Cain is Abel

So, I’m sure my regular readers have been wondering “Wtf is Belok going to do about SNE? He’s way behind!” Well, I did fall behind – and have decided not to go for it this year. I think I’ll hit some milestones, but for now I’ll be focusing my time on…

THE MASS TABLING VIDEO SERIES

I’ve begun seriously progressing on the videos, and am extremely excited.  In addition to being very informative, I have some pretty great demonstrations lined up, and enhancements out the wazoo. Things that have not been seen before.  This series is going to be the ultimate source for multi-tabling information for both advanced and novice players.

ETA ~1-2 months, but I am not releasing it until the entire series is complete. The wait will be worth it.

My CardRunners video series titled “Mass Tabling” had the first video release last night/this morning! And so far, it looks to have been received very well.

The beginning of the video is a demonstration of me playing 24 tables on Stars and 16 tables on FTP for a whopping…  40 TABLES PLAYED SIMULTANEOUSLY.

The second half of the video is a PowerPoint presentation detailing some of the ideas behind my strategy, and highlighting some of the important things to come in future videos.

If you do not yet have a CardRunners account, you can either use the links throughout this post, or click on the banner located on the right side of this blog. In addition to my video (and future series), the CR vids are a huge source of insight and new strategies for serious players. Definitely consider a membership.

I hope you all enjoy the video! I will be posting a SNE update tonight.

Autohotkey is a free program that helps you automate tasks on your computer. You can get it at http://www.autohotkey.com/. There is plenty of reference material on the website if you want to tinker around with the programming language. It is pretty simple and easy to learn the basics, and I would suggest any serious online poker player (or anybody who uses their computer for a large portion of their day) to become acquainted with it. A little AHK knowledge can go a long long way.

I’ll be discussing some of the pre-made scripts that you can use to speed up your actions. I did not have anything to do with the creation of these scripts, I just mooch them The talented guys at overcards.com are the ones who put these together.

BetPot
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=379
This is a script that you can use to automate all of your table actions – including your bet sizing. There is plenty of how-to explanation in the thread, but the important thing to remember is that you can customize all of your actions to basically anything you want. I’ve heard of people even using video game controllers. Being the computer nerd that I am, I was most efficient with all of my table actions programmed to my mouse.

MY SETUP
Logitech G9 Mouse
I chose this mouse because it was quick, efficient, customizable (2 “body” choices, and the option to add/remove weight). Betpot works with the mouse very well.
Left Click: Standard
Right Click: Fold
Side Button1: Call
Side Button2: Raise
Scroll Wheel Up/Down: Increase/Decrease bet size
Scroll Wheel Press: Pot size raise

With this configuration, I really only ever need to use my right hand to play all 24 tables. I don’t even need to aim. I just need to have my mouse over the table. This leaves your left hand free to take care of other things.

Stars Planner
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=398
This is a great script that helps you save LOTS of clicks while playing. You can set it to automatically buy in for you, to keep the Stars lobby activated at all times (most multitablers know how much of a pain it is to have to reactivate stars every time you join a table), and quite a few other options. It increases multitabling efficiency dramatically, and I’d suggest giving it a try. I use version 0.4d, which has always been extremely stable for me.

I personally do not like the autoreloader scripts, as they interfere with a stacked table layout. With Stars Planner, all you need to do is click Options…>Add more chips, and the script takes care of the rest. Very easy.

*LEARN AHK*
The possibilities are endless for making poker and other computer related tasks more efficient. A very basic understanding of the language will be all you need to be able to customize other scripts, or make your own.
Here’s just a small example of a simple one I use, which has helped very much.

SetTitleMatchMode, 2

Home::
WinGetActiveTitle, Title1
WinMove, %Title1%,, 0, 0
return

End::
WinGetActiveTitle, Title1
WinMove, %Title1%,, 0, 600
return

PgUp::
WinGetActiveTitle, Title1
WinMove, %Title1%,, 800, 0
return

PgDn::
WinGetActiveTitle, Title1
WinMove, %Title1%,, 800, 600
return

You can change the X and Y coordinates to whatever works for you. This is a script that simply moves the active window to 1 of 4 spots on your screen, using the Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys.

I use this script constantly. When I have my stack of 24 tables going, and I get a hand where I need to pay more attention, or want to see the results of, I can just hit 1 key and move it to an open area of the screen. 23 tables stay in the normal spot, and the 1 important table is visible without being interrupted. Once the hand is over, 1 keystroke brings it back.

