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Poker can typically be played with anywhere between 2 and 10 players per table,

depending on the exact variant. Yet, 🍊 for some reason, 6-handed tables have become a

clear favourite in the online poker environment when compared to its heads-up 🍊 and

full-ring counterparts.

What is the reason for this?

Why Is 6-max poker so

Popular?

There are doubtless many reasons why players pick 🍊 6-max of poker over other

forms of poker. But, there is one reason that seems the most likely. 6-max poker 🍊 has

the perfect balance of action. What do we mean by this?

It’s pretty easy to get bored

at a full-ring 🍊 table. We might have to play a considerable number of poker hands before

we find ourselves in an exciting situation. 🍊 The first 3 seats at a full-ring table are

barely playable and, in the majority of cases, we are forced 🍊 to wait for strong premium

holdings. Assuming we do get dealt a premium, it can sometimes be tough to get 🍊 any

decent action because the average full-ring (FR) player is very tight.

A heads up (HU)

match is the complete opposite. 🍊 We are involved in pretty much every hand, and any 2

cards can be playable from the BTN/SB. We don’t 🍊 get any breathing space whatsoever and

need to be constantly alert. HU is a great choice for action junkies, but 🍊 can be too

intense for many players.

We also potentially lose the feeling of “anonymity” that some

players value. In a 🍊 6-max or FR game, our opponents will not have all of their

attention constantly fixated on us. In HU, our 🍊 opponent is watching our every move,

scrutinizing us, looking for leaks. Some players don’t like the additional pressure

this feeling 🍊 brings.

So now when we consider something like 6-max poker, we should be

able to see why many players pick it 🍊 as their game of choice. We should also remember,

that some of these choices have a bit of a knock-on 🍊 or “trending” effect. The majority

of cash game players pick 6-max, so when a new cash game player arrives on 🍊 the scene,

they might opt to pick 6-max games, because it is typically considered “cooler” by the

community.

6-max poker vs 🍊 Other Variants

The general idea is that the more shorthanded

the format, the wider the ranges it is considered correct to 🍊 play. So, a decent

tight-aggressive 6-max poker regular might play 23% of all hands dealt, while a decent

tight-aggressive full-ring 🍊 regular only plays about 16%, or even tighter in some

cases.

In HU games, it can be considered correct to play 🍊 100% range when we are first

to act in the BTN/SB. Our overall playable range would be well above 50% 🍊 when we take

into consideration both positions.

6-max poker does share some similarities with other

variants. Poker position strategy is important. 🍊 So typically the later our position,

the more hands it can be correct to play.

As a rough guide for our 🍊 raising range

assuming the action is folded around to us preflop -

UTG – 14%

MP – 18%

CO – 27%

BTN –

48%

SB 🍊 – 36%

The same is true when we consider preflop 3betting (a re-raise when facing

an open-raise from our opponents).

MP 4%

CO 🍊 6%

BTN 9%

SB 8%

BB 8%

It’s also a general

trend that the more shorthanded we play, the wider postflop ranges will get 🍊 on average.

So, assuming we face a flop raise we should give a full-ring regular a large amount of

credit, 🍊 while we give a 6-max regular less credit.

By the time we consider HU games,

flop raises are typically a lot 🍊 more commonplace and are not necessarily representative

of an especially strong range. A decent 6max poker player will be raising 🍊 around 15% of

flop-cbets. The average player raises a lot less than this, however.

Population

Tendencies

In order to become a strong 🍊 six max player, it can be worth knowing a few of

the common tendencies we will see in such games, 🍊 and how they differ from optimal

values.

As an example, the average 6-max poker player does not 3bet as much as 🍊 is

recommended. A good 6-max regular will typically have a 3bet frequency of around 7-10%.

The average 6-max poker player 🍊 at lower limit games is likely to 3bet closer to 4% of

hands.

This information has an effect on how we 🍊 should respond when facing a 3bet from

an unknown opponent. It’s essentially going to be fine to fold a huge 🍊 percentage

against 3bets since the average player is not really 3betting us that much.

When

high-level players are involved in a 🍊 6-max poker battle, it is common for them to fold

to 3bets just under 60% of the time. But assuming 🍊 we are playing low limit 6-max poker

games we can make an exploitative adjustment and fold even as much as 🍊 70% of the

time.

