Reason for Multi-tabling MTTs

I know that majority of SNG players multi-table to increase their profit. Logic being that more games played at a certain limit assures you of a good profit even with variance. The ups and downs will come but as long as your ave ROI is positive even if it is small, then you come out ahead in the end.

A good analogy is the supermarket. The owners don't mind making a few cents for each can of sardines that they sell. They are relying on the volume of thousands of shoppers to make their profit at the end of the day.

MTTs on the other hand are a different animal altogether. There is a very small chance of winning one of these babies as you play against hundreds of people, but if you get a Top 3 finish, then you're pretty much set and have made your profit in one big swoop.

Following my analogy, this would probably be the Louis Vuitton type of shops where they only need to sell a couple of pairs of bags and shoes a month and they're already set.

Having said this, would you want to multi-table MTTs ?

When I thought about this initially, I would think the correct answer is no. It is better to just concentrate on one table at a time so that you have a better chance of winning. Since the chances of that are already slim from the percentages and number of participants alone , you do not want to pass up any possible opportunity that comes up so you may want your full concentration on that table.

But having recently migrated to MTTs from being strictly an SNG player, I have realized that I play better when I multi-table MTTs. Well not for the same reason as SNG multi-tabling where volume means profit.

My primary reason for multi-tabling MTTs is to allow me to keep focus.

Huh ? I know it sounds like the opposite of logic. But hear me out. MTTs take a very long time to finish. On average, I would say 3 to 5 hours is the norm. During the majority of this time, you pretty much just sit in front of your PC, twiddle your thumbs and wait for hand after hand. There are long stretches of time when you have to keep folding crappy hands. There is a very strong temptation to finally get fancy and play marginal hands just out of sheer boredom. But this will be your downfall as it is very easy to get sucked into a hand where you flopped something and then you overplay it losing valuable chips in the process.

So what do I do? I just open up another table. Whatever's available. It could be anything. A $2.20 buy in tourney, an Omaha or Stud SNG, sometimes even a freeroll. This gives me the small distraction that I need during those long stretches of time where I need to fold. It keeps me focused during the whole tourney as my concentration is sharper trying to keep track of 2 tables or even 3. Just make sure that it is a somewhat small buy in game, something that you wouldn't mind sitting out of if you suddenly get a big rush of cards in the main MTT that needs your full attention.

And if you make it ITM in the side game that you opened, which happens more often than you might think, it becomes a pretty nice bonus. Of course, this advice only applies for somewhat experienced players. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners as you may end up getting confused and misclick fold when you're supposed to bet with your AAs. Heheh ...

So Multi-table for focus. And better focus means more profit. =)