Is the future of online cash games one-tabling only?

WPT Global limit cash game players to one table, we look at why that might be a future trend in the industry.

I wrote recently about the interesting feature WPT Global have where you can pay a big blind to see what hole cards your opponents had, after the hand. I mentioned then another interesting feature at WPT Global, which was cash games were one table max. You can play as many MTTs as you want, but only one cash table.

I thought this was an error at first, simply because it would be hard to get enough tables running for a new site like them. Long term though I can see the benefit.

A site which allows only one table of cash will put off the good grinders, which is good for recreational players. We all know that a table full of regs and one rec is a terrible proposition for the longevity of online poker. If you want new players to stick around, they cannot get crushed the first time they deposit.

There are no HUDs at WPT Global, which is becoming an industry trend, meaning that players typically will have to pay attention more at each table to develop reads. It also means nobody will be at an advantage by having a database of hands on a particular player. 

One-tabling is optimised for mobile players and that is where the game is going. The vast majority of new players play a single table on a mobile app these days anyway. Especially in the fast fold era where you can still get a lot of volume in. 

Games within games

The main reason why I think a one table only policy at WPT Global might work, however, is because online cash games are adding more and more features that make one-tabling viable.

For example, most operators including WPT Global have some sort of side bet feature for players to use when they are not in the hand. Things like betting on the colour of the flop or the texture of the board (is it paired, rainbow, monotone, Ace high, etc). Then you have features like running it twice and all-in insurance which are extra considerations in every hand. 

All of these features, as well as the paying to see hole cards and rabbit hunts, are essentially games within games. It may be only the one table, but you might have four more decisions, on average, per hand compared to if you were multitabling regular tables. From the operator perspective these are all ways they can monetise the same table, instead of having to encourage players to play more of them at once.

As a serious regular, these are all minus EV gambling games, but you don't have to do them and if it makes a casual player more entertained, then it is beneficial overall for the health of the games. 

Looser games take more attention

There are also features that simply make the game faster and looser, meaning one table is more than enough. Straddles at WPT Global and cash drops at GGPoker, for example, encourage looser action and more players to each hand. You need more time to concentrate on these tables. 

All of this, coupled with the reduction in HUD use across the industry, leans me towards thinking the future of the game is going to be less tables per player. A regular could never make a living at one-table-only sites, but a shrewd player could play at multiple sites to counteract this.

If you think this is bad because you like to play lots of tables, don’t forget that poker is competing with just about every other entertainment industry there is. We are not just competing with Call of Duty and Blackjack, we are competing with Instagram and Netflix too. If we want new players to deposit, we have to make a single table of poker more entertaining.

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Is one tabling the future of online poker? Let us know in the comments: