[binkley]

It will be interesting to see how players adjust their ranges when they are accustomed to 9-handed and have to play 6 to 4-handed. Some will adjust too much and be overly loose and some will not adjust enough be too tight. I like to think 6-handed play as similar to 9-hands with UTG, UTG+1, and UTG+2 folding. In practice, LJ is the first to act preflop when 6-handed. So if you have a good LJ ranges, then you have a good basis for 6-handed “UTG”.

Even though rake greatly affects win-rate, not all players consider it. The small size of limped pots means that the rake is higher percentage of the pot. This incentivizes us to only enter the pot when our hand is good enough to raise.

Having less players in each hand should reduce the time to complete each hand. This would increase the hands per hour. So there is an argument that the casino should reduce the per hand basis of the rake. But factors like reduced density of tables per area would push it in the other direction. We’ll see just have to see how it all works out.

[raisy_daisy]

Jim & Brinkley, I agree with Brinkley’s assessment of starting hands by playing same hands as LJ and around with first 3 UTGs considered a fold, same instruction from Jonathan Little’s coaching site. However, 1/2 the donks in a local 6 handed $1/$2 NL Home game aspire to play “Bingo-Bluff-Gotcha” any two cards pre flop any position. As most 6 handed games are, its a roller coaster with bigger swings to your chip stacks. To take advantage of their style, I would open raise 1st 3 positions with suited Broadways and big pairs, ie pkt Kings. …raised with kings to 5x preflop, flop is 8-6-j rainbow, bet the flop 2/3 pot , turn 4s, bet pot get called, river deuce. Shove all in $125…. Villain calls ,Tables hand 8/4 for 2 pair. So, I loosen up in position next few hands with suited connectors ( which I know go down in value 6 handed as do Ace small x) and miss flops, C bet, and fold to huge turn and river bets with sqwa-Deuche, ……My only thought at this point , after 3 sessions at this table, is to see cheap flops and Try to outplay them post flop . When this game was 9 handed I would cash out net of buy in weekly at $400 to $600 profit..

Any thoughts; play Jon Little 6 max strategy or play Bingo?

Raisy Daisy..

[fivebyfive]

While we’re in this pandemic era, most tables will likely be that 6-max type thing, but I don’t think this will be permanent. In the real world, tables cost money in terms of dealer salary, physical space etc., card rooms and casinos will want to return to 8 or 9 handed as soon as possible.

I’m fairly optimistic that we’ll have some much better treatment and vaccine options in 2021, and I expect the card rooms and casinos to move back to “normal” sometime toward summer of 2021. But what do I know?

But in the near term, for tournaments and cash, it is important for us all to understand the challenges of 5 or 6 handed tables. Our “UTG” range becomes our LJ range, which means we’re opening a lot more, but our opponents need to be defending/three betting us more too from later positions. It just becomes a much more active game. And in cash, as we are forced to be more active, the percentage of the rake we have to pay each orbit goes up. This means we will have to drag a few more pots over a session to stay ahead of it.

[binkley]

I think we can play a fundamentally sound strategy that is adjusted to exploit our opponents’ mistakes. Those adjustments shouldn’t be so extreme that we are playing bingo poker. You’re on the right path of making the correct adjustments.

From LJ and HJ, I would stick with solid hands (medium to big pairs, strong Ax, Suited broadways) and almost always open or isolate.

From CO and BN, I think we can expand our range to include an overlimping range consisting of weaker suited connectors, and suited gappers (54s, 75s)

Be sure to be adjusting preflop raise size based on the number of limpers. For example, 4x against a limper but 5.5x with 2 limpers already in.

Further adjustments to consider:

• Are our opponents sensitive to bet sizing? Will 3x get the same amount of calls as 5x? How about 5x vs 7x? If they call at the same frequency, bet bigger in position and with our strongest hands.
• When they raise preflop what is their range and how do they respond to 3bets? Do they only raise with premiums? Then we should have a very strong hand to continue.
• Do they raise with a lot of marginal hands and fold often to 3bets? Expand your 3betting range.
• Do they raise with a lot of marginal hand and will call a 3bet? Then 3bet with strong hands that will dominated their calling range. For example you can 3bet with AJ if they will open A9 and call a 3bet.
• Postflop, do they play purely fit or fold? Cbet often.
• Do they do a lot of floating? Cbet primarily for value.

Tailor your adjustment to each individual opponent. Use the strategy that works best for the specific opponent you are currently facing.

Remember that the JL 6max strategy is designed for playing against good opponents. I use it as a baseline. But if you’re in a game where players are bad, you can make big adjustments.

I’m also a member of JL training site (standard). Let me know if you ever want to discuss the homework or any other content from there.