So I am a Stars migrant who now has the opportunity to play 6 max NLHE.

I am worried about doing this, but figure it'll probably make me a better player if I wade into it (one table only) and invest a good deal of time on it. I am hoping my reads will improve (as they would have to, to be successful at it, surely).

Any thoughts for or against this point of view?

I'd definitely go for it, but only at a level for which you're properly bankrolled ... you can make money at full ring games with tight low variance play, but at 6 max you have to mix it up a fair bit.

Eg my results at 0.5/1 6 handed NL are vastly better than 1/2 NL (6 handed), against comparable opposition, simply because putting a $9 raise in preflop every few hands is still slightly scary, but I don't think twice about a $4 raise.

I find 6 handed NL much more fun (and profitable) than the full version: I play ~50% of hands, and raise about 30% of the time, so you see a lot more cards. The play is amusingly terrible for the most part!

My top tips (I'm sure there's lots of other ways to play successfully):

(1) Raise 0-1 limpers with position (c-o/button) pretty much every time (except with pocket pairs). I raise to 4bb, sometimes 5 if there are limpers.
(2) Raise decent hands anywhere (I think)
(3) Bet every flop, *except* if (i) your opponent thinks for ages before checking (that often seems to indicate someone planning to check raise), (ii) the board is really scary
(4) Check behind on the turn if called, except with a legitimate hand (and sometimes even then, if the board doesn't have too many draws), then check-fold (no hand) or check-call (decent hand) the river
(5) If someone comes over the top, fold of course unless you have a good hand/pot odds for a draw. TPTK is usually good enough though (since people think you're playing trash so raise without solid values)
(6) Obviously if you have some sort of read on a player in a hand, then that is more significant than 1-5! In particularly identifying calling stations is v important (if there are too many, just find another table)

The basic idea is that you break even (or better) by bluffing, and some of the time when people come over the top, you have a legitimate hand and bust them since they're then committed. The counter strategy is for your opponents to bet into you first - if someone starts doing that then just leave that table and find another one!

Last time I played, some guy got so annoyed with my frequent $4 raises that he re-raised me all in with J4o, laying about 75:4 that I didn't have a legitimate hand (KK in fact!) Happy days....

Great, thanks a lot for those tips! I will properly digest your post over a cup of tea and then formulate an action plan..

After a few days I'll let you know how I'm doing..

Good luck! From previous posts, at least I know you won't follow any advice blindly

ps Got (4) a bit wrong in the heat of the moment. Generally you'll have position, in which case if checked to on the river, you have to decide whether your opponent was drawing. If there is a draw on the board that didn't make it, then barring a read on the opponent (ie he's any good!), I'll generally bluff 1/2 pot - full pot on the river.

I know you play on Stars, which means it will be a huge adjustment to go from the $50NL Stars tables to the 6-max tables on Party. I used to play a fair bit of the $25 and $50NL 6-max tables on Party back in the day, and while there are several wild/crazy players, you really have to open up and take some chances. Sitting there playing a TAG style will probably not work nearly as well as it does on Stars. If you like your opponents to be tight/weak and predictable, then you are gonna be disappointed, and reading hands will be very difficult when players are as loose and crazy as they are on Party. Good luck and let us know how it's going.

I would suggest the deeper stack no limit games whether you play six max or full games. Not to sound like a shill, but the no limit games at prima are pretty decent and they offer six max and a fair amount of bonuses, at least thru gaming club. Playing half stacks I think would lead to getting commited to a hand a lot faster than I generally would like.

Six max is where it is at, you can open up and experiment with some more interesting plays. I play a solid tight and aggressive style 80% of the time 10% of the time LAG, and a bone head making blunders the rest of the time. A game isn't really shorthanded until you are down to three if you have lots of chips in relationship to the blinds.

A good deal of the game comes down to pot size management while still protecting your hand. I try to make my bets solid with good but marginal holdings, like top pair weak kicker, middle pair and position, or a draw. Keeping the pot from getting out of control is a struggle in these games at times. Trying to grow a pot with strong hands so that it starts becoming a % of their stack that gets them all in on the river is another much needed skill. Some times that just isn't possible to get a value bet in on the river that puts them all in, but with practice becomes easier to pick up the most of their money.

The other part of the game that I find to be crucial is correctly identifying, reading, and developing tactics to beat each opponent. If you have a plan for the each of the other five, starting at the easiest to and working your way across all of your opponents, your play will naturally be varied. Any one trying to get a bead on you will be getting mixed signals, because you are playing an adapting game that is best fit to beating other people. If they see you whipping the tail off a calling station with middle pair, they will assume that you play middle pair fast, but you know that it takes two pair or better to beat them, and consistently show top two or a set to them.

My sessions that go poorly is usually because I've failed on the second part of playing each opponent differently and wind up making huge errors. Good luck and have fun, six max is very interesting and will lead you to feeling more and more comfortable playing in all situations.

Wow. Lots more great advice. I shall attempt to put it to good use! Thanks!

Oh, I will definitely look into Ladbrokes then because of course I can play in pounds sterling.

Additionally I can play 6PM UK time and not be up against American 'day players' (who are notably more rockish). Thanks for the tip.

Smokin Al great post but I have some ?s.

1. overall what limit are you talking about. From your post I gather .5/1.
2. How do you feel about your strategy at 1/2 $100nl. If you think that your strategy is good for 1/2 then please answer the following questions as if were talking about 1/2

2. you say raise 0-1 limpers C/o or button every time. Are you saying with any hand and how much, and do the raises vary. (remember 1/2 if applicable)

3.raise decent hands anywhere. How much and do the raises vary.

4. Bet every flop. How much and does it vary, is this only after the raise.

5.If called on the flop w/noth do you stop betting every time or will you fire again. , and how much.

6. I play alot like you describe, but when I play like you suggest in 1.2. and 3. The calling stations just eat me up. I mean theyll call like a $8 rse pre then call like 10 on the flop with middle pair. So I end pulling back. I know these are the people I want to play but I dont think I want to play how you describe. Do you agree

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