The Asia-centric GGNetwork has moved back the implementation of new cash game table limitations, according to its Trello public roadmap. The new table cap was originally scheduled for October 1st but was moved earlier this week to October 28th.
In continuing with both the trend in the industry and its own focus on catering to recreational players, the GGNetwork will be restricting its players to having just four of the same cash game table type open at one time.
Some reports are saying that the limit will be four cash game tables total, but unless GGNetwork worded it incorrectly, it seems that it is four games of the same kind. From its public roadmap (emphasis mine):
4 Table limit per Game on
– VIP Games
– No Limit Hold’em
– Pot Limit Omaha
– All-in or Fold
– Rush and Cash
– Short Deck
That “per Game” would imply that someone could have four No-Limit Hold’em games open and four Pot-Limit games open, for instance, for a total of eight tables. I am unable to play on the GGNetwork, so I am not privy to if there is an overall max simultaneous tables at the moment.
The “per Game” differentiator also makes sense when taken in context with another note on the roadmap entry which reads, “4 Table Limit Overall on Mobile.”
Since that four-table limit overall is specified only for mobile, that would also imply that the “per game” denotation is valid.
There will be no such limitation for tournaments.
Why limit multi-tabling?
There are generally a couple reasons why an online poker room or network would put a cap on the number of tables someone is allowed to have open. The first is simply speed of play. When I used to play online poker frequently, I would often multi-table and I can say from experience that my play would definitely slow down. If I had a tough decision to make on one table, other tables would suffer if my turn to act came around. I know when I’m on the other end of that, when someone else is taking a long time to act, it can get frustrating. I tried to keep my pace brisk when I multi-tabled, but it wasn’t always easy.
Restricting the number of tables is also likely to reduce the number of pros on a site. Pros tend to want to play as many hands as possible to maximize both regular earnings per hour and their rakeback and other rewards. The fewer tables they can play on, the less likely recreational players are to sit with them.
Both of these effects make for a better experience for recreational players (and heck, even pros sometimes). The faster the action is, the more fun the games tend to be. Nobody wants to come home from work, boot up the GGNetwork, and then sit there waiting for an opponent to drain their timer to the ground. And with fewer pros to contend with, there is a better chance of winning. And winning is always fun.
