6-max (or 6-handed) poker games are by far the most popular online cash game format.
They’re so popular, in fact, 🍋 that they’ve almost completely replaced full-ring (or
9-handed) games on most online poker sites.
If you want to become a successful 🍋 online
cash game player, having a strong 6-max game is mandatory. If you’re a tournament
and/or live player, it won’t 🍋 hurt your win-rate to bolster your short-handed
skills.
Here is what we’ll cover in this article (click to skip to that 🍋 section):
We’re
about to dive deep into 6-max strategy. You may want to bookmark the page so you don’t
have to 🍋 read the full guide in one sitting.
Let’s get to it.
This guide has been
updated to include more important advice for 🍋 6-max cash games (originally published
12/20/2024)
What is 6-Max Poker?
Put simply, 6-max is a format that allows a maximum of
six 🍋 players to be seated at the table. Traditional ‘full-ring’ games, by contrast,
allow up to 9 players.
This means that the 🍋 positions from which we play the tightest —
UTG (Under the Gun), UTG+1 and UTG+2 — no longer exist in 🍋 6-max; the positions are as
follows:
Lowjack (LJ)
Hijack (HJ)
Cut-Off (CO)
Button (BTN)
Small Blind (SB)
Big Blind
(BB)
With three fewer players, 6-max just feels 🍋 looser than full-ring poker. The result
is a larger average pot size, a higher percentage of players seeing flops, and 🍋 more
hands per hour. These reasons are why both skilled professionals and recreational
players prefer 6-max — they get to 🍋 spend less time folding and more time playing
hands.
While there are 6-max tournaments, the format is most commonly a cash 🍋 game,
which is what we will be focusing on here today.
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6-Max
Starting Hand Range Charts
Solid poker strategy begins with good 🍋 preflop hand
selection. Having well-structured ranges will lead to fewer tough spots and more
profitable ones.
Here are 6-handed preflop charts 🍋 for every position at the table
(starting from the LJ) from the Upswing Lab:
You can see that our range of 🍋 raising
hands gets wider as we move around the table. This is because, with fewer players left
to act behind 🍋 us, we are more likely to win the blinds with our raise and less likely
to run into a strong 🍋 hand.
Your opening range is at its widest from the small blind
because there is only one player between us and 🍋 the 1.5BB in the pot. However, limping
with a wide range can also be a reasonable strategy from the small 🍋 blind, especially
against a tough opponent who might punish our wide opening range with 3-bets and
floats.
When to Adjust Your 🍋 Preflop Ranges
Starting hand charts like the ones above are
a great guideline — but they aren’t set in stone. Successful 🍋 poker players adjust their
ranges regularly based on a number of factors, including but not limited to these
three:
Opponents’ tendencies/specific 🍋 reads
Your opponents’ tendencies are the main
determinant of how you should adjust your opening ranges. You should exploit your
opponents 🍋 whenever possible, and modifying which hands you open is a good way to do
this.
For example, at a table where 🍋 all players are playing tight and conservative, you
should loosen your opening ranges so you can pick up more uncontested 🍋 pots. On the
other hand, if you have an extremely aggressive player to your left who is constantly
3-betting you, 🍋 you should play tighter the ranges outlined above. This gives you a
stronger set of poker hands that are easier 🍋 to play against 3-bets.
Skill Level of
Competition
You can get away with playing a wider range of hands when you have 🍋 an edge
over your opponents. Playing more hands means more opportunities to exercise your edge
postflop. Likewise, if you are 🍋 playing at a table with very strong opponents, it’s
reasonable to tighten up your ranges. The idea is to widen 🍋 the skill gap against bad
players by playing more hands and to narrow it against good players by playing stronger
🍋 hands.
Rake
In games with particularly high rake, there is a good argument to be made
for playing a slightly narrower range 🍋 of hands. Marginal hands that are on the cusp of
being break-even can become slightly losing when rake is considered.
The 🍋 Perfect
6-Handed Open-Raising Size
When open-raising, you should raise to a size between 2.25
and 3 times the big blind (BB).
A 🍋 smaller size gives your opponents a great price to
call, which you want to avoid because it is more difficult 🍋 to win multiway pots. On the
other hand, raising much larger than 3BB makes your own price worse, forcing you 🍋 to
tighten your range (theoretically, at least).
