SNG Headsup versus 6 max

RI_ER_SA

RI_ER_SA

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I am a low stakes breakeven poker player.


can anyone compare me SNG Headsup versus 6 max.

thanks.
 
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WiZZiM

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They are completely differant...

6max is a very similar strat to the 9 mans

Heads up, i don't have any experience with them, so i cant comment too much... But there is definately more 'poker' played in a heads up game.. whereas the 6-9 mans are more of a ICM shove fest.
 
OzExorcist

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Heads up SnGs are 100% about reads in my experience. You have to pay attention to how your opponent is playing because a strategy that works against one will be suicidal against another.

There are some players that you can just run over - they'll just keep folding and they won't play back at you until they've got a monster, at which point you can fold with confidence and then just resume stealing. Others will raise and three-bet you light with regularity and you'll be forced to wait to catch a hand yourself.

Some won't sweat the small pots but will try their hardest to win the big ones, some vice versa. Some will be really reluctant to make a call that loses them the chip lead or puts them at a significant disadvantage unless they've got a big hand.

You have to be able to identify tendencies like those and then react accordingly. And contrary to what some people will tell you, sheer aggression is not the solution for everything in heads up. You need to be aggressive and contest lots of pots, certainly. But some people seem to think that translates to raise / shove every hand, which is just wrong.

I've played almost no 6-max but as WiZZiM points out there's a lot more shove-fold ICM decisions and you've got a bubble to worry about. In a heads up SnG you know from the outset that only one person is getting paid so that's less of an issue.
 
RI_ER_SA

RI_ER_SA

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Heads up SnGs are 100% about reads in my experience. You have to pay attention to how your opponent is playing because a strategy that works against one will be suicidal against another.

i totally aggree. it takes so much energy to solve some times the opponent changes gears and u got to adapt to survive.
to raise / shove every hand, which is just wrong.

i aggree.



But for a person who wants to be good at poker and be a winner giving up 2 hours of his day what game should he play ?
 
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WiZZiM

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The 9 man sng's are probably the easiest to learn. Plus theres heaps of good strategy going around on them. Since it's mostly a preflop game, it's probably a good starting ground for a novice player to win money consistantly.
 
doops

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They are completely differant...

6max is a very similar strat to the 9 mans

Heads up, i don't have any experience with them, so i cant comment too much... But there is definately more 'poker' played in a heads up game.. whereas the 6-9 mans are more of a ICM shove fest.

I disagree that SNGs are shovefests. I play the 9 man ones fairly often and only a couple of players at even the lowest level are inclined to be shove-happy. Those players tend to bust early. People may play with a wider range of hands than in higher levels, but they don't necessarily play stupidly even at low levels. I can't talk about 6-man SNGs because I don't play them much.

HU SNGs are very lucrative for some people -- in volume. When OPR tracked them, a lot of the players with high stats played a lot of HU SNGs. That said, the quality of these games depends on the patience level of the players. Sometimes, you are up against a guy who shoves when he gets a good hand (or shoves because he's sure you won't call); othertimes, both players are trying to whittle down the other guy with care but also with some aggression. Mostly, HU games end when the game has been going on for a bit and both players find themselves with good hands. It may not be a pre-flop shove, but at the river, both have something that would normally win a hand. Play a few at the lowest level and see how you like them. I find them fun -- when I'm winning.

The interesting thing about HU is that not everyone plays them, so you can make notes on other players and avoid the ones whose style you have a problem with and play with those you have a shot of beating.
 
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WiZZiM

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I disagree that SNGs are shovefests. I play the 9 man ones fairly often and only a couple of players at even the lowest level are inclined to be shove-happy. Those players tend to bust early. People may play with a wider range of hands than in higher levels, but they don't necessarily play stupidly even at low levels. I can't talk about 6-man SNGs because I don't play them much.

HU SNGs are very lucrative for some people -- in volume. When OPR tracked them, a lot of the players with high stats played a lot of HU SNGs. That said, the quality of these games depends on the patience level of the players. Sometimes, you are up against a guy who shoves when he gets a good hand (or shoves because he's sure you won't call); othertimes, both players are trying to whittle down the other guy with care but also with some aggression. Mostly, HU games end when the game has been going on for a bit and both players find themselves with good hands. It may not be a pre-flop shove, but at the river, both have something that would normally win a hand. Play a few at the lowest level and see how you like them. I find them fun -- when I'm winning.

