CardsChat Guide to 6-Max Cash Games

Bricxjo

Bricxjo

Just some happy guy
Loyaler
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Total posts
2,684
Awards
7
US
Chips
182
When I go to look for a cash table, there seems to always be more available tables of 6 max than 8/9 max, so it makes sense to learn how to play on them.

I just bought "Harrington on Online Cash Games - 6 Max No Limit Hold'em" and he said it was better to learn 6 max first, rather than learn 9 max and then learn 6 max. He indicated there were too many bad habits to unlearn if you learn 9 max first. I am still at the beginning of the book because I got distracted with Phil Gordon's Little Green Book which I checked out from the library, so I have to read it before the due date.

I did see a lot of what I read in Harrington's introduction echoed in the article. Great article and a lot that makes sense. I am looking forward to going more in depth with Harrington's book, I have read a few of the examples already. That is the great thing about his books.
 
Last edited:
Vorem

Vorem

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 15, 2017
Total posts
918
Chips
0
The game at the tables of 6-max is much loose and more aggressive than at a full ring. I would advise a beginner to start with a 9-max. Nevertheless, the choice between 6-max and 9-max is an individual choice for each player - if a player is more aggressive and likes to play a lot of hands, then 6-max tables are exactly what he needs
 
Syltan

Syltan

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Total posts
2,810
Awards
8
Chips
35
After reading your guide, I learned for myself some information about which I had not really thought in particular for me was an interesting table: CHANCES of ANOTHER PLAYER HAVING HIGHER POCKET PAIR. It was a direct opening huge thank you CC! The article was interesting and in some ways intriguing to me. I confess mathematics poker I learned not until the end of.
 
Rosxana13

Rosxana13

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 26, 2018
Total posts
346
Chips
0
amazing article I've been playing 6-max cash games since I started playing poker and till now did not know lot of things that are told in this article huge Thanks CardsChat cause I will definetly will be opening my range and defending more my blinds realy really helpful article I believe this will definetly improve my game on the tables,, I knew about Pocket pairs being stronger but not about the aces statistics once again Thanks CC!
 
R

RicardoInciarte

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Total posts
1,541
Awards
6
Chips
0
Thank you Cardschat for this important information, in my case, I dont like to play 6 players mtt's but cash game of 6 players are my favorites, I think the game is more dynamic because more hands are seen.
 
jingler

jingler

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 17, 2014
Total posts
324
Awards
8
Chips
0
Thanks for the great tutorial. There are a lot of statistics about which I did not even think. 6-max is my favorite format with blinds of 0,01 / 0,02. In cash games I try to play aggressively, this is a good way to make some money, not afraid to lose a big bank. However, when playing in the small blinds, players very often rely on luck and often win with a weak hand, and this is often a problem.
 
V_Sigme

V_Sigme

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Total posts
14
Chips
0
Thanks for the guide, i will definitely read it as I was just thinking about it :)
 
ELPRIIINCIPE

ELPRIIINCIPE

Visionary
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 9, 2017
Total posts
570
Awards
2
VE
Chips
32
very good article and excellent explanation about why to expand the ranges, and I liked the detailed explanation about the difference of probabilities that have hands on a table of 6-max and one of 9 or 10 players, is so complete the article that I have saved to study it with more time.
 
Spaceman

Spaceman

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Total posts
1,345
Awards
4
Chips
0
I avoid 6-max like the plague. So many times I wrongly enter a tourney only to find out its a 6-max. Even at regular tourneys, I struggle when for some reason I have to adjust my play in 6 players. I will bookmark this article, to revisit it from time to time.

Would like a standard starting hands by position although the article gives a selection of hands. Also the maths seems interesting, although I am not sure if pokerstars rng agree with that :D
 
Luvart

Luvart

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
Jul 14, 2017
Total posts
1,492
Awards
15
GR
Chips
713
Good article.

I agree abou the part which concerns the opening ranges, they should be a bit wide than full-ring games, but I would say that for beginners there is no reason to include dangerous speculative hands that require solid postflop game.

6max require a lot of experience, but they can give you a good monthly volume if you grind them hard.
 
veritasi

veritasi

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Dec 13, 2016
Total posts
604
Awards
5
Chips
3
very iterestig and useful article, but i don't play cash, i don't know why but i think it's just not for me, i didn't have good results in cash and i never enjoy playing it
 
S

SuckMyTilt

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Total posts
26
Chips
0
Anyone able to post a different link????
 
Rijckenborg

Rijckenborg

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
May 25, 2015
Total posts
3,248
Awards
5
CA
Chips
57
I play rarely 6 max because blind come faster.
But some room doesn't have full ring cash table so I play 6 max.

This article reminds me that collecting intelligence is very important and I should do it more.
 
DiegoRamos

DiegoRamos

Legend
Loyaler
Joined
May 21, 2015
Total posts
1,952
Awards
5
BR
Chips
205
I particularly like full-ring games, because my strategy is built around that fact. As mentioned in the article, the game is faster making it necessary to open more range and observe more players. Even with Huds, tracking is necessary, as they are more experienced players tending to modify their games more often, making their statistics obsolete.
 
Chalada12

Chalada12

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 5, 2018
Total posts
888
Chips
1
Just as there are differences between tournament play and cash game play, there are also some significant differences between full-table play (9 or 10 player tables) and 6-max tables. If you are considering making the switch, you will need to take these variances into account.

Why 6-max?
6-max cash games are popular among online poker players because they allow for a higher volume of hands played, and less players to keep track of, among other elements. But if you're new to the 6-max scene, you need to know how to adjust your playing style. Position becomes even more important, hand-selection needs to be adjusted, and the aggression factor is definitely elevated.

