Playing wider range of hands??????

Would you guys/gals play a wider range of hands at a six handed table than say at a 9 handed table????I watch poker after dark(six handed tables) and they seem to play a wider range of hands than they would at a 9 handed MTT.

Well yes ... Because the odds change will the less or more players who are playing. So an A 7 is not a to bad hand in a 6 handed game then in a 9 handed game.

The way I look at poker the whole game is based on odds and maths. Just takes time to train the brain to work them out... Unless your very good at maths!!

Look at it in terms of how many hands are behind you. Under the gun in 6 max has 6 hands behind, the same as middle position in 9 or 10.

I don't remember Poker After Dark, but watch out for copying something that has 1) a straddle or 3rd blind, 2) antes, or 3) rising blinds making the effective stack sizes smaller. The first two increase the action or need to see the flop because the pot starts bigger.

Plus, don't try to do what pros do on TV against other pros. Those same pros would play differently if they were playing amateurs.

Yes you must play a wider range of hands, but you still only want to come in with the best hands out of position.

Would u reccommend playin KQ on a reagular basis.I seem to have pretty good luck with that hand.I hear alot with peoples stategies to stay away from it early on.They say wait on high pairs and AK,AQ suited but I can find myself behind Quikly waiting on those to come.Basically, should i play that early on if the table is slow??????????

NineLions said:

Look at it in terms of how many hands are behind you. Under the gun in 6 max has 6 hands behind, the same as middle position in 9 or 10.

I don't remember Poker After Dark, but watch out for copying something that has 1) a straddle or 3rd blind, 2) antes, or 3) rising blinds making the effective stack sizes smaller. The first two increase the action or need to see the flop because the pot starts bigger.

Plus, don't try to do what pros do on TV against other pros. Those same pros would play differently if they were playing amateurs.

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Could you expand upon the hands you would play at 6 max.

Is there still a early middle and late in 6 max or is it just played as early and late.

Do you play hands in late in 6 max which you dont play in FR?

Bengals_Boy said:

Would u reccommend playin KQ on a reagular basis.I seem to have pretty good luck with that hand.I hear alot with peoples stategies to stay away from it early on.They say wait on high pairs and AK,AQ suited but I can find myself behind Quikly waiting on those to come.Basically, should i play that early on if the table is slow??????????

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KQ, Im happy to open the pot with KQ but dont like to enter a pot thats already been opened with KQ.

Ill open occasionally in early position with it but its more of a middle position opener.

Ill 3 bet it occasionally in late position against a single raiser becasue of deception and because I have position for the rest of the hand.

with all that said what hands would u open ur play to.And what hands would u call small raises with that u normally wouldnt.I mean would u open up to maybe Q10 Or K9 or somethin along that line.

Bengals_Boy said:

with all that said what hands would u open ur play to.And what hands would u call small raises with that u normally wouldnt.I mean would u open up to maybe Q10 Or K9 or somethin along that line.

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My range for 6max is a little broader than my range for FR, but not much. I end up playing a lot more hands in 6max, but that is more related to the fact that fewer people are acting before me (I like opening the pot with a raise, and if it's folded to me in late position I'll open liberally) and fewer people are acting behind me (fewer chances to get 3bet or called).

Position and the types of players you're playing against should have a lot to do with your preflop actions and hand selection - hard to say whether K9o makes sense without talking about who's left to act, and what their likely ranges are for calling and 3betting.

Lets say i have the button andone on my left is in and hte two blinds are in.How about then??????

Stu_Ungar said:

Could you expand upon the hands you would play at 6 max.

Is there still a early middle and late in 6 max or is it just played as early and late.

Do you play hands in late in 6 max which you dont play in FR?

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Sorry Stu, I haven't been back to this thread under the assumption that some people who play 6 max on a more regular basis would jump in.


As I said, it's as if UTG, UTG+1 and MP1 seats are gone. Like 9 max tables where the first three seats have folded, you only have 5 hands behind you when you're in first position. If you have a good starting hands idea in your head for 9 max tables, use the middle position and on for your opening cards.

Name-wise, first is still UTG, then one MP, then cutoff, then button. Just an abbreviated version of the naming for 9 or 10 max, but the starting card requirements shouldn't follow along.

KQ I open raise from mid at a 9 max table, so I'd open raise UTG in 6 max as well.

But 6 max, even at low levels, can become a game of aggression more so than bigger tables, so playing individual player ranges and styles becomes more important, imo. Because everyone's opening range gets wider, your 3bet range should get wider as well.

Depending on the players in the blinds, I'll open pretty wide in late position in 9 max as well as 6 max, so it's not necessarily wider at 6. At that point it's similar as you only have 2 or 3 more players after you and you'll have position on the blinds. The fact that the blinds come around more often does make it somewhat more usefull to steal more often.

I think also that players in the blinds are more likely to 3bet late position raisers than in 9 max. As much as anything I think this has something to do with the higher aggression level at the table as anything else.

Thx guys.....

Yes of course I would play a wider range of hands. Playing a wider range in a 6 player table than a 9 player table is almost an always must. It isn't always a good idea to wait for big pairs or A-K. Sometimes you gotta play suited connectors and smaller pairs.

Does this mean that when you get big hands, like the big pairs or
AK, that they are more effective because people don`t see it coming and they put you on a lesser hand? I`ve had great success on 6max lately and alot of it is due to people getting too agressive or playing too wide a range of hands. At least thats my perception. I`ve had many hands where I get great cards pre flop, go over the top, and get paid because opponents hit their top pair and can`t let it go. I always try to keep my hand selection tight but will sneak in mid pairs and connectors here and there.
It also seems that after you stack someone with a 3bet, you get tons of respect for every 3bet you throw out there. One or two great hands early gets you a long way on a short table.

Of course I would. The chance of an opponent running into a big hand against me is much less. Therefore, a smaller hand is more likely to be good.

I would think that, in a 6 person table, you must have better odds, simply because there are fewer players. When I play 6 player, however, I just try and bide my time and try and catch the people who play their hands overly aggressive. I think that you gotta pick which style you want to go with and just stick with it, which could mean laying down A10 or playing K8...