I thought this would be good both for valued users and for us who are currently doing this as a resource. In here we will discuss:
-The proper set up for mass multitabling SNGs
-Theory on range in specific rounds
-Theory on specific hands in specific rounds
-Final 5/4/3/Heads up theory
-Much more.
This guide more of a rough draft and will evolve as we get better. So far Gamer and I have seen good results doing this; we aim to improve and to help all users who are interested along the way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why mass Multi-tabling and why 18 mans?
OK 1st off, let's discuss what we are doing here and some basic concepts. This is not some random game we picked to play and to put in this kind of quantity at. The whole concept is based upon you honestly feeling you have a winning formula for the given format. I mean, this way, the more you play, the more you win, right? Let's not forget the opposite applies. If you are not beating the game you are playing, the more you play, the more (and the quicker) you will lose, obviously.
That being said, why did we pick 18 mans? Well, we both played a ton of 180 and 90 mans, and where as we both were competitive in each of those formats, we got sick of the variance (losing, or time between big wins, if you will).
We figured 18 mans were the best of both worlds - big enough wins to add up and supplement the roll nicely when on a hot streak, and not too much time between wins.
Why so many tables? To beat variance, that simple. If you are playing a winning strategy then playing the more you can, as long as it doesn't affect your performance, will make you more money in the long run.
Some tips off the top of my mind right off the bat:
1) If specific hands/bad beats bother you a lot simply pick something else to do with your time. You will lose massive amounts of hands, often when you have it in with the best hand in long streaks - sometimes seeming like it's impossible to win. This is part of the game of poker, and where as it is amazing how it happens sometimes, it is part of the game. Don't get too attached to any one game/hand at a time - be focused on making the right plays in the right spots, or do something else with your time.
2) Be comfortable when starting a session. Have to use the bathroom? Do it before you start. Hungry? Eat first. Annoyed/pissed off? Do something else. Running bad and sure you will lose? Do something else. Etc. etc. - you get the point. Sounds like a cliche but be honest with yourself - balance in life in respect to Poker is absolutely essential and if you aren't looking forward to playing and expecting to win right now you aren't ready to play.
3) Be free of distractions. People over? I don't recommend doing this. Movie you like? Same. Etc. etc., where as the focus on our opponents is extremely limited because we are playing so many tables at once, focus on each decision we are making is crucial as each one can literally make or break us in any of these tournaments.
4) To start, choose an amount of tournaments you know you are comfortable with and build from there. Sit outs and misclicks are death to your session! Not to mention if you start sitting out in one tournament, table after table will pop up with you sitting out, and you have to manually find each table you are sitting out in to sit back in! I have spoken to Pokerstars about a "sit in all tables" option - don't expect it any time soon
. So, choose an amount you know you can handle right off the bat and if you want to play more at once in the future do so.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting up the Pokerstars Software for Mass Multi-tabling
OK now that we have some general knowledge and tips down, let's focus on actually getting ready to play these games. There are some things you need to do with the Pokerstars software if you are going to efficiently play 15 or more tables at once. They are:
1) Go into Options--->Preferred Seat. Selected 9 handed, and select the seat of your choice. The Software will now seat you at this seat in each of the tables that opens up for you. I prefer the bottom seat. The point is to not have to see where you are seated on each table to see your position and cards. This eliminates delay which is essential - so do this.
2) The lobbies for each table popping up are a nuisance, let's get rid of them. In the Stars software, go into Options--->Advanced Multi-table options and uncheck "Auto-open Sit & Go Tournament Lobby".
3) Get your filter right for what you will be playing. The Stars filter is a wonderful option recently added for focused, quantity players like us. That being said, lets say we want to play 1.75 18 man Turbos, and only those.
At the top of the filter options type "1.75 NL Hold'em [turbo - 18 players]" (you can copy and paste that). This will make it so you just see those. Make sure in the bottom right the options "Show Running" and "Show Completed" are unchecked. Now you will only see the registering tournaments of your choice, which is what we want.