There are tons of other various pre-made scripts in the 2+2 software forums. The ability to customize them, or to use bits and pieces of them with other scripts is a great asset.

Some other suggestions of poker-related scripts one might write:
-A “Startup” script that runs PT and starts an auto-import, PAHud, Poker Lobby, 2+2, etc
-A script to block you from looking at your cashier or PT stats, which is a nasty counter-productive habit we tend to develop.

The specifics of AHK really can’t be covered in this article, though. There are hundreds of pages of documentation on autohotkey.com, which are what I used to learn the language. The purpose of this part of the article is more to stress the importance of learning AHK, and show what is possible when it is used correctly. You don’t need to be good enough to write all of the scripts yourself – you just need to be good enough to mooch other peoples work and adapt it to fit your own style.

Pretty much everybody who plays online poker seriously is at least aware of HUDs, if not using them already. To get a reasonable read on a high volume of tables, you NEED to be able to make your observations and decisions in a matter of seconds. Setting up an efficient personalized HUD is a key weapon in any multitabler’s arsenal. I only use PAHud, but the ideas should be able to be applied to any working HUD.

Most people generally stick with the basic VPIP/PFR/AAF/#Hands default HUD statistics. If I had to pick only 4 stats, I would stick with these as well. For people who are playing ~12 tables or less, you are able to just click on the players name for a more detailed set of statistics. Mega-tablers don’t have time for this. We need all of our information to be a glance away.

CHOOSING YOUR STATISTICS
Now, I wouldn’t recommend increasing the number of statistics you use too quickly. It is very easy to “information overload” yourself if you are not used to looking at more numbers. When adding statistics, go for 1 or 2 at a time – practice with it – and stick with it if it makes a positive difference in your game.

Valuable non-default statistics:
Each of these categories has a multitude of related statistics that you can use.
Blind Stealing/Defense%- Not only does it let you know how likely the player is to steal, when compared with the players vpip/pfr, you can quickly learn how position-conscious the player is, and size him up accordingly.
Street-by-Street Aggression/Action%- Self-explanatory.
CBetting% – There are quite a few stats involving c-bets that you can use. Both on the offensive and the defensive. Since c-betting is such a large part of holdem, these stats are great to have on hand.
Showdown% - While valuable, showdown statistics do not converge until you have a decent sample size on the individual. Even 5k+ hand samples can be very skewed, as a low % of hands actually go to showdown. This stat, however, can be a big factor in your decision to value-bet that river.

Of course there are plenty of other statistics to choose from, and quite frankly, MOST of them can be valuable. There is no “best” HUD setup, it is a tool that you need to completely customize to fit your personal play style.

COLORS:
This is not nearly as important as the statistics you choose, but it is a very important factor in speeding up your player-reading. The 2 seconds it takes you to process a players data can very easily be reduced to 1 second or less with a good intuitive color scheme. I’m not going into very much detail about this, because it needs to be personalized to fit your play. I will say, however, that the standard Red=LAG Green=NIT with shades in between worked very well for me.

DATABASE:
For those of us who have been doing this a long time, some of us have millions of hands worth of data on our opponents. And as valuable as this data is, how many of your opponents do you think have been playing the exact same way for the last 6 months? The last year? Maybe some of the nitty regulars will keep the same style for this long, but most players constantly change their game. Starting a new database every 1/2year or more helps your stats to reflect your opponents more current style.

GENERAL TIPS:
- The more stats you use, the more CPU it takes to load them. Combined with PT imports, 24 stars tables, music, and whatever else you are running, this is definitely something you want to keep in mind while playing. Alt+Ctrl+Del gives you a pretty decent idea of how bad of a resource hog it is.
- When PAHud first loads the stats of a table, it activates the table, popping it up. This can be a pain in the ass when stacking – especially when loading new tables. Be ready for some table-hunting if your HUD ever crashes.
- Generally be aware of how long it takes for stats to converge. Preflop stats converge quickly, gradually requiring more and more hands as you get to river statistics. You can’t make a decision based on a player whose river AF is 0 when you only have a few hundred hands on him.

It’s all about efficiency. Every stat you add contributes to your ability to read an opponent, but takes a bit more time to process. Find yourself a happy medium. Before long, your screen will look like The Matrix, but all you’ll really see is “Blonde”…”Brunette”…”Red Head”… Ok I’m a nerd.

Next Section: AHK

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 1600×1200 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 1600×1200 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).