I don't know about you, but I'm drawn to six-handed hold'em tables like the proverbial moth to the proverbial flame. And not to beat a dead metaphor about it, it's useful to remember what happens to moths drawn to flames. Yep, they get burned. So if you're a six-way junkie like I am, there are a few crucial adjustments you must make to make sure you don't end up like the moth did.
First, let's examine why we like short-handed games so much. Simple: They give us more action and less downtime. If you're in a full ten-handed game and you pick up some gawdawful cheese like Q-3 offsuit, you know you have no choice but to fold. (At least I hope you know.) So then you have to wait, wait, wait while the hand plays out, and even at internet speeds that seems like an awful lot of waiting till you get to look at your next hand.
Further to that, in a ten-handed game it's correct to fold marginal hands like K-8 suited because the great number of foes makes it a virtual lock that there's a better hand out there against you. How virtual a lock? The odds are 4-1 against starting with a hand containing an ace or a pair, which means that in a full ring game an average of two players out of ten will hold one of these hands. Your K-8 is beaten in two places from jump street. No wonder you have to fold.
But you don't want to fold, right? You want to get in there and mix it up. Play some hands. Win some pots. That's why you logged on in the first place. And that's why you play six-way.
Where it's more correct to play marginal hands.
And not just play them, but play them aggressively.
Where even if you do have to fold, with so few players involved, the hand will be over that much more quickly and you'll be back in action that much sooner.
Okay, at least you know why you're here. At least you have your head on straight. Now here are some things to think about.
- Attack the blinds. Blinds come around so fast in a six-way game that you need to win your share of fold-outs. Remember that you're up against random hands. They're unlikely to have quality cards, so they'll often have to fold even if they know you're a lying sack of cheese.
- Don't over-defend your small blind, especially if the small blind is less than half the size of the big blind. You're paying too much to play mediocre hands in the worst possible position. Let it go, even if you know your foe is a lying sack of cheese.
- Disguise your strength in the big blind. If they raise into you and you hold A-K or J-J, there's a real temptation to raise them back and punish them for their impudence. Resist that urge. If the flop comes favorable to your hand you can trap, and if it doesn't, you can get away.
- Further to that, be more likely to trap than to bluff. In six-handed (or less) action, you don't have to have much of the flop to be ahead, and if you think you're ahead let the other guy do your betting for you.
- Recognize that your foes are more likely to trap than to bluff. Be prepared to break off your attacks on the pot if it doesn't look like they're planning to surrender. Likewise, respect reraises, especially on the turn. This is much more likely to be the second half of a one-two trap play than the much trickier and less prevalent check-raise bluff or reraise bluff.
- Don't get involved in raising wars unless you have the nuts! This is crucial. Players don't reraise twice on a bluff. They just don't. If you find yourself going head to head with someone who's capping the betting, you have to put him on a hand. Slow down! Don't get involved in a pissing contest (which is what a raising war is). If you lose, you'll have dug yourself a hole it's hard to climb out of.
- Further to that, recognize that profit comes slowly in a short-handed game. Most pots are small, so it's vital - vital - that you don't give more action than you get. Otherwise you'll get stuck in that aforementioned hole, and have to dig out a bet or two at a time.
- Don't get stuck on a draw. Your flush draws, open-ended straight draws and overcard draws go way down in value in a short-handed game because you never have enough action to give you positive pot odds.
- Conversely, play big cards, bad aces and all pairs more aggressively. You're looking for hands that can improve with little or no help from the flop. In the smallish field of a short-handed game, little or no improvement is often enough.
- Don't go crazy. Short-handed play rewards aggressiveness, but don't go to war with nothing. A junk hand is a junk hand no matter how many people are involved.
- If you raise pre-flop, you'll be expected to lead the betting on the flop. Fail to do so and you're asking to be bet off the pot, but if you continue to bet with junk, you're just begging to be trapped. So make sure you have a little something-something when you raise pre-flop.
- Know your foes. They're few in number, so their strengths and weaknesses are magnified. Some will be better than you and some will be worse. Attack the weakies and avoid the trickies. If the game's too tough, get out! There's bound to be a softer one out there somewhere.
There's much more we could discuss (and no doubt much more we will discuss) on the subject of six-ways and short-handed play, but for now if you want to avoid being the moth burned in the flame, here are the key things to remember:
- Play aggressively or don't play at all.
- Don't give more action than you get.
- If you're out-matched, flee!
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