Can someone explain to me why so many people seem to prefer 6-max tables ?
playing 6 - max, is for people with a higher technical level, as it requires you to play on the river several times.
Your range changes need to be looser many times.
The game runs faster, so it leaves the action of each player more visible, if a player starts to fold a lot, get safer, you can 3bet him but times, because the chance to pass increases a lot.
Tournament 6 has a lot of people playing online, but in the live is not going so much, because the big organizations preferred to put 9 palyer on the table so they gain physical space, and collect more buy in in a single hall, the problem is that the game gets more locked, the variance increases, the number of hand played per hour is lower in 9 player, already in 6 -max play if a bigger volume and this in the long of the tournament gives you more possibilities to play and win pots.
Particularly, online I have not played 6 -max, since I need to improve my game a lot, no longer live, I prefer because it puts more pressure of the adversary by the human factor of looking face to face with each action.