Heads up or 6 player max

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marlonksmith

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Hi guys,

As you may know I’ve been playing a lot of free chips play and re search to get ready for the real deal but I’m just curious as to your opinions on starting playing sit and go , as a pose to cash games and weather heads up or 6 player ring would be a good place to sftart
 
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Dani_California

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My recommendation is to start with the lowest 6-max cash game (NL2). I feel like there's too much luck involved with Sit 'n' Go's and in addition to other players, you are playing against time as well since the blinds go up. In a cash game you can play consistent poker without having to worry about time.

Heads-up differs from actual poker so much that I would learn to master 6-max or full ring first unless you have been particularly studying heads-up play. I also feel like you have much more money to win in 6-max since there are 5 other players with you. In heads-up you can only double up whereas in 6-max you can win much more with the nuts if there are many players in the pot with you. In heads-up you are also playing against only that one player and what happens if he's better than you? You lose. And that's what probably happens if you are a first-timer. In 6-max you most likely have weaker players in your table as well and then you can focus on taking their money.

Of course there are players that are doing well in Sit 'n' Go's and Heads-Up but for the beginners they seem like too specific playgrounds in my opinion where you don't necessarily succeed even if you play by the book. In a cash game, you can play very straightforward poker and still succeed just by being patient.
 
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marlonksmith

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My recommendation is to start with the lowest 6-max cash game (NL2). I feel like there's too much luck involved with Sit 'n' Go's and in addition to other players, you are playing against time as well since the blinds go up. In a cash game you can play consistent poker without having to worry about time.

Heads-up differs from actual poker so much that I would learn to master 6-max or full ring first unless you have been particularly studying heads-up play. I also feel like you have much more money to win in 6-max since there are 5 other players with you. In heads-up you can only double up whereas in 6-max you can win much more with the nuts if there are many players in the pot with you. In heads-up you are also playing against only that one player and what happens if he's better than you? You lose. And that's what probably happens if you are a first-timer. In 6-max you most likely have weaker players in your table as well and then you can focus on taking their money.

Of course there are players that are doing well in Sit 'n' Go's and Heads-Up but for the beginners they seem like too specific playgrounds in my opinion where you don't necessarily succeed even if you play by the book. In a cash game, you can play very straightforward poker and still succeed just by being patient.

Thanks for the prompt and detailed response, what you tell me seems to make a lot of sense , I shall continue to play some more cash games for play chips in that case before jumping into the real money. Think I need to also do some more re search on bankroll management also, I don’t suppose you have any good places to recommend for study material when it comes to hand ranging and reading it is one place I seem to be struggling. Thanks again :)
 
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Dani_California

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Thanks for the prompt and detailed response, what you tell me seems to make a lot of sense , I shall continue to play some more cash games for play chips in that case before jumping into the real money. Think I need to also do some more re search on bankroll management also, I don’t suppose you have any good places to recommend for study material when it comes to hand ranging and reading it is one place I seem to be struggling. Thanks again :)


The standard bankroll management rule is to have at least 30 buy-ins. So for NL2 you should have at least 60 dollars to start with. Of course you can take a chance with lower amount as well since it's the lowest limit but I wouldn't recommend climbing any higher until you have that 30 buy-ins for the next level (NL5 = 150 dollars).

I'm glad you asked about studying material! "Gripsed" has a lot of articles for beginners. Just scroll down this site to find all the categories: https://www.gripsed.com/poker-strategy. YouTube is also a great place to find tutorials basically for any situation. Type "poker hand ranges" for example. Those are my two go-to sites if I need more information about anything related to poker.
 
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NotNegreanu

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9-Max Regular

Hi guys,

As you may know I’ve been playing a lot of free chips play and re search to get ready for the real deal but I’m just curious as to your opinions on starting playing sit and go , as a pose to cash games and weather heads up or 6 player ring would be a good place to sftart


I think the best place to start is to play 9-Max sit and gos regular, none of that turbo non sense.
 
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Maurits92

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My tips would be:
Try to stay close to 8-12min blind levels if playing tournaments.
Don't go less than 6handed.
Grind 2NL for a loooong time if you want to play cash.

Also keep in mind real $ is a lot different from playmoney.
 
eberetta1

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It is wasting your time doing play money as it is nothing like real money poker. I would hit the 6 max tables. I prefer it over heads up and full ring.
 
eetenor

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Hand Range Understanding?

Hi guys,

As you may know I’ve been playing a lot of free chips play and re search to get ready for the real deal but I’m just curious as to your opinions on starting playing sit and go , as a pose to cash games and weather heads up or 6 player ring would be a good place to sftart


Thanks for posting.

How much work have you done on creating Hand Ranges?

Do you have Equilab? Or any Range analyzer App

How much work have you done with odds calculators?

How much work have you done with Push Fold charts?

Do you know how to build an exploitative hand range and a balanced range?

All of the above are essential for heads up.

Hope this helps
 
whiskers77

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Thanks for posting.

How much work have you done on creating Hand Ranges?

Do you have Equilab? Or any Range analyzer App

How much work have you done with Odds calculators?

