Is 6-max really an ATM machine?

[bozlax]

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If it takes you a few thousand hands to get the knack of 6-max, then I'm not so sure I agree you wind up ahead.

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[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Presuming that one is going to win at a higher rate at one game vs. another, and that eventually one will be able to acquire these skills (both of these presumptions are implied in your post), then how can it be possible that one will not come out ahead?

For example, take the following assumptions:

* a player can win 1BB/100 more at 6max than at an equal-limit full ring game
* it takes that player 10K hands to learn 6max, and achieve this improved winrate
* the player averaged 3BB/100 playing full ring
* during his first 10K hands of 6max, the player only averaged 1.5BB/100 (first 2k hands -2BB/100, next 2K -1BB/100, etc.)

Anybody on this board should be able to figure out exactly how many hands it's going to be before the player breaks even. Of course, this doesn't include bonii or unmentionable.

[Reqtech]

1/2 6 max is the new .5/1 full ring.

[ErrantNight]

when you hit 3/6 you're REALLY going to want to play the 6max tables. and you're REALLY not going to want to play 3/6 6max without working on your shorthanded play, first.

[USDaniels]

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* it takes that player 10K hands to learn 6max, and achieve this improved winrate

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ugh, I hope I get the hang of this by 10k...through my first 5k my ATM machine has been a little buggy. Still fun, and yes, there are always fish at the table. And every once in a while, I don't feel like one of them.

On the other hand, I took to it like a fish to water...

i personally use it to improve my short handed game in full ring now, although overall i probably would have played more 6m hands than fr because i only made the switch to fr a month or two ago.

ive always thought that it would be harder to multitable effectively at 6m and would make you more prone to errors. further you have to be totally tilt free as even the slightest frustration running 6 tables of 6m would cost you.... a lot.

anyone have any thoughts on this aspect?

lets say your beating 6m at 1BB/100 and fr for 1BB/100. but 6m one table goes through 150 hands in the time fr does 100. so basically your ratio is 1.5:1 for 6m being more profitable.

even if this was the case.... i still think it would be so much easier to multitable 8 fr tables than to multitable even 3 6m ones, which would make fr tables still more profitable?

anyone know what the real numbers are like and how this affects the reasoning to actually play 6m for cash? (currently i only 6m for skill development)

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I've been grinding out the micro-limit games, starting with .50/1, and doing well enough to be moving from 1/2 up to 2/4 soon.....and all of my success has been at full ring games (Party and Multi).

I assume I'm most comfortable at these larger tables because all of the books I've studied so hard usually focus on a 10-handed game. But I hear more and more about 6-max and how, if played correctly, can be far more profitable.

So my question to all you 6-max advocates is, am I being silly to ignore these tables? Now that I've had continued success at $1/$2 full ring, would I likely benefit from sliding over to 6-max? Please post any random opinions on the topic. Thanks

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My opinion of 1 2 6max given my limited exposure:

I've JUST started playing 1-2 6max (barely over 1k hands), but it is awesome. You will see avg. vpips that blow your mind. The 6-max donk is completely different than the .5 1 or 1 2 full-ring donk ...

typical 1 2 ring donk: "I am going to see as many flops as possible, then call down to the river then either fold UI or showdown everything starting with A-high on up"

typical 1 2 6-max donk: "I am going to play every hand and raise anything with paint. I will also bluff as much as possible anytime anything scary hits - board pairs, any possible flush or straight hits ... sometimes when a 2 comes ill river-raise as well just to spice up life"

[TheMainEvent]

Take the worst player you've ever faced in full ring on party. There is at least one of him on every single 6max table as we speak.

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You will see avg. vpips that blow your mind. The 6-max donk is completely different than the .5 1 or 1 2 full-ring donk ...

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PT tells me my average 6-max opponent has a VPIP of 43, with a PFR of 10. Contrast with full ring: 30/6.5.

That's almost 50% more hands being played 50% more aggressively. Considering the full ring players are already playing too many hands, this is mondo fishoroso.

There are also a bunch of 6-max players whose strategy seems to be never to raise preflop, ever. I've got guys whose VPIP after over 200 hands is 70+ with a PFR of 0.0. 40% of the players in my 6-max database have never raised preflop. (Way to limit the field with those top pair hands.)

[USDaniels]

nh. Hmmm, maybe I should have played 13k FR before swithing instead of 4k.