A quick note about playing 6-max limit holdem

[ReiperXHC]

I've noticed this a lot at the 6-max tables.

I've read some articles and things on 6-max and one of the themes I see a lot is that you need to play more hands.

I think this causes a lot of newer players to actually play way too loose.

The problem with a lot of online poker articles is that they try to tell you what you should be doing, but often times they don't tell you "why" you should be doing it.

In 6-max limit holdem the reason you need to play more hands is because the blinds come around much quicker.

Really we shouldn't actually be playing loose. As a matter of fact, a bunch of starting hands that are pretty nice in a full ring game actually lose a lot of value in 6 max.

An example of this are mid to low sized suited connectors. People hear "play more hands" and think, "Oh, okay. Then these suited connectors are much better now that we're in a short-hand game." Actually the opposite is true.

The reasons for this is the fact that you're going to have a lot less people seeing a flop with you, which makes it harder to draw to your flushes and straights because you just don't have enough money going into the pot to make it profitable.

On the other hand, hands that would normally seem pretty crappy in full ring games gain value. Think of hands like King Ten from early position.

Now you have to pretty decently high cards. And since we're short-handed you can raise with this hand and maybe even steal the pot with a bet when you miss the flop. If you hit a king or a ten here, there's a much better chance that your pair will hold up with 1 or maybe 2 other players in the pot (besides yourself)

Good hands in 6 max are about high cards. The bigger the cards, the better the value. KJ is far less dangerous now with 5 people sitting at your table.

78 suited, even if it hits top pair on the flop...say 852 rainbow, if you're in a pot with a player who has like J8 and another player with AK, you're in trouble. You can even be in trouble without the J8 Say this player has QJ.

For some reason people "love" to call down with 2 overs, and if you're against 2 players and they have AK QJ that's pretty much all the paint. If a paint card hits (very likely as you now have 12 outs drawing against you) you're doomed.

Just some food for thought on these types of games.

Sorry for my erratic writing style, I'm not much of a writer.

Please feed-back here with any other 6-max tips or strategies, and we can get a discussion going here.

-Reip

[Mattchew]

6 max = loose action. All the time on them theres people who never throw away AQs in there life. A players overall EV is usually higher do to the fact that when they place in the $ they will have more big blinds.

[ReiperXHC]

Talking about the fixed limit cash games here. The EV is higher, but the swings are bigger than full limit cash games.

Matt does bring up a very good point. You have to pay much closer attention to what your opponent is doing here. People are going to try to bluff a lot, and if you can get a pot going with 1 other person, it's very possible to take it down with ace high.

The drones who pick a strategy article and play only based on only those rules will pay you off frequently if you just go ahead and let them think they're being aggressive.

A lot of articles on these tell players to make continuation bets all the way to the river until they get raised (when they miss the flop after a raise.) This can work out great if you think you have them dominated. Just check call them and raise them the river.

If you can get a rhythm going with these players, they will sometimes practically give you all of their money.

[luckyshaz]

Past couple of days i have been playing sng just 50c to start off, being a tight player i find that most of the players at the table play anything and catch all the time. But today i changed my play and went with everything i had and both games i came first so all i can say is the only way is up but slowly.

[coachkf]

Good advice Reiper. You make a better writer than you think.

Totally agree that the shorter handed we get, the value of big cards go way up, and the value of small or medium suited connectors goes way down since they need a big pot to make them +EV

Heck, suited connectors aren't worth a ton in limit at all. NLHE cash games is where 78s can bust some poor fella who can't drop his aces.

[soccerpunch]

very nice breakdown reiper