4) Take a look, in the software at View--->Manage Layouts. You are not using this now, but you will soon, to have your preferred table layout saved for future reference. This is extremely important. You must do this now because the next time you do this to save your layout it will be in a session, and trust me you want to minimize distractions within your session. So, get familiar with it now so you can quickly do it when you play.
5) To expedite things and further avoid sit-outs, it is best to go into Options, and check "Muck Losing Hand" and "Don't Show Winning Hand".
6) OK, now you ready to start, but your setting up for future sessions is not done. Remember, unless circumstances are beyond your control (disconnect, power outage, etc.) don't ever ever be sitting out!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Setting up and saving your layout
It is now time to register for the 1st tournament of your session. Keep signing up for them, and as they pop up, make them the size of approximately 40% of your monitor and place them in the upper right of your screen and stack them on top of each other. In the future you won't have to do this as your layout will be saved. Take the window for the Pokerstars software and place it to the left of your tables. You don't need to see the whole thing, just enough so you can click to sign up for the next tournament.
Now it is time to save your layout you have just created for future sessions. When you are seated at the amount of tables you wish to play in your session, go into View------->Manage Layouts in the Pokerstars software. Save your layout as the name of your choice. Now, under View you will see "Custom Layout (the name you chose)". When it is checked your layout is active. When you play an amount of tables up to how many you save in this layout you will be good to go, if you want to play more tables, you will have to place the excess tables as we did above and resave a new layout.
---------------------------------------------------------
OK so you are on cruise control now. Your layout is saved, the tables are popping up as they should without distractions and you can just focus on playing. Let's get into some theory as the levels of the tourneys progress.
1) Levels I (10/20), II (15/30) and III (25/50) - I believe in an extremely tight slow playing "setmining" strategy for these levels. For those of you not familiar with this strategy I will sum it up for you.
Basically, you are only playing pocket pairs and AK (not AQ and lower). suited cards mean nothing, hands with big implied odds (10j suited) mean nothing. Sure there will be some exceptions if you are on the big blind and the hand is unraised, etc.
You are looking to first and foremost not get eliminated unless it is an extremely bad beat (i.e. AA or KK no good all in preflop) or a very rare fluke hand (i.e. you get it all in with KK preflop and your opponent flips AA). You limp pocket pairs but you do NOT call/reraise huge raises (unless you have KK or AA of course)...the price needs to be low enough so you still have a decent stack if you miss. You are looking to hit sets and extract the maximum amount of chips from your opponents. One thing to keep in mind is sometimes your sets will be no good! If you are facing for example a 4 suited board and you don't have that suit or a 1 card to the straight board and you have no piece of it don't tilt and do something stupid. I know that set is pretty and yes you have very low odds of hitting your boat/quads on the river but you need to be willing to let it go.
The other way in this strategy that you often accumulate large amounts of chips is by having monster hands preflop (i.e. AA, KK) and inducing action from your opponents. I play differently in different positions - in early position I'll often limp/reraise AA or KK, in mid position I'll double or triple the blind if it is unraised and there are limpers and in late position with no raisers I'll triple the blind or more. What you are doing is trying to make a decent pot without allowing so many players in the hand that the odds of your hand remaining in front post flop are against you.
I want to take a second to talk about JJ, QQ and AK as they are employed in this strategy. I'll pretty much play JJ as I would 10 10 and 99 at these levels, looking for a set or a lower board than my pair since the odds of a queen and higher on the flop are extremely high. QQ I am in between on, as if you are all in with it preflop you are flipping a coin with AK and obviously losing to AA and KK, and KA I am in between as well as you are flipping a coin with any pocket pair and losing to KK and AK. I used to subscribe to the strategy that at this very low skill level with AK you will run into a lot of people with AQ or worse, therefore I'd try to get it all in as much as possible. I estimate this is true about 50% of the time, which is pretty inefficient in my opinion. I'm open to input on this.
I've pretty much drifted to looking to see a flop with AK and QQ in levels I and II, but trying to get them all in at level 3 and further.
