9 man vs 6 man

#1 4th November 2009, 2:53 PM

Hi - was just wondering what the difference in strategy is in the above types of ring game? Clearly, your starting hand selection can be a little looser but how much? What hands would you consider playing in position either in an open or unopened pot that you wouldn't in a 9 man?

#2 4th November 2009, 3:43 PM

every hand is different, i dont think this can be answered generally,

it depends on, blinds, chipstack, M, position, and other variables i probally havent mentioned

#3 4th November 2009, 4:32 PM

Well I have never played 6max cash games but in general I think you have to play a wider range of hands for sure and be more aggresive due to the blinds hitting you more often. Also its harder to mass multi-table as your playing more hands faster than usual. As to what hands to play I am not sure but sometimes agression beats hands anyway maybe its a case of finding the fish and targeting them as other games but if you like to see many hands and get money in the pot 6max can be fun.

#4 4th November 2009, 5:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheepy10

every hand is different, i dont think this can be answered generally,

it depends on, blinds, chipstack, M, position, and other variables i probally havent mentioned

Yeah, I figured that but just wanted to know whether the main strategy change was down to starting hand selection

Also, what is M?

#5 4th November 2009, 6:31 PM

By PokerListings.com

The Zone System was first introduced by Dan Harrington in his highly acclaimed book Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II: The Endgame. The system divides a poker tournament into five different zones based on a player's stack size as compared to the blinds and antes. Each zone will affect your play and correct strategy will vary dramatically as a result. The ratio of your stack compared to the blinds and antes is referred to as your "M." For example: You have $750 in chips and the blinds are $25/$50 with no antes. This means that you have 10 times more than the starting pot and your M is 10.

The Green Zone: M is 20 or More

In the Green Zone all weapons are at your disposal and you can play in all different kinds of playing styles. This is the place to be but you must be careful to balance your play in a way that allows you to continue building your stack while simultaneously protecting it. You can afford to play in both a super conservative style as well as in a super aggressive style.

The Yellow Zone: M is 10-20

You can no longer play conservative (tight) poker. The blinds and antes are starting to hurt your stack and you must loosen up your play and take more risks. Certain types of hands become less playable, such as small pairs and small suited connectors. This is because these hands now lack the implied odds necessary to turn a profit: The stacks have to be big in order to achieve this.

The Orange Zone: M is 6-10

You have now lost the ability to make more advanced moves. For example, you can't come over the top against a raise and a re-raise because, even if you make an all-in raise, your bet will not be big enough to discourage a call from even the weakest of hands.

Your main concern is to be first in whenever you decide to play (unless you have a monster hand like AA-QQ and A-K). You must try to preserve your chips for an all-in move, such as an all-in re-raise when you are in the big blind and suspect a steal. This means that you should not make marginal calls in the big blind or small blind, or limp in with drawing hands the way you could when you were in the Green or Yellow zone.

The Red Zone: M is 1-5

Your only move is basically to move all-in. Even if you make the minimum raise you are pot committed and can't get away from the hand. If your M is 3 or less then you will most likely be called by any two cards when you make your all-in raise. Small pairs and small suited connectors are again playable but only as a means to making an all-in move. You need to steal as many blinds and antes as possible and hope to get lucky if you are called (most likely you will be the underdog) or pick up a monster hand and hopefully get called.

If you are first in and sitting in a late position you can move all-in with plenty of hands; AA-22, any two cards 10 or bigger, A-x, K-x, Q-x, any suited connector, and any connector if your M is 3 or less (such as 9-8 off-suit and the like).

The Dead Zone: M is less than 1

implied by the heading, you are as good as out of the tournament and every move you make will be instantly called. You need a lot of luck to get back into the tournament. The most important thing to consider is your play before you enter the Dead Zone. If you have blinded yourself down to this position then you have made a mistake. You should only end up in the Dead Zone by losing a big pot when your stack was bigger than it is now and your opponent had slightly less chips than you had.

You should make your move when you are first in and before the big blind arrives (this means moving in with any two cards when a first-in opportunity arises). This way you at least have some chance of getting the pot heads-up against a random hand.

#6 4th November 2009, 6:38 PM

All i can say about your question is try out what works for you.
Some prefer 6max (me included) and some prefer fullring. Just try out what suits you the best and go with it. And what hands you can play is hard to say, since it can change based on your opponents and of course position.

#7 4th November 2009, 6:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheepy10

By PokerListings.com

The Zone System was first introduced by Dan Harrington in his highly acclaimed book Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II: The Endgame. The system divides a poker tournament into five different zones based on a player's stack size as compared to the blinds and antes. Each zone will affect your play and correct strategy will vary dramatically as a result. The ratio of your stack compared to the blinds and antes is referred to as your "M." For example: You have $750 in chips and the blinds are $25/$50 with no antes. This means that you have 10 times more than the starting pot and your M is 10.

The Green Zone: M is 20 or More

In the Green Zone all weapons are at your disposal and you can play in all different kinds of playing styles. This is the place to be but you must be careful to balance your play in a way that allows you to continue building your stack while simultaneously protecting it. You can afford to play in both a super conservative style as well as in a super aggressive style.

The Yellow Zone: M is 10-20

You can no longer play conservative (tight) poker. The blinds and antes are starting to hurt your stack and you must loosen up your play and take more risks. Certain types of hands become less playable, such as small pairs and small suited connectors. This is because these hands now lack the implied odds necessary to turn a profit: The stacks have to be big in order to achieve this.

The Orange Zone: M is 6-10

You have now lost the ability to make more advanced moves. For example, you can't come over the top against a raise and a re-raise because, even if you make an all-in raise, your bet will not be big enough to discourage a call from even the weakest of hands.