How much work have you done with Push Fold charts?

Do you know how to build an exploitative hand range and a balanced range?

All of the above are essential for heads up.

Hope this helps
Honestly, I guess, you are killing him with your questions. They are too deep for a beginners question.
---
But for the thread opener:

I would recommend for the start plain usual 9-handed SNGs as I am not a cash player.
They are not too long, they are not too fast and when they are done on the right level, there is not much hurt for the bankroll in case of loosing.

And if this works for you, you could also try the 6-handed tables at SNGs.
Afterwards I also would add some HUs. Just for training.
 
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marlonksmith

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Thanks for posting.

How much work have you done on creating Hand Ranges?

Do you have Equilab? Or any Range analyzer App

How much work have you done with Odds calculators?

How much work have you done with Push Fold charts?

Do you know how to build an exploitative hand range and a balanced range?

All of the above are essential for heads up.

Hope this helps

Honestly, I guess, you are killing him with your questions. They are too deep for a beginners question.
---
But for the thread opener:

I would recommend for the start plain usual 9-handed SNGs as I am not a cash player.
They are not too long, they are not too fast and when they are done on the right level, there is not much hurt for the bankroll in case of loosing.

And if this works for you, you could also try the 6-handed tables at SNGs.
Afterwards I also would add some HUs. Just for training.

Thanks for the post, after some more re search I think I’m going to be playing 6 max cash and possibly some sit and go’s...
 
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marlonksmith

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Thanks for posting.

How much work have you done on creating Hand Ranges?

Do you have Equilab? Or any Range analyzer App

How much work have you done with Odds calculators?

How much work have you done with Push Fold charts?

Do you know how to build an exploitative hand range and a balanced range?

All of the above are essential for heads up.

Hope this helps

Thanks for your reply to my thread, I will be playing six max games cash , as a pose to heads up! I still need to build hang ranges, is equilab a free app?
 
PaxMundi

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I think 6max 2nl is a good place to start with a $40 or $50 bankroll, fitting in the freeroll tourney tickets along with your cash game play.
 
eetenor

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That was the point.

Honestly, I guess, you are killing him with your questions. They are too deep for a beginners question.
---
But for the thread opener:

I would recommend for the start plain usual 9-handed SNGs as I am not a cash player.
They are not too long, they are not too fast and when they are done on the right level, there is not much hurt for the bankroll in case of loosing.

And if this works for you, you could also try the 6-handed tables at SNGs.
Afterwards I also would add some HUs. Just for training.


Thank you for responding.

My very point was to point out how hard heads up is. Thus another new player will not drown in the deep pool.

You are right starting in 9 max games allows for a less sharp learning curve.

:):)
 
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marlonksmith

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I think 6max 2nl is a good place to start with a $40 or $50 bankroll, fitting in the freeroll tourney tickets along with your cash game play.



I think I will be starting with a $350 dollar bank roll, would .10/.20 stakes be a good starting point? I literally have no time
For the freerolls as they’re too long with work and family life so I’ve only played free cash games so don’t wanna jump into anything too deep:nurse:
 
PaxMundi

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I think I will be starting with a $350 dollar bank roll, would .10/.20 stakes be a good starting point? I literally have no time
For the Freerolls as they’re too long with work and family life so I’ve only played free cash games so don’t wanna jump into anything too deep:nurse:

It's only really a good stating point if you can beat the games other wise it's just a very costly starting point to learn from.
 
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maxi_j

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I played both for at least year:

Heads up field are small it hard to put much volume to see real win rate. Tilting is much bigger. Should have good post flop skills. But its more fun.
 
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fundiver199

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I think, heads-up is a dying game format at least online. It has basically been solved as witnessed by an AI (artificially intelligence) poker bot beating the best human players the second time, an event was held.

If you look in the SnG lobby at pokerstars you will see, that at the highest stakes, you can only play heads-ups, and there is always some shark sitting at each of the tables waiting for pray.

Typically the same player at the upper 2-3 buyin level, then another one at the next. And then for sure, if someone takes the bait, its a race between the sharks to occupy the first seat on the next table, that pop up.

This is so obviously not a healthy poker eco system, and I think, this is part of the reason why, sites introduced the lottery style Spin n Gos a number of years back. In these you cant see, who is already on the table, so sharks cant "bum hunt" recreational players and avoid each other.

Sure sites could do this without the lottery element, but since the whole idea was to make SnGs more recreational player friendly, it made sense to add that as well. And it also kind of masked, what was perhaps the more important move, to take table selection and bum hunting out of short handed SnGs.

If you are going to play tournaments, you obviously need to learn heads up, but I dont think, its the game form, you want to specialize in. It had its time, but the harsh reality is, there will never be another Doug Polk, now that it has largely been solved. Ring games are more complex and therefore have a better chance of surviving online, so these are, what you should learn to play.

I agree with those suggesting to start out with 2NL cash games, because cash is the simplest and most pure form of poker. When you are doing well there, and have learned the basics, the next move could be the 45-180 man regular speed SnGs on Stars. These are a great place to start learning tournament strategy.
 
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