An exception to this rule is when you’re
in the small blind, where a 🍋 larger size (between 3BB and 4BB) should be used. This is
because the player in the big blind has position 🍋 and money already committed to the
pot, both of which incentivize him to defend very loosely. You can’t do anything 🍋 about
your positional disadvantage, but you can make his pot odds worse with larger
open-raise sizes.
You may have noticed that 🍋 the big blind is absent from the ranges
above; that’s on purpose. We’ll talk about big blind defense shortly.
Understanding
3-Betting 🍋 is Crucial to 6-Max Success
3-betting is a powerful and highly profitable
tactic when done right. There are a number of 🍋 reasons to 3-bet preflop:
For Value.
Re-raising with your strongest hands allows you to build a pot and extract value from
🍋 weaker hands that your opponent will call with. Many inexperienced players slow-play
with their strong hands too often, but fast-playing 🍋 is usually the optimal route.
As a
Bluff. Including bluffs in your 3-betting range allows you to keep your range balanced
🍋 and prevent your opponents from realizing their equity. If you only 3-bet with nutted
hands, your opponents could exploit you 🍋 simply by folding almost every time you 3-bet.
When your last opponent folds, you win the entire pot, even if 🍋 your hand had only, say
60% equity to win. In this example, we denied our opponent 40% (his equity) of 🍋 the
pot.
To Isolate. When you 3-bet, you decrease the likelihood of a multiway pot. This is
in your interest, as 🍋 the equity of your hand diminishes with every additional player
who enters the pot. For example, AA is 85% to 🍋 win against one player holding a random
hand, but in a pot against four other players with random hands, AA 🍋 is only a marginal
favorite:
3-betting to isolate will usually result in a heads-up pot against the
original raiser. Against a 🍋 fish who open-raises (or limps), you can isolate them with a
3-bet (or raise) and take advantage of their weaknesses 🍋 postflop.
Calling and 3-Betting
Ranges in 6-Max Poker
6-max calling ranges and 6-max 3-betting ranges vary more than
opening ranges. The larger 🍋 discrepancy is because calling and 3-betting ranges are
heavily influenced by the position and tendencies of the original raiser.
In general,
🍋 the tighter the open-raising range, the tighter the calling or 3-betting range should
be, and vice versa. Let’s compare a 🍋 tight range to a loose range to highlight this
difference. First, the tight range (HJ vs LJ raise):
Now, let’s take 🍋 a look at a loose
range (BTN vs CO raise):
As you can see, the BTN’s value range is much wider 🍋 than the
HJ’s value range. This wider value range allows the BTN to 3-bet more bluffs as
well.
Here are a 🍋 few rules of thumb to consider when facing a raise:
If your hand is
too weak to 3-bet with but clearly 🍋 too strong to fold, you should probably
call.
Consider 3-bet bluffing with hands that seem slightly too weak to play
(break-even 🍋 or slightly losing calls are usually perfect choices).
Hands with good
playability when called function well as 3-bet bluffs, such as 🍋 suited and connected
hands. (This has the added benefit of improving your board coverage, which is a
generally overrated but 🍋 still relevant concept.)
These rules of thumb apply to all
positions, but there’s even more to consider when facing an open-raise 🍋 from the
blinds.
Note: Want 10 quick tips that will help you win at poker? Get this free guide
if you 🍋 want to come out on top.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play poker...or
do you want to 🍋 know how to win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy
tips if you want to come 🍋 out on top.
Small Blind vs Raise Strategy for 6-Handed
When
you’re in the small blind facing a raise, you should lean 🍋 towards 3-betting your entire
continue range unless the raise is very small. Against a small raise from a player with
🍋 a loose range, your pot odds and hand may warrant a call.
The reason you should mostly
3-bet is to mitigate 🍋 your positional disadvantage. If your opponent calls, you will
then head to the flop with a range advantage and the 🍋 initiative, which makes
out-of-position play easier.
Further reading on small blind play: 6 Steps to Stop
Bleeding Chips from the Small 🍋 Blind.
Big Blind vs Raise Strategy for 6-Handed
The
player in the big blind is in a unique position, having already committed 🍋 1BB to the
pot. This gives them a “discounted” price to call when facing a raise. This is why you
🍋 can call from the big blind with a very wide range of hands compared to other
positions.
