6 Man Table Poker Strategy
- At a six-handed table, the odds another player has a higher pocket pair are reduced to 16.1% - a drop of 52.7 percent. For pocket 9s, the odds drop from 18.3% to 11.7%, or a 56.4% reduction.
- At the 6-max tables, do try to play the maximum number of hands from favorable positions. This concept is as important as playing aggressive. Poker is a game of information which can be best.
- Most of these events pay out the top one-third (top three in a nine-person SNG and top two in a six-person SNG). Multi-table tournaments, on the other hand, generally pay out the top 10-15 percent.
The correct 6-max poker strategy is to play looser than you would in a full ring game (open 20% of hands) and make more bluffs and wider call downs. This means that in a 6-max game you should be playing a lot more speculative hands like suited connectors and suited aces as well. Early Levels Matter! A number of players — including some who are very successful in tournaments.
6-Max Tournament Strategy And The Differences Between Short Handed And Full Ring Tournaments
While 9 or 10 player tables still make up the majority of poker tournament formats – 6-max is catching up fast. This article compliments the many poker tournament strategy basics articles here at SNG Planet by highlighting some strategies which are specific to the short-handed tables. By the end of this article you will be able to switch between different table sizes effortlessly, and you will know the kind of mistakes to watch out for from your opponents.
I’ll start with a quick summary of short-handed games, what ‘counts’ and some situations where full-ring tournaments play with 7 or fewer players at certain times. Next the drivers of the strategy adjustments you will need to make to succeed in a 6-max game. Finally some more advanced topics, for those who want to turn a basic understanding of the strategy into something more profitable.
Short-Handed Poker Tournament Strategy – What Is Included?
Tournaments range from 2-player tables, through 4-max (at PokerStars), 5-handed (OnGame), 6-max (most sites) and up to the larger 9 and 10 player tables. This article will focus on the 6-handed tournaments, though a lot of the strategy covered will work just fine in 4 or 5 handed games.
If you play the full-ring tables, there are often times when you find yourself playing short-handed. The final table is the obvious situation, where hopefully you get to play all the way from 10 players to heads-up. There are also ‘bubble’ situations from 3 tables (where in 9 player games you will find 2 tables of 6 and one of 7) and 2 tables to go, where you find two tables of 5 players for a 9-handed final table. You might also find situations where one of more players is sitting out. When this happens, being able to quickly adjust to the short handed situation will give you a real edge on your opponents.
If you are in the process of learning the game, or simply looking for a profitable alternative, I recommend you check out 888 Poker where the ratio of grinders / recreational players is much better than at PokerStars. Click here to check out the easiest shorthanded poker tournaments online at 888Poker.com!
6-Max Poker Tournaments – Overview Of Strategy Considerations
Blind pressure drives your strategy in 6-max poker tournaments. It does this both directly and indirectly.
The direct effect is that, since the blinds come to you faster, you have to be more active in accumulating chips in order to keep your stack from shrinking. This means playing more hands, and playing them more aggressively. In a full-ring tournament you can get away with waiting for a decent hand to play (though you still need to make some moves). In a 6-handed tournament this is a bad strategy, especially during the mid to late stages.
Indirect effects on your strategy occur because everyone else is playing more hands and playing them more aggressively. Since your opponents are less likely to have a strong hand when they bet or raise – you can re-adjust to this by playing back ‘lighter’, making moves like re-stealing or even letting opponents spew their chips by trying to push you around when you do have a great hand.
Sure, the first 3 positions from a full-ring table are missing, and so your base starting hand requirement will be lower. However, for me this is not quite enough to cope with the more aggressive game. If you never raise ‘light’ then you’ll both blind away and observant opponents will know that your raises are with the better hands from your range. Conversely, if you get into the habit of raising too big a range, you set yourself up for re-steals – especially during the middle to late stages with shallower chip stacks.
6-Max Tournament Strategy – Advanced Factors
You will find a lot more ‘BVB’ play in 6-max games. This is Button against Blind(s) and has a dynamic all of its own that you need to understand. Finding the sweet spot of hands to defend your blind with will often depend on who is on the button and their tendencies as far as raising (especially when folded to) and whether they will tend to call re-raises or fold. You need to defend more in a 6-max game, and you’ll need to steal more too! Remember, the button is a strong position, acting last on all the post-flop betting rounds. I like to steal more and defend less in a full-ring game, with 6-handed poker tournaments you need to practice both!
Set mining and is slightly less valuable when short-handed. Since your opponents are less likely to have a great hand to pay you off with. In a full ring game where is a better chance someone has a premium hand in a raised pot which will pay you off when you hit, in 6-max you might win a bet on the flop, but getting someone to stack-off is more difficult. By flat calling a raise with your pair in an aggressive game you might find a re-raise (‘Squeeze’) coming from behind you.
Your image at the table will be a bigger factor when playing short. This works at both the aggressive and tight / passive ends of the spectrum. If you never defend, never 3-bet and never call anyone else’s 3-bets without a hand then you can expect to be noticed and become a target. If you raise mechanically every time you are folded to then you can expect this to be noticed too – and for people to start playing back at you ‘light’. Of course, as you gain experience at the tables you can use people’s impressions of you to your advantage by making some moves. While you are learning the game it effective just to be aware that your image matters, and to mix up your play to avoid this becoming an issue.