The interesting thing about HU is that not everyone plays them, so you can make notes on other players and avoid the ones whose style you have a problem with and play with those you have a shot of beating.


What i was reffering to is that 9man sng's are mostly a preflop game, so once we hit a particular blind level, when stacks get shallow, most of the plays are going to be shoving. or calling shoves.. thus, "shove fests" there is not a lot of postflop poker to be played, whereas, the HU sng's you will be mostly playing postflop poker, so for a beginner, the 9 man sng's are going to be the easiest way to make money, and the easiest to learn.

And your going to be able to put more volume in the 9 mans than the HU sng's, the HEads up require a lot more attention.
 
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RI_ER_SA

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And your going to be able to put more volume in the 9 mans than the HU sng's, the HEads up require a lot more attention.

I have 2 hours a day to play and i want to improve poker everyday.

i think i will stick with HU format as it seems like more skill involved in that game in a shorter period of time.
 
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swingro

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I have 2 hours a day to play and i want to improve poker everyday.

i think i will stick with HU format as it seems like more skill involved in that game in a shorter period of time.


It is not more skill involved. It simply another game type of game than usual poker.
6-9 man SNG is also about skill.

Since at 6-9 man sng u bet that u have it, at HU u bet that the opponent do not have it.
 
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playerk7

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quit, if your not making anything i would give it up its not worth it if your a break even player
 
RI_ER_SA

RI_ER_SA

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quit, if your not making anything i would give it up its not worth it if your a break even player

check my scores with this link.

I am trying to improve.
 
OzExorcist

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I have 2 hours a day to play and i want to improve poker everyday.

i think i will stick with HU format as it seems like more skill involved in that game in a shorter period of time.

Honestly, I'd just play whichever one you enjoy most.

I was going to say that working on your HU game will make you a better HU player but maybe not a better poker player as a whole - it's a very specialised skill and it won't really help you much when you go to sit down at, say, a ring game or an MTT. But then SnGs are a fairly specialised skill as well... which I guess brings me back to where I started: just play whichever one you enjoy the most, study your game and post any problem hands over in the HA section for feedback. Best of luck :)
 
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Gutshot22

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Heads up play is the fastest way to develop hand reading ability. That translates well to all forms of poker.
 
rssurfer54

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Heads up play is the fastest way to develop hand reading ability. That translates well to all forms of poker.

+1. Definitely agree with this. I have played probably only 200 games of hu sngs, and even that small sample i feel like improved my game tremendously.

As far as actually winning money, i have found the 6max sng to be great. I have been playing the 3.25s on ps mostly, and a lot of times you dont even hit shove fold poker. This means there is more "poker" to be played, which I find especially great when i get hu (since even playing 200 hu sngs is a lot more than most players).
 
RI_ER_SA

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As far as actually winning money, i have found the 6max sng to be great.

money wise u mean 6 max is lucrative instead of HU right ?
 
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BluffYou123

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quit, if your not making anything i would give it up its not worth it if your a break even player

Disagree with this.

Most players don't start off as winning players, you have to play to get better and become a winning player.

Of course, this will mean losing some $$ at the beginning but as you get better you will start to win it all back.
 
rssurfer54

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money wise u mean 6 max is lucrative instead of HU right ?

Yeah I think it is. In hu, especially at lower stakes, you need a pretty good winrate to be breakeven. I think (this computer doesnt have pt3 on it) that i have a 65% winrate at the 1 dollar ones, and im only at like a 5% roi. I actually made a thread a few months ago about what kind of roi to expect playing husng, and most people said anything above 5% is almost impossible long term in husng.

In the 6max, over a small sample (300 games), i have an roi of 16%, which i know will probably go down, but it seems (hopefully) that I will be able to have a bigger roi in the 6max. Along with the fact that is way easier to multitable 6max than hu. And the 6maxs dont take that long (mine have been 30-40 min mostly), so its not even that much longer than hu matches that are just shoving in the first 5 hands.

Personally however, i cant wait until my br is big enough for the hu cash games :)
 
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thenighthunter87

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I have 2 hours a day to play and i want to improve poker everyday.

i think i will stick with HU format as it seems like more skill involved in that game in a shorter period of time.

that is the way to go.
 
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