You can be especially 🍋 loose against raises from players in the small blind
since you will enjoy a positional advantage postflop. Given that many 🍋 players will
attempt to steal (or limp) at a high frequency from the small blind, you will get to
play 🍋 versus a wide range in position — a recipe for a high win-rate.
Now that we’ve
covered the major aspects of 🍋 preflop play, let’s move to postflop.
6-Max Postflop
Play
This aspect of the game is much more complex, and you will forever 🍋 find something
new to improve on. In fact it’s so complex that even the strongest supercomputers in
the world haven’t 🍋 been able to produce a perfect GTO strategy.
In this section, we’ll
take a look at the most common plays in 🍋 the game, and then we’ll discuss how to
approach each one.
C-Betting
If you’re an experienced poker player or fan, you’re
likely 🍋 already familiar with this fundamental tactic.
A c-bet (short for ‘continuation
bet’) is a bet made by the last aggressor from 🍋 the prior street. This section will
cover the strategy behind c-betting and how you should react to your opponents’
c-bets.
We’ll 🍋 start with how to approach c-betting on the flop, both in position and
out of position (there’s a big difference 🍋 between the two).
C-Betting on the Flop: In
Position
In position, you have a massive advantage for the rest of the hand 🍋 as you get
to act last on each street. Consequently, you will be able to value bet and bluff more
🍋 effectively.
There are multiple strategies that, if executed correctly, work from in
position:
You can choose to bet small with a higher 🍋 frequency and merged range.
This
betting strategy works best on dry, disconnected flops (such as A♣️ 9♠ 5♣️, Q♦️ Q♥ 6♣️,
🍋 J♦️-6♠ 2♥). This approach works because the out of position player will have a hard
time continuing with enough of 🍋 his range, and your bluffs will profit greatly as a
result.
You can choose to bet big with a lower frequency 🍋 and a more polarized
range.
This betting strategy is usually best on wet, connected flops (such as Q♠ J♠
8♣️, 9♦️ 🍋 8♣️ 7♥, etc.). Why? Because the out of position player will have a lot of
hands to continue with, and 🍋 you want to give him the worst pot odds possible while
still forcing him to continue with those hands.
You can 🍋 be a bit more liberal with your
value bets in position. Hands like top pair with a good kicker should 🍋 be bet for value
on a wet board. On the dry boards, where you want to use a smaller c-bet 🍋 size, you can
bet all of your pairs for thin value and protection.
You should still bluff with hands
that have 🍋 a chance to improve on the turn or river (draws and backdoor
draws).
C-Betting on the Flop: Out of Position
You’ll generally 🍋 want to play a
defensive strategy when out of position, betting fewer hands than you would in
position. This is 🍋 because you’ll be at an informational disadvantage throughout the
hand, being first to act on every street.
You should mainly c-bet 🍋 on the flop with
hands that can comfortably bet 3 streets for value (on most run outs), plus some bluffs
🍋 that have a chance to improve to a strong hand on the turn or river. Your betting range
should be 🍋 quite narrow in these spots, and it’s usually best to play a mixed strategy —
sometimes betting, sometimes checking — 🍋 with your strong hands.
Why is playing
defensively so important when out of position? Because your opponent will almost always
have 🍋 a strong, condensed range of hands when they call a raise in position. You have to
pick your spots carefully 🍋 when betting into such a range.
For example, on a board like
K♠ 9♦️ 6♣️, your c-betting strategy should look something 🍋 like this:
Value range: 66,
99, K9
Mixed strategy: AK
Bluff range: QJ, QT, JT, 87s
Hands that may seem like
slam-dunk value bets, 🍋 like KQ, should be checked in order to protect your range.
If the
board is lower, like T♣️ 5♦️ 3♣️, your 🍋 c-betting range should look something like
this:
Value range: 55, 33
Mixed strategy: AT, JJ, QQ, KK, AA
Bluff range: 76s, J9s,
QJ
Further 🍋 reading on flop c-betting: How to Print Money with Your Flop C-Bets In and
Out of Position.
C-Betting on the Turn 🍋 (aka ‘Double Barreling’)
Once your flop c-bet is
called, you should double barrel on the turn with a polarized range containing 🍋 both
value bets and bluffs.
