3/6 Starting Hand Adjusments

[Some_Guy]

Will be moving up from 2/4 soon and realize I need to make changes based on the blind structure. I currently use Ed Miller's starting hands chart for tight games.

Off the top of my head I would think you throw out the any 2 suited. I'm guessing you lean more towards playing the same hands you would from EP and perhaps suited connectors (8,9 & up) with 4-5 limpers?

I tried using the search function but was unsuccessful.

Thanks for the help.

JP

[bisonbison]

You mean from the SB? The received wisdom is: if you'd play it on the button, play it in the blind.

[Some_Guy]

Yep, SB was what I meant.

Interesting, I thought you would need to tighten up more because of the decreased pot odds when you have to add 2/3 of a small bet instead of 1/2.

JP

[TommyO]

It is tightening up if you only play hands that you would play on the button. In a 2/4 game you play more hands from the SB (i.e. any 2 suited) than you would on the button.

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
You mean from the SB? The received wisdom is: if you'd play it on the button, play it in the blind.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what SSHE says, so that's how I play while waiting for groundbreaking research in these forums to show me wrong.

[SinCityGuy]

[ QUOTE ]
Will be moving up from 2/4 soon and realize I need to make changes based on the blind structure. I currently use Ed Miller's starting hands chart for tight games.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're still using charts to play poker, then you probably shouldn't be moving up in limits.

[Derek in NYC]

I went with Miller's rule at 2/4 because of the structure, but at 3/6 I am more selective. My rule for playing suited & gapped cards is that I will play any two suited from the SB if the following two conditions are met:

1. At least 1 of the two cards has a decent chance of winning flush-over-flush, in other words, 9 or better, which puts you in the top-half of the deck, and in a better position than most small/medium suited connectors sharing your suit. I dont bother with real crap like 25s, because in my experience a flush-over-flush showdown isn't as rare as you might believe.

2. There are at least 5-6 SBs in the pot when it gets to me (including the BB). 5 SBs plus my own small blind = $16. Since it takes $2 to complete, the pot is laying 8:1 if the BB checks. Your odds of flopping a flush draw or better are roughly 8:1 (plus on occasion you will flop trips or two pair, thus making the call slighly +EV.)

These guidelines are probably a bit loose, as they don't take into account the fact that you will be playing every hand after the flop from out of position, so even if you hit your flush draw on the flop, you are getting worse implied odds compared to playing the same cards/flop from the button.

[Some_Guy]

Thank you all for the helpful responses.

[Some_Guy]

I appreciate the comment but your perception is incorrect due to my poor wording.

My starting hand requirements are based off of SSHE tight game specs. (this is not to say that I'm staring at the chart to determine my decision)

I do see where I need to re-read SSHE if this adjustment was mentioned there. Of course, a re-read now and then is a good idea in general.

JP

[W. Deranged]

I actually would suggesting tightening up significantly in the SB in 3/6 vs. 2/4.

Mathematically, you are putting in 2/3 of a SB to play rather than 1/2, so your investing 4/3 of what you normally would in order to see the flop. That 33% increase is very significant.

Imagine a hand with 3 limpers to you and the BB left to act behind you (pretty standard at the lower limits). For ease, let's assume that the BB is a rock or really passive and is almost certainly not going to raise.

In a 2/4 game, there would be 4.5 SB in and you would need to put in a half SB, so you would need 10% equity to make this call worth while.

In a 3/6 game, there would be 4.33 SB in and you would need to put in 2/3 SB, meaning you would need 2/15 = 13.33% pot equity to make this call worthwhile.

10% vs 13.3% pot equity is a very large difference. Certainly, any two suited cards is not going to get you to 13.3% equity in a five-way pot.

So, I would play pretty tight from the small blind. Not only would I throw away "any two suited," but I probably would toss low suited connectors, bigger off-suit connectors, one-gap suited connectors (and worse), and weak off-suit hands that could be hard to play out of position and give reverse implied-odds (K10, Q10, J9, etc...).

In general, you'll notice that you'll equity will have to be 33% better for hands played out of the SB in 3/6.