2/4 6 Player Tables vs. 2/4 10 Player Tables

[Dr_Colossus]

Can you guys please give me some critical advise as to what is the best form of table to play on. I generally play 6 player tables which can have a minimum of 3 players but recently I have been getting creamed by players calling with mid or bottom pair to make two lousy pair on the turn or river. I'm getting extremely pissed off with these ridiculous draws as the pots odds don't warrant them and my good hands are repeatly getting busted by the likes of gut shot straight draws and flush draws.
Generally I'm quite a tight player although I do have to adjust my starting requirments quite a bit when the table gets short handed. I'm also pretty agressive with top pair and good kicker or with a hand I'm pretty confident that I'm ahead. The problem is that people keep calling and although technically this is in my favour I get more than my fair share of bad beats.
The reason I play the 6 player tables is that I like the quick action and the fact that you have to adjust your game quite often to the number and standard of the players on the table. What inspired me to post this tread is that yesterday I lost 88 BB to unlucky draws in the space of 3.5 hours. Don't know how much more of it I can take.
My question is that would I be better off playing two 10 player tables and tightened up my play considerably or is there more money to be made on the 6 player tables if you adjust appropriately. Bear in mind that although I adjust my play on the 6 player tables I'm no meniac and don't play absolute rubbish hoping to get a lucky flop and turn.
All your help, advise and critism is greatly appreciated.

[sluttysteve]

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The problem is that people keep calling and although technically this is in my favour I get more than my fair share of bad beats.

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Were you a brutal dictator in a past life? Karma's getting back at you!

If you're getting more than your share of bad beats in 2/4 short handed, you'll be getting more than your share of bad beats in 2/4 full ring.

[bdk3clash]

What site are you playing 2/4 6-max tables? The games you described sound great. -88 BB multitabling 6-max seems like a not infrequent result, nothing I'd really worry about, though it certainly wouldn't be fun.

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recently I have been getting creamed by players calling with mid or bottom pair to make two lousy pair on the turn or river. I'm getting extremely pissed off with these ridiculous draws as the pots odds don't warrant them and my good hands are repeatly getting busted by the likes of gut shot straight draws and flush draws.


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Obviously, this is the kind of action that makes a game good. I'd suggest re-reading "Theory of Poker" if you're looking for a book to reassure you.

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The problem is that people keep calling and although technically this is in my favour I get more than my fair share of bad beats.

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Short-term, anything can happen, right? Long-term, playing good will win. You really need to make yourself immune to losing streaks, "bad beats," etc. They just don't matter. Playing well is all that does, and it's all you can control. Focusing on results will make you crazy because they're only related to playing well indirectly in the short-term, if at all.

As for what tables are "best," it just depends on what your personal preferences are. From what I can tell the variance at full ten-person tables is less than at shorthanded tables, but I have -50BB-ish streaks all the time at ten-handed tables, and larger ones as well.

Variance happens, and it's directly related to what makes the games profitable. Personally, I find that having an adequate bankroll and then some helps me not care so much about losing 50 BBs, or 100 BBs, or even more...

[HajiShirazu]

First of all if you're playing 2/4 6max, you're not playing on party poker where the best games and absolute worst players are. You might try stepping down to 1/2 and trying out the games at party if an 88bb loss is big to you, because quite frankly an 88bb win or loss is nothing in shorthanded games. I have had a 220bb losing streak in the past in the 1/2 6max game and it is one of the softest games around, and my long term results still showed me crushing that game. And yet I also have had a day where I played 1,000 hands of 6max to clear a bonus and cashed out with $320 in addition to the bonus for my efforts. When you play games with horrible players who play 80% of their hands and go to the river with undercards looking to pair up against your "obvious missed AK", the profits are going to be huge, but there are also going to be the days when the rivered six makes their 53o a straight and you lose pot after pot with your big hands.
At higher levels with decent players, 300 and 400 bb losing streaks are possible even for some of the posting legends on this forum.
I would never tell a person to go back to full games if they enjoyed shorthanded play more, unless for some reason they were big losers at short games but crushed the full games. I personally think shorthanded play develops one's poker skill far more quickly than full ring play, especially the type of poker skill needed at higher levels. I also think that in today's poker climate shorthanded games are far more profitable for the skilled player.
Anyway just make sure you aren't opening up your game too much when adjusting to the 6 max tables. You should only be playing a few more hands overall than you would in a full game and you should actually be folding a lot of hands that you might play at a full table. The main difference is basically that you should raise more, especially with the big card hands and pocket pairs, and defend your blinds more. Go read the hush forum. But don't over-adjust. The overadjustments and LAG play of your opponents are what make these games so profitable.