Technically this means we are exploitable, but since most of our opponents will

not adjust, we are 🍊 the ones exploiting them for having too tight of a 3bet range.

Here

are some additional population tendencies that make our 🍊 lives a lot easier and allow us

to find an exploitative response to various 6-max poker situations.

The average player

raises 🍊 7% of flops instead of the recommended 15%. We can give a ton of credit to flop

raises.

The average player 🍊 will never 3bet bluff any street…ever. We can fold anything

but premiums against a flop 3bet for example.

Pot-sized bets are 🍊 typically a sign of a

premium holding and rarely a bluff.

Triple barrels are heavily weighted towards value

and should be 🍊 given a ton of respect.

Turn raise (2bet) is usually the nuts.

River

raise (2bet) is usually the nuts.

There are doubtless many 🍊 more population tendencies

that can improve the exploitative side of our game, but this list is a good place to

🍊 start.

Identifying Fish

There are 6 available seats at a 6-handed poker table, and not

all of them are equal. Some seats 🍊 are better than others. It depends on who else is at

the table and how they are arranged.

The general objective 🍊 is to “get position” on a

weaker player. By “position” we mean sitting directly to that player’s left. This means

🍊 in the majority of cases we will act after that player on each street. The only

exception is when he 🍊 is on the BTN, and we are in the SB.

The scenario we don’t like is

when we have a strong, 🍊 aggressive opponent directly to our left. In many cases, this

can be the difference between making money or losing money 🍊 in a given session.

But how

do we identify the weaker players in the first place. There are two very easy

🍊 ways.

This player has a tendency to open limp Good 6-max poker players rarely, if ever,

open-limp. As soon as we 🍊 see a player who prefers to limp the majority of his preflop

holdings rather than come in for a raise, 🍊 we have likely identified a weak opponent.

This player does not have the rebuy option enabled Good 6-max regulars typically 🍊 use

the “rebuy” feature to automatically top-up their stack when they lose chips. In most

cases, this top-up amount will 🍊 be 100bb, but sometimes it will be another round number

such as 40bb or 50bb, depending on their exact strategy. 🍊 If we see a player with a

random looking stack-size (76bb for example), and he clearly does not have the

🍊 auto-rebuy function enabled, we have likely found a weaker opponent. We can use this to

help us table select effectively. 🍊 The best targets are players with stacks between 50bb

and 99bb.

6-max – Standard Bet-Sizing

Another way we can identify weaker opponents 🍊 is

to look out for unorthodox bet-sizings. Naturally, very good players make use of

unorthodox bet-sizings, but good players are 🍊 few and far between. This means that on

any given occasion where we see our opponent using a non-standard sizing, 🍊 we have

likely identified a fish.

In order to recognize non-standard sizings, though, we need a

rough idea of what standard 🍊 sizings are. Here are some of the most common

ones.

Open-Raise – Anywhere between 2bb and 4bb, but most frequently between 🍊 2 and

2.5bb.

3bet – Usually about 3 times the size of the open raise

4bet – Usually about 2.2

– 2.5 🍊 times the size of the 3bet. (3x 4bets are a big tell in many cases)

5bet – All-in

assuming 100bb effective 🍊 stacks

Cbet in -

Single-Raised-Pot – 66% pot

3bet Pot – 50%

pot (or just over)

4bet Pot – 33% pot (or just over)

Flop 🍊 raise -

Single Raised Pot – 3

times the size of the cbet

3bet Pot – 2.2-2.5 times the size of the 🍊 cbet

4bet Pot –

Either a jam or a min-raise

Naturally this is not an exhaustive list, but it should be

enough 🍊 to help us identify weaker opponents by their bet-sizing.

6-max is Fun

The most

important thing when first trying out 6-max poker 🍊 is to think deeply about the action.

But also to enjoy the experience, especially if we come from a full-ring 🍊 background. We

might find it refreshing that we can get involved a little bit more and not spend the

majority 🍊 of our time waiting for premium holdings.

6-max poker, in essence, feels a

little bit closer to the true nature of 🍊 the game – the pace is faster, more exciting,

and we get to see a lot more action.

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