That's why we created The Ultimate Guide to 6-Max Table Games

We cover the important stuff:
  • Opening Your Hand Range
  • Tightening Up Bet Sizing
  • Maximize Player Intelligence/Info
Click the link to read our guide, and leave a comment here. What did you learn? Did we miss anything? I'd love to hear from any members playing 6-Max right now as well!
After reading the ultimate guide to 6-Max Table games , i have corrected many of my mistaken infos , this guide has help me improve my play , hand range , Bet Size , and the infos i must take about players . i will definitly use what i have learn from this thread in the futur .
 
akmost

akmost

Rising Star
Loyaler
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Total posts
1,985
Awards
2
GR
Chips
169
Cascading action and wider ranges but cash games still need a better understanding of the game because the game goes always post flop. Very informative article, game like 50NL-100NL zoom are full of great regular players.
 
Andrew Popov

Andrew Popov

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 21, 2015
Total posts
2,846
Awards
4
Chips
138
Why 6-max?
6-max cash games are popular among online poker players because they allow for a higher volume of hands played,

In fact, the truth is that short tables bring more rake to the room. Therefore, many online poker rooms simply remove longer tables (9-10 players). This does not mean that long tables are less popular - they just bring less rake. The shorter the table - the wider the range of the players' hands. The wider the opening range of players, the more banks with weak, bluff and speculative hands play out. Also at the short tables, players more often put blind people, which speeds up the grinding of bankrolls into rake.

As usual, this is presented as another concern for poker ecology, but in fact the rooms only care about their profits. Always remember this.
 
GRIN281289

GRIN281289

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Total posts
1,967
Awards
15
Chips
20
Thank you card. Excellent article, a lot of useful tips, and for a long time I have not seen any information about 6 poker tables, and I began to learn how to play with them, they are the most optimal Hold'em and my favorite.
 
bablovod

bablovod

stupid parody of the game
Platinum Level
Joined
May 31, 2017
Total posts
3,502
Awards
14
RU
Chips
385
I very rarely play cash games because they have too much aggression and moving. but if I play 6-max only because of the fact that slightly fewer players. I hope that this article will help me to improve the game in the future to join the web cache games.
 
whiskers77

whiskers77

The art of purring
Loyaler
Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Total posts
5,796
Awards
15
DE
Chips
954
I just love 6-handed games, but not cash unfortunately. I love the 6-handed turbo SNGs. Therefore I think this article has some interesting aspects. Especially about the chances, that someone else could have a better pair.
I have to say, that I play 6-handed games pretty differently to the 9-handed. Much more aggressive, I would say. As less players as more aggressive, I would say.
But what I don't like much are 6-handed MTT tourneys. I dunno why. I just get not used to them.
 
whiskers77

whiskers77

The art of purring
Loyaler
Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Total posts
5,796
Awards
15
DE
Chips
954
In fact, the truth is that short tables bring more rake to the room. Therefore, many online poker rooms simply remove longer tables (9-10 players). This does not mean that long tables are less popular - they just bring less rake. The shorter the table - the wider the range of the players' hands. The wider the opening range of players, the more banks with weak, bluff and speculative hands play out. Also at the short tables, players more often put blind people, which speeds up the grinding of bankrolls into rake.

As usual, this is presented as another concern for poker ecology, but in fact the rooms only care about their profits. Always remember this.
This is unfortunatley so true. Some rooms even have no 9-10 handed games anymore.
Like many ipoker sites. I think, this is a shame.
 
Sil3ntness

Sil3ntness

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Total posts
1,171
Chips
0
Focus on a lot of game selection for 6 max cash tables. Since there are usually a lot more short-handed (6 max) tables compared to full-ring, I can maneuver around and swap tables if I notice that everyone around me is playing TAG/Nit tight.

I'm looking for action 6 max tables where there are big pots splashing and looser players playing incorrectly.
 
frnandoh

frnandoh

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Total posts
1,711
Awards
2
BR
Chips
73
I hate memorizing schedules and love formulas, so my way to understand that different scenario is first understanding that the positions are counted from button, so we have 6th BU, 5th CO, 4th HJ, 3rd MP3, 2nd BB, 1st SB. After thinking in how chance each player would have determined hands and how they would play them, so multiplying that chances by the number of players act after you. Ex: you are on MP3 and want to know about chances of each player having QQ, KK, AA. 6 (combos each hand) x 3 (hands), 1326 (total of combos) is for 100 (%) as 18 is for %.
% = 1,35.

So we multiply for 5 and the chances to be runned over by a QQ+ is 1,35 x 5(players) = ~6,79.

Thinking like this we can make a lot of projections.
 
PsychoVas

PsychoVas

What The Duck???
Platinum Level
Joined
May 4, 2013
Total posts
1,905
Awards
6
GR
Chips
274
I do play 6-max Snap poker in 888 when I need to complete a challenge, so I do have the scent of the game in my nostrils. I agree with the article, bar the "intelligence" part as 888 does not allow HUDs.
I would also suggest to cover the "light 3-betting" part that is a common occurence in 6-max.
 
Bee

Bee

to bee or not to bee
Bronze Level
Joined
Nov 22, 2014
Total posts
5,684
Awards
30
Chips
37
I am not a cash player. I am terrible in that. But I like 6-max tournaments. In this article I see some rules whic can implement for tournaments too. Aces and middle pocket pairs are worth much more :) Part about odds calculator will improve my game.
 
Real Money Poker - Real Money Casinos Top 10 Games
Top