When choosing a monitor for playing poker, it is important to pick out a monitor with an appropriate resolution, aspect ratio, and screen area (physical size). Poker tables generally have about a 4:3 aspect ratio. Pokerstars' tables have a maximum size of approximately 1300x975 and a minimum size of approximately 480x360. An extremely popular monitor size for online poker players is the 30" monitor. It has a resolution of 2560x1600, which is great for multi tabling. Samsung
Resolution & Aspect Ratio
These two things are extremely important when tiling tables while multi tabling. Generally, when tables are overlapping (due to a screen resoluation not large enough or poor choice in aspect ratio) it is harder to follow action and promotes more misclicks (for example, attempting to hit Raise on one table, a table behind it pops up and you hit Raise on it). The following table shows some popular resolutions and how many Pokerstars tables (resized to the minimum) will fit on them with no overlap. It should be noted that it is possible to use multiple monitors at a time (so, two 1600x1200 monitors would let you play on 18 tables with no overlap). (Please see the section below on multiple monitors)
| Resolution | Max Tables w/ no Overlap (Horizontal) | Max Tables w/ no Overlap (Vertical) | Max Tables w/ no Overlap (Total) | Standard Sizes |
| 2560x1600 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 30" |
| 1920x1200 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 22"-27" |
| 1600x1200 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 19"-21" |
| 1280x960 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 17"-24" |
| 1024x768 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15" |
Physical Size
The physical size of a monitor will affect how far away you can sit while still easily reading your cards. For example, say there are two monitors with the same resolution but differing screen sizes. The smaller monitor has to squeeze more pixels on the screen, therefore each pixel will be smaller (and harder to read). This is not always a bad thing though. If a monitor is too big or you are using multiple monitors, looking across a larger area may result in increased neck pain and/or eye strain. An example is having multiple tables up and you are currently looking on one in the top left corner of your monitor. A table on the bottom right corner needs your attention, so you need to look in a different area. A smaller monitor will require much less movement from your eyes and neck (a remedy to this is sitting further back from your monitor).
30 Inch Monitors and Multiple Monitors
30" monitors require at least one DVI-D Dual Link or DVI-I Dual Link connection. Check the specific monitor brand to find out which and if two connections are required. Also, make sure your computer supports the same connection as the monitor. To use 30" monitors, you may need to buy and install an extra graphics card (don't worry, it's easier than it sounds). More information about DVI connections can be found here.
Similar to the 30" requirements, having multiple monitors also requires multiple connections into your computer. For lower resolution monitors, a DVI connection or a VGA connection will work. If you only have one port, you will need to buy and install an extra graphics card. Some computer's graphics cards come with multiple ports and the above may not apply to you.