Theory on higher levels coming soon
-The proper set up for mass multitabling SNGs
-Theory on range in specific rounds
-Theory on specific hands in specific rounds
-Final 5/4/3/Heads up theory
-Much more.
This guide more of a rough draft and will evolve as we get better. So far Gamer and I have seen good results doing this; we aim to improve and to help all users who are interested along the way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why mass Multi-tabling and why 18 mans?
OK 1st off, let's discuss what we are doing here and some basic concepts. This is not some random game we picked to play and to put in this kind of quantity at. The whole concept is based upon you honestly feeling you have a winning formula for the given format. I mean, this way, the more you play, the more you win, right? Let's not forget the opposite applies. If you are not beating the game you are playing, the more you play, the more (and the quicker) you will lose, obviously.
That being said, why did we pick 18 mans? Well, we both played a ton of 180 and 90 mans, and where as we both were competitive in each of those formats, we got sick of the variance (losing, or time between big wins, if you will).
We figured 18 mans were the best of both worlds - big enough wins to add up and supplement the roll nicely when on a hot streak, and not too much time between wins.
Why so many tables? To beat variance, that simple. If you are playing a winning strategy then playing the more you can, as long as it doesn't affect your performance, will make you more money in the long run.
Some tips off the top of my mind right off the bat:
1) If specific hands/bad beats bother you a lot simply pick something else to do with your time. You will lose massive amounts of hands, often when you have it in with the best hand in long streaks - sometimes seeming like it's impossible to win. This is part of the game of poker, and where as it is amazing how it happens sometimes, it is part of the game. Don't get too attached to any one game/hand at a time - be focused on making the right plays in the right spots, or do something else with your time.
2) Be comfortable when starting a session. Have to use the bathroom? Do it before you start. Hungry? Eat first. Annoyed/pissed off? Do something else. Running bad and sure you will lose? Do something else. Etc. etc. - you get the point. Sounds like a cliche but be honest with yourself - balance in life in respect to Poker is absolutely essential and if you aren't looking forward to playing and expecting to win right now you aren't ready to play.
3) Be free of distractions. People over? I don't recommend doing this. Movie you like? Same. Etc. etc., where as the focus on our opponents is extremely limited because we are playing so many tables at once, focus on each decision we are making is crucial as each one can literally make or break us in any of these tournaments.
4) To start, choose an amount of tournaments you know you are comfortable with and build from there. Sit outs and misclicks are death to your session! Not to mention if you start sitting out in one tournament, table after table will pop up with you sitting out, and you have to manually find each table you are sitting out in to sit back in! I have spoken to Pokerstars about a "sit in all tables" option - don't expect it any time soon
. So, choose an amount you know you can handle right off the bat and if you want to play more at once in the future do so.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setting up the Pokerstars Software for Mass Multi-tabling
OK now that we have some general knowledge and tips down, let's focus on actually getting ready to play these games. There are some things you need to do with the Pokerstars software if you are going to efficiently play 15 or more tables at once. They are:
1) Go into Options--->Preferred Seat. Selected 9 handed, and select the seat of your choice. The Software will now seat you at this seat in each of the tables that opens up for you. I prefer the bottom seat. The point is to not have to see where you are seated on each table to see your position and cards. This eliminates delay which is essential - so do this.
2) The lobbies for each table popping up are a nuisance, let's get rid of them. In the Stars software, go into Options--->Advanced Multi-table options and uncheck "Auto-open Sit & Go Tournament Lobby".
3) Get your filter right for what you will be playing. The Stars filter is a wonderful option recently added for focused, quantity players like us. That being said, lets say we want to play 1.75 18 man Turbos, and only those.
At the top of the filter options type "1.75 NL Hold'em [turbo - 18 players]" (you can copy and paste that). This will make it so you just see those. Make sure in the bottom right the options "Show Running" and "Show Completed" are unchecked. Now you will only see the registering tournaments of your choice, which is what we want.
4) Take a look, in the software at View--->Manage Layouts. You are not using this now, but you will soon, to have your preferred table layout saved for future reference. This is extremely important. You must do this now because the next time you do this to save your layout it will be in a session, and trust me you want to minimize distractions within your session. So, get familiar with it now so you can quickly do it when you play.
5) To expedite things and further avoid sit-outs, it is best to go into Options, and check "Muck Losing Hand" and "Don't Show Winning Hand".
6) OK, now you ready to start, but your setting up for future sessions is not done. Remember, unless circumstances are beyond your control (disconnect, power outage, etc.) don't ever ever be sitting out!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Setting up and saving your layout
It is now time to register for the 1st tournament of your session. Keep signing up for them, and as they pop up, make them the size of approximately 40% of your monitor and place them in the upper right of your screen and stack them on top of each other. In the future you won't have to do this as your layout will be saved. Take the window for the Pokerstars software and place it to the left of your tables. You don't need to see the whole thing, just enough so you can click to sign up for the next tournament.
Now it is time to save your layout you have just created for future sessions. When you are seated at the amount of tables you wish to play in your session, go into View------->Manage Layouts in the Pokerstars software. Save your layout as the name of your choice. Now, under View you will see "Custom Layout (the name you chose)". When it is checked your layout is active. When you play an amount of tables up to how many you save in this layout you will be good to go, if you want to play more tables, you will have to place the excess tables as we did above and resave a new layout.
---------------------------------------------------------
OK so you are on cruise control now. Your layout is saved, the tables are popping up as they should without distractions and you can just focus on playing. Let's get into some theory as the levels of the tourneys progress.
1) Levels I (10/20), II (15/30) and III (25/50) - I believe in an extremely tight slow playing "setmining" strategy for these levels. For those of you not familiar with this strategy I will sum it up for you.
Basically, you are only playing pocket pairs and AK (not AQ and lower). suited cards mean nothing, hands with big implied odds (10j suited) mean nothing. Sure there will be some exceptions if you are on the big blind and the hand is unraised, etc.
You are looking to first and foremost not get eliminated unless it is an extremely bad beat (i.e. AA or KK no good all in preflop) or a very rare fluke hand (i.e. you get it all in with KK preflop and your opponent flips AA). You limp pocket pairs but you do NOT call/reraise huge raises (unless you have KK or AA of course)...the price needs to be low enough so you still have a decent stack if you miss. You are looking to hit sets and extract the maximum amount of chips from your opponents. One thing to keep in mind is sometimes your sets will be no good! If you are facing for example a 4 suited board and you don't have that suit or a 1 card to the straight board and you have no piece of it don't tilt and do something stupid. I know that set is pretty and yes you have very low odds of hitting your boat/quads on the river but you need to be willing to let it go.
The other way in this strategy that you often accumulate large amounts of chips is by having monster hands preflop (i.e. AA, KK) and inducing action from your opponents. I play differently in different positions - in early position I'll often limp/reraise AA or KK, in mid position I'll double or triple the blind if it is unraised and there are limpers and in late position with no raisers I'll triple the blind or more. What you are doing is trying to make a decent pot without allowing so many players in the hand that the odds of your hand remaining in front post flop are against you.
I want to take a second to talk about JJ, QQ and AK as they are employed in this strategy. I'll pretty much play JJ as I would 10 10 and 99 at these levels, looking for a set or a lower board than my pair since the odds of a queen and higher on the flop are extremely high. QQ I am in between on, as if you are all in with it preflop you are flipping a coin with AK and obviously losing to AA and KK, and KA I am in between as well as you are flipping a coin with any pocket pair and losing to KK and AK. I used to subscribe to the strategy that at this very low skill level with AK you will run into a lot of people with AQ or worse, therefore I'd try to get it all in as much as possible. I estimate this is true about 50% of the time, which is pretty inefficient in my opinion. I'm open to input on this.
I've pretty much drifted to looking to see a flop with AK and QQ in levels I and II, but trying to get them all in at level 3 and further.
Theory on higher levels coming soon
.
