Poker can typically be played with anywhere between 2 and 10 players per table,
depending on the exact variant. Yet, 🧲 for some reason, 6-handed tables have become a
clear favourite in the online poker environment when compared to its heads-up 🧲 and
full-ring counterparts.
What is the reason for this?
Why Is 6-max poker so
Popular?
There are doubtless many reasons why players pick 🧲 6-max of poker over other
forms of poker. But, there is one reason that seems the most likely. 6-max poker 🧲 has
the perfect balance of action. What do we mean by this?
It’s pretty easy to get bored
at a full-ring 🧲 table. We might have to play a considerable number of poker hands before
we find ourselves in an exciting situation. 🧲 The first 3 seats at a full-ring table are
barely playable and, in the majority of cases, we are forced 🧲 to wait for strong premium
holdings. Assuming we do get dealt a premium, it can sometimes be tough to get 🧲 any
decent action because the average full-ring (FR) player is very tight.
A heads up (HU)
match is the complete opposite. 🧲 We are involved in pretty much every hand, and any 2
cards can be playable from the BTN/SB. We don’t 🧲 get any breathing space whatsoever and
need to be constantly alert. HU is a great choice for action junkies, but 🧲 can be too
intense for many players.
We also potentially lose the feeling of “anonymity” that some
players value. In a 🧲 6-max or FR game, our opponents will not have all of their
attention constantly fixated on us. In HU, our 🧲 opponent is watching our every move,
scrutinizing us, looking for leaks. Some players don’t like the additional pressure
this feeling 🧲 brings.
So now when we consider something like 6-max poker, we should be
able to see why many players pick it 🧲 as their game of choice. We should also remember,
that some of these choices have a bit of a knock-on 🧲 or “trending” effect. The majority
of cash game players pick 6-max, so when a new cash game player arrives on 🧲 the scene,
they might opt to pick 6-max games, because it is typically considered “cooler” by the
community.
6-max poker vs 🧲 Other Variants
The general idea is that the more shorthanded
the format, the wider the ranges it is considered correct to 🧲 play. So, a decent
tight-aggressive 6-max poker regular might play 23% of all hands dealt, while a decent
tight-aggressive full-ring 🧲 regular only plays about 16%, or even tighter in some
cases.
In HU games, it can be considered correct to play 🧲 100% range when we are first
to act in the BTN/SB. Our overall playable range would be well above 50% 🧲 when we take
into consideration both positions.
6-max poker does share some similarities with other
variants. Poker position strategy is important. 🧲 So typically the later our position,
the more hands it can be correct to play.
As a rough guide for our 🧲 raising range
assuming the action is folded around to us preflop -
UTG – 14%
MP – 18%
CO – 27%
BTN –
48%
SB 🧲 – 36%
The same is true when we consider preflop 3betting (a re-raise when facing
an open-raise from our opponents).
MP 4%
CO 🧲 6%
BTN 9%
SB 8%
BB 8%
It’s also a general
trend that the more shorthanded we play, the wider postflop ranges will get 🧲 on average.
So, assuming we face a flop raise we should give a full-ring regular a large amount of
credit, 🧲 while we give a 6-max regular less credit.
By the time we consider HU games,
flop raises are typically a lot 🧲 more commonplace and are not necessarily representative
of an especially strong range. A decent 6max poker player will be raising 🧲 around 15% of
flop-cbets. The average player raises a lot less than this, however.
Population
Tendencies
In order to become a strong 🧲 six max player, it can be worth knowing a few of
the common tendencies we will see in such games, 🧲 and how they differ from optimal
values.
As an example, the average 6-max poker player does not 3bet as much as 🧲 is
recommended. A good 6-max regular will typically have a 3bet frequency of around 7-10%.
The average 6-max poker player 🧲 at lower limit games is likely to 3bet closer to 4% of
hands.
This information has an effect on how we 🧲 should respond when facing a 3bet from
an unknown opponent. It’s essentially going to be fine to fold a huge 🧲 percentage
against 3bets since the average player is not really 3betting us that much.
When
high-level players are involved in a 🧲 6-max poker battle, it is common for them to fold
to 3bets just under 60% of the time. But assuming 🧲 we are playing low limit 6-max poker
games we can make an exploitative adjustment and fold even as much as 🧲 70% of the
time.
