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Randy "nanonoko" Lew recently set a Guiness Book World Record by playing 23,493 hands of online poker in eight hours profitably (He won $7.65 by the end). Stars increased his table limit to 40 for the duration of the challenge so that he could get the necessary number of hands in.
Here is what is remarkable about nano: He plays a high amount of table while playing medium and high stakes while playing a high VPIP while
maintaining a very high winrate. I know of lots of examples of people
who have two or even three of those, but he is unique in being able to
pull of the quadfecta.
My issue is no with nano per se - he is a money making machine and a nice guy. In fact, I would describe him as a freak of nature in the same way that Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps are freaks of nature. They are just made differently for what they do. Nanonoko is just wired differently than you or I.
To me, nano is a very good poker player with elite poker soft skills. He manages tilt very well. I'm sure he manages his stress/sleep/hydration and nutrition very well. He has optimized his software and hardware for quick decision making.
My issue comes from the perspective of someone wanting to help others become better poker players. It's that people like nano make everyone want to play more tables. Guess what - most people suck at multi-tabling (myself included). I think I am able to play four tables of 6-max poker at a level where I'm making very good decisions and having fun. Anything above that and a lot of my mental energy start to go towards keeping track of the tables and things flying around.
I know that I make tons of sub-optimal decisions when playing tons of tables. I've told myself that the volume I put in makes up for it, but I don't think it does. I think it stunts growth. It's a Pyrrhic victory at best. Playing lots of tables shouldn't be the goal for 95% of us (some people who aim for SNE have a whole system around Mass Multi-Tabling and that's fine. You're probably not one of those.) - improving your hand reading and decision making should be.
Do you get bored when you play less tables? Move up! Play half of your current tables at the next limit. It's probably a +EV move. That way you can focus and table select more. Try a few sessions with fewer tables and really think about what's going on.
Don't try to be nanonoko - you're not wired that way.
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