Your main concern is to be first in whenever you decide to play (unless you have a monster hand like AA-QQ and A-K). You must try to preserve your chips for an all-in move, such as an all-in re-raise when you are in the big blind and suspect a steal. This means that you should not make marginal calls in the big blind or small blind, or limp in with drawing hands the way you could when you were in the Green or Yellow zone.

The Red Zone: M is 1-5

Your only move is basically to move all-in. Even if you make the minimum raise you are pot committed and can't get away from the hand. If your M is 3 or less then you will most likely be called by any two cards when you make your all-in raise. Small pairs and small suited connectors are again playable but only as a means to making an all-in move. You need to steal as many blinds and antes as possible and hope to get lucky if you are called (most likely you will be the underdog) or pick up a monster hand and hopefully get called.

If you are first in and sitting in a late position you can move all-in with plenty of hands; AA-22, any two cards 10 or bigger, A-x, K-x, Q-x, any suited connector, and any connector if your M is 3 or less (such as 9-8 off-suit and the like).

The Dead Zone: M is less than 1

implied by the heading, you are as good as out of the tournament and every move you make will be instantly called. You need a lot of luck to get back into the tournament. The most important thing to consider is your play before you enter the Dead Zone. If you have blinded yourself down to this position then you have made a mistake. You should only end up in the Dead Zone by losing a big pot when your stack was bigger than it is now and your opponent had slightly less chips than you had.

You should make your move when you are first in and before the big blind arrives (this means moving in with any two cards when a first-in opportunity arises). This way you at least have some chance of getting the pot heads-up against a random hand.

He's asking about ringgames not tournaments.....

#8 4th November 2009, 7:36 PM

i'd play tighter in 9mans and play lowball and aggressive in 6max

i like 6max because i usually win them !
but 9mans good if u wanna multi table!!

#9 4th November 2009, 8:03 PM

oh yer

my bad ?

#10 4th November 2009, 9:29 PM

Yeah, especially for cash games 6max is the way to go for me. You are in more hands (just based on blind swinging around quicker) but if you play tight you tend to smash on people. I play only around 29% of the hands, which is low for 6max in the lower limits. I try and get all of my chips in preflop with monster hands and take other players' horrible strategy's out of the equation. People will limit with some garbage in these low limit tables, so play hard with something good, and forget slow playing unless you flop the absolute nuts.

#11 5th November 2009, 7:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aqqachar

He's asking about ringgames not tournaments.....

How does it relate to cash games?

#12 5th November 2009, 8:15 AM

M doesn't really relate to cash games since you can always add more money to the table.

#13 5th November 2009, 8:24 AM

6 and 9 are slightly different animals you can surely adjust to.

It all depends on the opponents at your table whether or not you're going to play a bigger range. Thus, table selection is fairly important imo.

I also think it's much more important what you do when the streak of cold cards hits in the 6-man because the blinds beginning at the .5/.10 and higher can definitely start to eat away at your BR.

#14 5th November 2009, 8:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsorbust

table selection is fairly important imo.

On this subject, and possible a whole nwe thread, but what do you guys generally look for when selecting table? I've been told that with a TAG style you should choose a table with a lot of players seeing the flop to maximise you gains when playing premium hands?

#15 5th November 2009, 8:55 AM

You have to be much more looser with you're starting hand requirements and much more aggressive..... Way more aggressive..... Since you're dealing with less players and the chances of anyone having a real hand have decreased....

#16 5th November 2009, 10:46 AM

in a 9man you want to play to cash then play to win. in 6max you play to win. i'd open AJ utg in a 6max but fold AQ utg in a 9man. i don't play 6max but figure they are less spots you would limp with pocket pairs hoping to setmine.

#17 5th November 2009, 11:21 AM

Ive been playing 6-mans pretty much all my poker career but i have now started playing some lower stakes 9 man tables. I see big advantages in both. 6-mans i have pretty much dominated and have become very good at them but with 9-mans you are able to play a lot more tables and play in much bigger hands.

The problem i find with 9-man tables is that because of the more players, there are generally more players in each pot/flop causing a lot more bad beats. This generally sends me onto some sort of tilt and makes me angry.

Overall i would take 6-man anyway but thats probably a little biased.

#18 5th November 2009, 11:38 AM

Cardplayer, cash, not tourney. To actually answer the question you asked, you vary your hand selection based on the environment. Typically in a 6max things are fast and aggressive, so you select towards hands that will make top pair and the like, so you play a lot more hands with big card value, and you play them aggressively. Often play is too aggressive to play weak suited connectors profitably, as they don't hit as often, and limping for one bet is seldom an option. You also will probably add a lot of stealing, restealing, squeezing and the like to your play, as more button v blinds types of situation occur.

Alternatively in 9max, or Full Ring things are a bit more passive and nitty because of the slower blind action, and more players going to the flop. Because of this you hand select for, of course premium hands, but also drawing hands gain a lot of value. Your low suited connectors that can get in on the flop cheap and multi-way go up in value. However high card hands like kt decrease in value, as the top pair they make will often be in trouble against a better top pair, some random 2 pair, or anything else at all due to the increase in people drawing.

#19 5th November 2009, 3:02 PM

The difference between 6 and 9 players games isn't huge. Don't go crazy. A lot of people over-adjust.

Many moves in poker are positional. You just continue making moves based on position. That is, it's sort of like playing a 9 player game where UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 all fold.

The biggest difference is that the blinds will hit you more often so being blinded off is a bigger issue, so you need to steal more. But of course, stealing positions come around more, so that helps you out.

Avoid getting bluff-crazy, and playing big pots with mediocre hands because the other guy is "supposed" to be bluffing.

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