Switching gears - 6 max -9

I've been playing a lot of 5 -10 at 6 max tables. It's also unfortunate that a lot of Eastern european's play at my table that really don't understand some of the intricacies of the game. They sort of play t like a freeroll. Going all in on A-2 unsuited or any ace for that matter. Then you've go the guys that just bet anything that's connected or 1 gappers from 2,3 to 6, 9 anytime they show up, whether some one has double pot or not. And you can't believe how many times I've been burned buy these guys. And it seems like they are at every single six max table.

I've found myself throwing away a lot of winning hands and then calling with some not so good one's because of the play and who's playing.

So it's a bit unfortunate that I've gotten into a slight habit of making a lot of calls. My reasoning is that I know that it's less likely that one of your cards has been played because of the number of cards in play, which is why I started playing at 6 max tables.

Now that I've gotten into some bad habits and want to switch to 9 player tables, it's a little hard switching to a little more conservative play.

Does anyone know of a decent thread here that might help?

If your complaining about players acting like its a freeroll then switching to a 9 man table is not gonna change anything. You want people to go all in with A2o and you want people to bet with "anything thats connected or 1 gappers". These are the kind of players that you will make money off of in the long run, even if they suck out on you every once in awhile.

Which poker site is this? I would be happy to play at a table like that. Yes it will be more swingy but alot more interesting.

Maybe you should move up to higher limits where the players are more straight forward and therefore easier to beat. Also when you get your money in against better players you are usually way behind, so it's not as tilting.

/being a sarcastic mf'r

If this is not a level, I don't understand how you have missed all the sticky's and golden archives on this forum w/ 1k+ posts what have you been doing!??!

The following answer is honest and not intended to be insulting, I just think sugar coating it makes it less accurate.


To beat any given game you have to be incredibly better than your opponents. It's not about beating them, it's about beating them and the rake. I don't care if that donk in a 2nl game just called you down with 6 high, if over a reasonable sample you were not winning against tables full of players like him, you are not ready to move up. You are not good enough to make a profit off of him.
I assure you that there is basically no one on this site who's any good, I include myself in the crappy, uneducated and ignorant group and I've spent probably tens of thousands of hours on this game. Don't convince yourself that you're better than you are, poker sites and t.v. poker do far better if they convince their audience that each one of them knows more than all of the fish, they frequently imply that the masses (the fish) are better than they are and should start making money from all of the fish. So you learn pot odds, good for you. So you get a little more advanced and start assigning values to combinations based on circumstance and various streets, good for you. You still probably cannot beat the basic levels, not because you're unlucky but because you suck, you've overlooked leaks in your game. Small leaks and big leaks. You've miscalculated stuff that you think is right, it's costing you money. A whole ton of the basic principles you rely on are false. I can say this because it's true for everyone.

Sit down in a game. Play poker. Play a sample of say 20k hands, don't even look at the results during that time, understand that 20k is still only going to give you a hint as to your true winrate and don't adjust it emotionally in your favour, just take the results it gives as a suggestion. If you're doing well, move up. If you're not, you're not, accept you're not good enough to beat it, lose your pride and get to work learning it.

Stop complaining about the fish, all you're really saying is "I can't win, even with all of the help the fish are giving me, I still can't beat the rake and because I get emotional about that I play even worse!"