6-Max Tournament Strategy – Summing It Up
These games are ideal for players who like to get involved, play post-flop and are able to make moves to play back at their opponents when the situation is right.
You should be aware that not all 6-max games are equal when it comes to the experience level and skills of your opponents. If you are in the process of learning the game, I recommend you check out 888 Poker – where the cross-over traffic from the big casino keeps the games very profitable. You can even grab $8 free to try out the games… any who knows, you might end up turning this into a big tournament bankroll! Click here to check out the best 6-max poker tournaments online – at 888Poker.com.
Related Articles
Every year the World Series of Poker offers a wide range of variants and game types for poker players. Without question, one of the most popular choices is six-handed no-limit hold’em.
Many are familiar with full-ring NLHE, but the short-handed version brings significant changes to strategy, as WSOP bracelet holder and World Poker Tour champion Taylor Paur explained to us yesterday.
Paur has nearly $3 million in career live tournament earnings, the largest chunk coming from his victory in the most recent WPT Shooting Star in San Jose where he topped a 708-entry field to capture a $1,214,200 first prize. Paur won his WSOP bracelet in 2013, besting 2,071 players in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event for $340,260.
The 26-year-old poker pro from El Dorado Hills, California also has experienced considerable short-handed success at the WSOP, twice making final tables in six-max events. Paur finished fifth in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed Championship in 2011, then took sixth in last year’s $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event.
With a focus on players who are used to playing full-ring (nine- or ten-handed) NLHE multi-table tournaments, here are Paur’s six tips for those getting started with six-max tournament poker.
1. Overall Adjustments
“Just tighten up,” Paur begins when addressing how to adjust from full-ring to short-handed play. “Try to play solid. You’re better off not playing too many pots, and play the pots you enter to win.”
“That’s much better than trying to get involved in a lot of hands against good players,” he continues. “Just play the hands you play aggressively.”
2. Avoid Overplaying Hands
Many players new to six-max tournaments will overcompensate and feel they need to change their games dramatically from full-ring play. Paur warns inexperienced players against this, noting how in theory you don’t need to alter your game a lot.
“It is easy to overplay your hands, and a lot of people feel the need to change a lot of stuff when they play six-max,” says Paur. “In this format you just get into a lot more situations postflop where you need to be able to read hands with lesser strength hands, instead of just playing premiums.”
“Inexperienced players get themselves into very big pots they can’t find a way out of,” he continues. “That’s how you see many people bust in the early levels of a six-max tournament, especially the lesser experienced ones.”
3. Blind Play
Since the blinds come around more often, adjustments have to be made when you’re playing short-handed. Paur explains how you should be defending your blinds more often and three-bet more, too, because the opening range from every position is a little bit wider.
“It’s up to personal preference whether or not you like to put in more three-bets or calls, and there are lots of different views on that. A lot of these GTO (Game Theory Optimal) guys seem to say that calling everything out of the big blind is the best way to go. I don’t agree with that. I like to mix it up based on how my actions are being perceived by the person I’m up against, [and from that I will decide] whether or not I’m going to three-bet or flat or fold. And, of course, it matters what cards I have.”
6 Man Table Poker Strategy Against
Also worth noting is the fact that the small blind presents a completely different situation than does the big blind. As Paur explains, the small blind is his least favorite position, and probably one from which to be extra cautious.
“I don’t mess around in the small blind,” says Paur. “I don’t believe people who mess around from the small blind, and I don’t expect them to believe me. I’m scared of the small blind — it’s like a pet peeve.”
4. Adjusting when Under the Gun
Things start to look up once you’re under the gun, but it’s still not a position from which to go crazy. One important point Paur makes is that those who are new to six-max need to start thinking of the positions at the table in a different way.
“I personally think of under the gun full ring as if it were 6-max, but it’s basically middle position when you’re full ring. My opening range is probably too wide, so I don’t take under the gun as serious as it sounds.”
5. Playing from the Cutoff
Things start to get fun when you’re in the cutoff, where open-raising almost feels mandatory if the right person is sitting to you left.
“A lot of your play in the cutoff depends on who is on the button,” Paur explains. “If it’s someone who’s not going to mess with you, you can treat it as if you are on the button. If it’s someone that’s willing to go to war, you might have to go to war.”
“On the other hand, you might have to tighten up a little bit, but that all depends on who your opponent is, and the flow at the table.”
6. Playing from the Button
The best position in poker — and it really doesn’t matter what format you’re playing — is the button. This is no different in six-max no-limit hold’em, and Paur closes out with some words of wisdom on playing six-handed tournaments from most fun position in poker.
“You can obviously play more hands from the button, just because you always have position and that is very important,” he says. “You have a wider opening range from the button, and you can play more hands.”
There you have it — you no longer have to fear the short-handed action at the WSOP, at your local casino, in your home game, or online. Even when your cash game gets short-handed, you know the approach to take — so don’t panic and start raising from the button!
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6 Man Table Poker Strategy Rules
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