Choosing your value bets on a brick turn is the easy part:
simply bet with the 🍋 same strong hands that you bet on the flop. If the turn card is not
a brick, you’ll have to 🍋 re-evaluate your value range and bet with your new strongest
hands (e.g. you should not continue betting with K♥ 9♥ 🍋 on a board of 9♠ 8♠ 4♥ Q♠).
You
should generally bet gutshots, straight draws, and flush draws as bluffs while 🍋 giving
up with other non-made hands (such as backdoor draws that missed on the turn). However,
when the board is 🍋 dry and drawless, you will need to get a bit creative with your
bluffs. For example, on T-3-3-4, you could 🍋 bluff with hands like QJ/J9 while continuing
to value bet normally.
Playing Versus C-Bets on the Flop
The way you should play
🍋 against flop c-bets depends heavily on both players’ ranges, the bet size, and whether
or not you are in position.
Pay 🍋 close attention to your opponent’s c-bet size and what
it might mean for his strategy. If he bets big, his 🍋 range is likely polarized and you
should expect him to double barrel aggressively. If he bets small, his range is 🍋 likely
merged and you should expect him to check back on the turn often.
Pop quiz: Against
which range should you 🍋 raise the flop more often: merged or polarized? Click “Show
answer” when you’re ready.
Show answer Expand Merged. The medium-strength hands 🍋 in his
merged range will be in a tough spot versus a raise. Plus, since a player with a
polarized 🍋 range will more often barrel on the turn and river, it makes more sense to
just call on the flop 🍋 so you can put in a bigger raise later.
Here are a few general
guidelines for playing versus c-bets on the 🍋 flop:
You should play looser when in
position and tighter when out of position.
When out of position, you should check-raise
with 🍋 a range comprised of very strong hands and some draws (gutshots, straight draws,
etc.) unless the flop is very favorable 🍋 for your opponent’s range.
Continue with hands
that will be playable on turns. Think about which and how many turn cards 🍋 will allow
you to call another bet with your hand. If there aren’t very many, consider folding on
the flop. 🍋 For example, even though 33 will often have your c-betting opponent beat on
J94, you should still lean towards folding 🍋 because you only have 2 outs to
improve.
Playing Versus C-Bets on the Turn
Most of the concepts from the flop still
🍋 apply on the turn, but you can play a bit more exploitatively in a couple of important
ways.
First, you can 🍋 make big folds or lighter calls based on how many natural
semi-bluffs are in your opponent’s range. For example:
On a 🍋 draw-heavy board like J♠ 9
♥ 5♠ 4 ♥ , you can expect your opponent to be bluffing fairly often 🍋 with one of the
many possible draws, so you can make some lighter calls versus a bet.
5♠ 4 , you 🍋 can
expect your opponent to be bluffing fairly often with one of the many possible draws,
so you can make 🍋 some lighter calls versus a bet. On a dry board like K♠ 8 ♦️ 2♣️ 2 ♥ ,
your opponent 🍋 would have to get creative in order to be bluffing and, since most
players aren’t very creative, you can make 🍋 some big folds versus a bet.
You can also
call much looser on the turn if you know your opponent is 🍋 not aggressive on the river
(which is the case for most players). If he’s not going to put you to 🍋 the test with
your medium-strength hands on the river, you can comfortably call with them on the turn
and expect 🍋 to get to showdown relatively often.
Probing on the Turn
A probe bet is when
you are out of position and bet 🍋 into a player who had an opportunity to c-bet on the
prior street but didn’t. Probing is only possible on 🍋 the turn or river.
As a general
guideline, you want to probe bet as a bluff with equity driven hands that 🍋 don’t have
showdown value, such as gutshots, straight draws, and flush draws. If your draw does
have showdown value (such 🍋 as ace-high or a pair), it’s usually better to check-call (or
even check-raise). Keeping a few draws in your checking 🍋 range has the added benefit of
making your strategy more robust, allowing you to show up with unexpectedly strong
hands 🍋 on the river.
In cases where the board doesn’t have many possible draws, you can
expand your bluffing range to include 🍋 slightly weaker hands. For example, on T-7-2-2
you might bet QJ, which still has outs to improve to what will 🍋 likely be the best hand
on the river.