Technically this means we are exploitable, but since most of our opponents will
not adjust, we are 🧲 the ones exploiting them for having too tight of a 3bet range.
Here
are some additional population tendencies that make our 🧲 lives a lot easier and allow us
to find an exploitative response to various 6-max poker situations.
The average player
raises 🧲 7% of flops instead of the recommended 15%. We can give a ton of credit to flop
raises.
The average player 🧲 will never 3bet bluff any street…ever. We can fold anything
but premiums against a flop 3bet for example.
Pot-sized bets are 🧲 typically a sign of a
premium holding and rarely a bluff.
Triple barrels are heavily weighted towards value
and should be 🧲 given a ton of respect.
Turn raise (2bet) is usually the nuts.
River
raise (2bet) is usually the nuts.
There are doubtless many 🧲 more population tendencies
that can improve the exploitative side of our game, but this list is a good place to
🧲 start.
Identifying Fish
There are 6 available seats at a 6-handed poker table, and not
all of them are equal. Some seats 🧲 are better than others. It depends on who else is at
the table and how they are arranged.
The general objective 🧲 is to “get position” on a
weaker player. By “position” we mean sitting directly to that player’s left. This means
🧲 in the majority of cases we will act after that player on each street. The only
exception is when he 🧲 is on the BTN, and we are in the SB.
The scenario we don’t like is
when we have a strong, 🧲 aggressive opponent directly to our left. In many cases, this
can be the difference between making money or losing money 🧲 in a given session.
But how
do we identify the weaker players in the first place. There are two very easy
🧲 ways.
This player has a tendency to open limp Good 6-max poker players rarely, if ever,
open-limp. As soon as we 🧲 see a player who prefers to limp the majority of his preflop
holdings rather than come in for a raise, 🧲 we have likely identified a weak opponent.
This player does not have the rebuy option enabled Good 6-max regulars typically 🧲 use
the “rebuy” feature to automatically top-up their stack when they lose chips. In most
cases, this top-up amount will 🧲 be 100bb, but sometimes it will be another round number
such as 40bb or 50bb, depending on their exact strategy. 🧲 If we see a player with a
random looking stack-size (76bb for example), and he clearly does not have the
🧲 auto-rebuy function enabled, we have likely found a weaker opponent. We can use this to
help us table select effectively. 🧲 The best targets are players with stacks between 50bb
and 99bb.
6-max – Standard Bet-Sizing
Another way we can identify weaker opponents 🧲 is
to look out for unorthodox bet-sizings. Naturally, very good players make use of
unorthodox bet-sizings, but good players are 🧲 few and far between. This means that on
any given occasion where we see our opponent using a non-standard sizing, 🧲 we have
likely identified a fish.
In order to recognize non-standard sizings, though, we need a
rough idea of what standard 🧲 sizings are. Here are some of the most common
ones.
Open-Raise – Anywhere between 2bb and 4bb, but most frequently between 🧲 2 and
2.5bb.
3bet – Usually about 3 times the size of the open raise
4bet – Usually about 2.2
– 2.5 🧲 times the size of the 3bet. (3x 4bets are a big tell in many cases)
5bet – All-in
assuming 100bb effective 🧲 stacks
Cbet in -
Single-Raised-Pot – 66% pot
3bet Pot – 50%
pot (or just over)
4bet Pot – 33% pot (or just over)
Flop 🧲 raise -
Single Raised Pot – 3
times the size of the cbet
3bet Pot – 2.2-2.5 times the size of the 🧲 cbet
4bet Pot –
Either a jam or a min-raise
Naturally this is not an exhaustive list, but it should be
enough 🧲 to help us identify weaker opponents by their bet-sizing.
6-max is Fun
The most
important thing when first trying out 6-max poker 🧲 is to think deeply about the action.
But also to enjoy the experience, especially if we come from a full-ring 🧲 background. We
might find it refreshing that we can get involved a little bit more and not spend the
majority 🧲 of our time waiting for premium holdings.
6-max poker, in essence, feels a
little bit closer to the true nature of 🧲 the game – the pace is faster, more exciting,
and we get to see a lot more action.
