6 handed SNG Starting Hand Req. THEORY...

[Nick M]

I have been thinking a lot about starting hand requirements lately when they pertain to 6 handed SNGs. I wanted to run this by everyone and see what you think...

First of all we all know that the fewer people involved in a ring game, SNG, or final table, the looser the starting requirements are. For instance, if you had an average stack in a 6 handed final table of a 300 person tournament, a hand like A9o would be a pretty decent holding anywhere at the table. The reason for this is that since there's only 6 people at the table, there's less of a chance someone holds a hand like AKs. Also since you're at the final table the blinds are most likely high enough to want to steal. So a raise with this hand in most positions is usually correct.

OK now that obvious is out of the way, What kind of hand is A9o on the button in the first round with a limp from the cut off??? Lets go back to that. My thinking is this. Since most people know starting hand requirements change when it's short handed, it makes sense to play tighter than you would 9 handed. There should be MORE action the shorter it gets. The more action, the more of a chance that someone gets knocked out. So folding A9o here is definitely the right move. A10o UTG should be folded too in the first and second round. Obviously you fold A10o 9 handed UTG, that isn't very tight at all, that's just right. But 6 handed folding A10o is pretty tight.

I wonder if anyone has numbers on the value of a hand in the first round VS the value of the staying out of the action. Meaning the chances that someone gets knocked out or loses most of their chips VS the amount of chips you COULD win by playing a hand like A9o on the button in the first round. It seems tough to analyze because the 2 are not number related. But I think you could argue that a hand like A9o very rarely wins a big pot. So if you are playing to gain less than say 150 in chips why play? I would much rather have the 3 of them beat each other's brain in while I watch and take notes.

So my real question...is it correct, in the early rounds, to play tighter in a 6 handed SNG than you would in a 9 handed SNG???? How much do you gain by letting others kill each other VS how much you gain by playing the likely best hand.