You should then balance that range with an appropriate, polarized, value
betting range, 🍋 with which you are looking to double barrel very frequently. However,
avoid going lower than second-pair top kicker, as you 🍋 hand will become too weak to
barrel for value on the river.
Further reading on probing: How to Play Turns When 🍋 the
Preflop Raiser Checks Back.
Delayed C-Betting
A delayed c-bet is a bet by the preflop
aggressor after the action checked through 🍋 on the previous street(s). It’s an underused
and often misunderstood play, but it will help you to win more pots 🍋 and avoid tough
spots.
The exact delayed c-bet strategy you should implement is heavily dependant on
your flop strategy. As a 🍋 general guideline, you should delay c-bet bluff with an
equity-driven range (just as you do for probing), which is made 🍋 of gutshots, straight
draws, and flush draws. And, again, avoid betting with these hands if they have
showdown value.
As with 🍋 probing, you will want to polarize your delayed c-bet range
with strong middle pairs and better for value. You’ll usually 🍋 be able to bet for value
again with these hands on the river as well.
Note that delayed c-bet bluffing is 🍋 a very
effective play against most players since they’ve already shown a lot of weakness by
checking twice. Few players 🍋 are savvy enough to include strong hands in their range
after checking twice, so you can attack them relentlessly (you 🍋 don’t even need any
equity — you can fire a delay with two random cards).
Further reading on this
under-studied play: 🍋 How to Win More Money with Delayed C-Bets.
Tips for Postflop Play
in Low Stakes 6-Max
Postflop 6-max strategy is something that 🍋 takes years to master,
but these 4 quick tips will help you get started on the right track. These were
🍋 primarily crafted to exploit leaks that are common at the lower limits:
Value bet often
and thinly. The best way to 🍋 win in 6-max games is to value bet heavily with your strong
holdings because the most prevalent leak in weaker 🍋 games is that players love to call.
They just can’t help it. This makes betting for value more profitable than 🍋 it would
otherwise be, and slow-playing much less effective. Don’t be afraid to bet on the
larger side, too—bad players 🍋 will often decide they are going to call a bet before they
even see what size it is. While you 🍋 shouldn’t size up too much in tougher games since
good players notice sizing tells, you can get away with doing 🍋 so at softer
tables.
Bluff with caution when your opponent has already put significant money in the
pot. Since weaker player 🍋 pools are characterized by a love to call, consistently going
for huge bluffs isn’t a great idea. This is not 🍋 to say that you should never bluff —
you should absolutely still attack weak ranges and/or weak players. But you 🍋 pick your
bluff spots carefully against most players at the lower limits.
Take thorough notes and
categorize your opponents. If you’re 🍋 playing on a site where you can tag players and
write notes, this is worth doing anytime you can. (You’ll 🍋 have to settle for a notepad
or mental notes if you’re a live player.) It’s important to learn new information 🍋 about
other players in your player pool. It’ll allow you to quickly profile your opponents
and adjust your strategy to 🍋 exploit them. If you’re up against a calling station, for
example, you should bluff less since they’re not likely to 🍋 fold. Or if you’re facing a
nit who folds too much, you should be apt to empty the clip.
Don’t make 🍋 many big calls
on the river. Another tendency common in soft 6-max games is that aggression on the
river is 🍋 usually value-heavy. Players at these stakes rarely fire triple-barrel bluffs,
so a good adjustment is folding slightly more than normal 🍋 against river bets. Likewise,
an opponent’s raise on the river is almost always going to be a nutted hand. Avoid
🍋 calling light in these spots unless your opponent has many missed draws in his
range.
Further reading on exploiting weak players: 🍋 Crush Live Poker Games with These 8
Battle-Tested Tactics. (Don’t let the title fool you — these tactics work versus 🍋 micro
stakes online players too.)
Got any article topic suggestions? We’d love to hear
them.
Drop them in the comments below.
If you’re 🍋 looking to improve 6-max poker
tournament strategy, I’d recommend starting with this article on big blind defense — a
crucial 🍋 part of 6-max tournaments.
Until next time!
Note: Want 10 quick tips that will
help you win at poker? Get this free 🍋 guide if you want to come out on top.
Note: Are
you here just to learn how to play poker...or do 🍋 you want to know how to win too? Get
this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips if you 🍋 want to come out on top.
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