 1 - 4 - 12 - 18 - 24. I remember how mind-boggling it seemed when I watched RainKhan's YouTube video where he was playing 32 tables or whatever. If you aren't used to making decisions that quickly, it really can seem impossible - but it is a learned skill.

There are a few very important tools necessary to maximize your efficiency and play that many tables. I'll be covering Table Layout, PAHud, and AutoHotkey Scripts.


TABLE LAYOUT
There are 3 general ways to set up your tables. Tiled, Cascaded, or Stacked. Pokerstars has automatic Tile/Cascade settings, but I suggest fully personalizing your setup. Keep in mind, these layout options are all assuming that you play on PokerStars, where they have an efficient way of popping up tables that require action.

TILE
Benefits:
- Table Action is constantly available to see.
- Less tables = better table selection.
- Better reads and player dependant plays.
Drawbacks:
- More time spent moving/aiming mouse
- Significantly more head/neck/eye movement
- Generally need 2+ good monitors

Ideal for 2-8 tables. Now that table-resizing is a normal feature, you can usually fit 9 tables on a good 1600x1200 monitor. I was tiling 18 tables at one point. This layout works until your tables just start to take up too much room and the head/neck movement gets to be a problem. 18 tables was the most I could tile.

CASCADE
Benefits:
- Can fit 24 tables on a single 1600x1200 monitor
- Reduced mouse movement time
- Much less head/neck/eye movement
- A small cure for results-oriented thinking!
Drawbacks:
- Difficult to impossible to follow action on tables where you are not in a hand.
- Even in the hands where you are involved, you often do not see the action until it is your turn to act.
I had to switch to cascaded mode simply because my 2 monitors could not fit more than 18 tables. A cascade is where the tables are lined up diagonally across your desktop. 24 is basically the maximum I could fit in 1 cascade, but there is plenty of blank space left on the monitor. The thing you really need to get used to, though, is the fact that you will often not see the results of your hands. It really only took me a day to get used to that drawback, but in the long run I think it could actually be helpful. You no-longer have the option of spending 5-10 seconds watching for the results of a hand. And by the time that table pops up, whatever emotion you would have wasted on that beat/win will be very diminished.

STACK
Benefits:
- Nearly no mouse movement or aiming required
- All decisions and information is within the same small square
Drawbacks:
- In addition to the drawbacks of the cascade, the stack is just a bit more difficult to review and follow previous hands.
In my opinion, the stack is the most efficient table layout you can have. All of your tables are stacked on the same position, and the table with the most urgent action is always on top. You barely need to move your mouse or your eyes at all. All of your energy and attention is focused on making the correct decisions.

An important change that I make when I stack is moving my start bar to the left side of the screen. This allows all 24+ tables to be listed, instead of grouping them all together into "Pokerstars (24)" or whatever. In addition, I believe Windows Vista users have the feature where you can hold your mouse over each table name in the start bar, and get a small preview of that table. I use XP though, and do not use this feature.

With the start bar on the left, and all of your tables stacked in one spot - it is easier to make quick accurate decisions with minor mouse movement. When you do happen to miss some action or need to hop to a different table, it is just 1 click away on your start bar.

RESULTS
I would say that for most people, a Tiled layout is the most efficient if you are planning on playing 12 tables or less.

If you want to learn to play more than 12 tables, I highly suggest finding a stack layout that will work for you. It does not take long to get used to, and it can really increase your hands/hr.


Check back soon for parts II and III, where I will explain:
-How to optimize your HUD for quicker, more detailed reads.
-How to use AHK to immensely speed up your clicking process, and make all of your actions and bet sizing with your mouse alone (I do all of my 24 tabling with 1 hand).