Short-Handed Limit Quiz

[Talking Poker]

I just read through the other responses, and it looks like we agree on most of the situations, except for the borderline ones that are so tricky, where one could make a case for any action.

2Tone - I think you need to crank up your aggression a bit to be successful at 6 max. I'm hoping you didn't realize that you have a flush on #18, because you simply can not fold there. Folding the best hand there would be a HUGE mistake and could likely turn a winning session into a loser. pshabi's logic for 3 betting is ok, but I still prefer the call, myself.

What other ones should we discuss? Any questions about my answers?

[Zybomb]

I like your analysis on #18 as well (Im not sure if it changed my mind or not but its still a good point)

Im confused as to the the AJo hand in response to an UTG raise. In 6 max is this raise not as respected? (I realize its the equivilant of a MP raise) It just seems you'll miss often and be in trouble sometimes when you hit as well -- i understand reraising (more of an aggression steal than a value raise) but cold call? It'll pay off sometimes but...

[Talking Poker]

You'd be amazed at what people (myself included) will raise with from UTG in 6 max limit. Me, personally - I will certainly raise from UTG with hands as weak as AT and KQ and usually with hands as weak as KJ, KT, QJ and even QT.

Still respect my UTG raises?

[PShabi]

I made this same point in a conversation the other day and that's why I'm reraising preflop against players who raise like me. There are people in my games who are raising a much higher % preflop than I am and they do it from UTG with AceBullshit offsuit. Some strong players even LAG it up like that.

If I raise UTG with K10 and get 3-bet I'm not feeling great after that. Playing unimproved while out of position is bad news. On the contrary, I've found that against liberal raisers (I REFUSE to refer to myself as loose) I take down a lot of pots before showdown without improving. I'm thinking about expanding and making this 3-bet with A10 or at least A10s because of the shit that gets raised up front.

I've been trying to muck Q10 and QJ offsuit up front lately. I used to raise those too but I think I can muck them UTG at least. I'm a nit-picker.

I know the value of suited cards isn't regarded as that much in a 6-max game, but I don't necessarily agree.

[2Tone]

I missed the flush on 18. My mistake.

This has been valuable for me, and a perfect illustration of the difference between 6 max and a full ring game. At a Party 2/4 or 3/6 full ring game with three or four callers and up, low to middle pair just isn't going to win the hand unless you make your set on the flop.

Meanwhile, I'm much more comfortable with the role of rock than maniac. In theory playing so tight (and transparently) should hurt my win rate -- and it would if I was playing with stronger opponents, who might, say, respect my re-raises. But instead, they'll keep calling me down with top pair against a flush or straight. So I go right on folding marginal hands, and hammering away with premium hands.

Which is a recipe for a slow but steady win rate at full low limit table of monkeys, but would likely get me slaughtered at a crafty 6-max table.

[Talking Poker]

One thing to remember: Not everyone who plays 6 max is "crafty." In fact, most of the people who play there are action junkies. They are impatient and they don't knpow the difference between selective aggression and being a maniac (see above).

Then, of course, there are the passive guys who sit down with 8 BBs or whatever. They usually don't last 10 minutes.

[Quint]

I messed up and read the other responses before I attempted to answer them myself. Being new to the 6-max limit game I realized that the answers I was giving were probably influenced more by what I had just read than how I've actually been playing, so I scrapped them. Great post though, and great responses as well.


TP's last statement above raises more questions for me, but rather than hijack this thread I'll start a new one.

[Talking Poker]

Good plan.

I love this thread and hope it wins the longest thread contest, but let's try to stay on topic. We're covering enough in here already.

[Aequitas58]

This is a great thread, I have been following it - albeit not closely - largely because I'm in MTT-mode.