6 max troubles, advice/suggestions please, some stats included

[mtdoak]

What you need to realize about 6 max is that, High card strength goes further than you realize. Isolation is the name of the game. You can raise with K9o in LP, even with a limper, because they are playing K8 or worse. You should limp when you can't thin the field and raising your hand just isn't valuable. For example, KJo in the BB with 3 limpers. Its a strong hand in shorthanded play, but raising here is retarded, simply because your hand fares better in multiway pots. Hand charts are useful in shorthanded play, but I think, even more than a full game, your hand values vary greatly depending on the table where your at. A player raises UTG, you have A9o on the button, should you CC or iso raise or fold? What about KQo? These are questions you need to consider, and the right answer is that, it depends on: #1. The UTG raiser. Is he loose or tight preflop? Will he raise hands like K7s from here, or only AJ and up? What about the blinds? Will 3 betting isolate him or is one (or both) the players calling no matter what?