Better off at 6-max?

[JordanIB]

While I like to think of myself as a tight-aggressive player, I think at a full 10-handed table, I often fall into a fear of "well... somebody at the table must have me beat" unless I really hit the flop and/or turn -- so I probably play more weak-tight.

I know this is extremely limited sampling, but after playing about 600-700 hands at PP 1/2, I was down about 65 BB. I felt like this wasn't so much a bad run at the start -- I just don't think I was playing well.

I decided to take the rest of my money and split it between 2 $1/2, 6-max tables. After about 45 minutes, I was up 33 BB. I felt much more confident being aggressive on TPTK, figuring there were less people around to outdraw me or suck-out on me. Being 6-handed, I didn't feel pressured into playing many draws, simply waiting for strong 5 or 6-handed hands and playing them aggressively.

Is 6-max a much better game for a tight player? What kind of adjustments are needed between a full table and 6-max? What should I be aware of if I switch to 6-max?

Any advice and comment are appreciated.

[Bukem_]

It's easy to think this way.

But you need to be able to beat the full game first, it's easier that the 6 max tables. You are bound to hit a downswing much harsher than 65 bb at the 6 max, and you will probably have no idea if its bad cards or bad play or bad luck.


Tighten up at full ring games and play more aggressive on the flop when you do enter.

[easypete]

I was having a similar problem when I first switched to 1/2.

I was pretty tight, fairly aggressive (probably not aggressive enough). I played the 1/2 full tables and lost a bunch of money in first 1k hands at 1/2.

I switched to 1/2 6-max. I did learn a lot there. I spent about 1 month (14k hands) there. At first I was up too. Gave me a big false sense of security. I looked at my stats. The thing that struck me was my standard deviation was increadibly high (about 40 BB/100 hands). My winrate was about 3BB/100. So I could potentially lose 2 SD (80 BB) in 100 hands, which was the profit I saw off of 2.7k hands. I didn't have to think long about that. I switched back to full ring games.

When I made the switch, something funny happend. I was crushing the full ring games. I found I was more patient (had to play 3 full tables at a time to be patient) and when I did have a hand, I knew better how to play it.

Lesson Learned (for me at least):

6-max is a fun, hi-paced action adventure thriller. You get to loosen up and play more hands. It's much more fun. You can learn a lot there, but I think in the long-run, full tables are better (again, this is for me and may not apply to you). I tend to like money more, so I play the full tables.

[JordanIB]

I guess we don't have many 6max player around here?

[B Dids]

I play 6 max. I think it's a very fun game. I find that now full ring just bores me to tears. I think that Party 1/2 6 max is a more profitable game than 1/2 full. Limited sample size, but I found full to be pretty rockish, whereas 6 max was wonderfully Laggy.

(I've actually left Party so that I can play 2/4 and 3/6 6 max at Pokerstars, because I just find 6 max more fun, and before anything else Poker should be fun)

What I see though, is that you're potentially playing 6 max for the wrong reasons.

"felt much more confident being aggressive on TPTK, figuring there were less people around to outdraw me or suck-out on me. Being 6-handed, I didn't feel pressured into playing many draws, simply waiting for strong 5 or 6-handed hands and playing them aggressively."

Few things. TPTK is a +EV situation. You need to feel confident playing that in a full ring environment. If you can't learn to love the suck out, you'll find your progression as a poker player limited. You say you "feel pressured" into playing draws- what does that mean? Again, if you have the odds, a draw is a +EV situation. Some of this sounds somewhat results oriented, and that's something you want to shy away from. No matter where you play, you have to see victories in making correct plays, not making money.

"I decided to take the rest of my money and split it between 2 $1/2, 6-max tables."

Bad idea. 6 max = varriance. I'd suggest a 400BB roll for playing in those games. You got lucky and went up 30+ bets, you'll also get unlucky and lose that as well. (please note, I'm a BR nazi)

I don't think that you need to be able to beat 1/2 full before playing 6 max. I've still got a nasty red number under my 1/2 full stats in PT that's never going to go away. Just realize that if 6 max makes you more confident, you should be able to bring that same confidence to any table. Again, the issues that you mention have more to do with you as a player than your game selection.

[Nottom]

If you are weak-tight at a full table, I think you are going to run into problems at 6-max. Aggression is key to winning at that game, you need to be aggressive with hands you don't want to be aggressive with and I think that is going to be hard for you.

People play terribly in the 6-max game so if you catch some cards for an hour or 2 you can put up some sizable wins really fast, but if you don't the downswings can be just as nasty. Maybe you have a knack for the SH game becasue it takes away some of you fears as you said, but I'd give it a few weeks and see if you still think the same about your play here.

**Note- I am in no way trying to discourage anyone from playing 6-max. In fact I would encourage most here to give it a shot since I am about 99.9% sure the 1/2 6-max game is much more profitable than the 1/2 full game.**

[JordanIB]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are weak-tight at a full table, I think you are going to run into problems at 6-max. Aggression is key to winning at that game, you need to be aggressive with hands you don't want to be aggressive with and I think that is going to be hard for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Point taken, although at the 6-max table, i felt incredibly more confident in being aggressive, so my style of play definitely changed when I moved over.

So maybe it goes back to what B Dids was saying in terms of it's about your confidence with the type of game. While a full game may be more profitable for some, maybe my weakness against so many opponents prevents me from taking advantage. Whereas my aggression meter goes way up in 6-max, allowing me to take advantage of LAGies.

I certainly realize I need to give it a LOT more than 200 hands in 6-max and 700 in full to really get a read on how I do in each situation. But I figured I'd ask around here to see how people felt about each.

[JordanIB]

Oh. I forgot one other main reason why I like it a bit more.

I find it a lot easier to keep track and read 5 opponents than it is to track 9.