Never Bluff

I played all 6 max tonight. It had its ugly moments, but I really felt I played well.  There was only one hand I was not sure about, I chased and hit a small piece against a player I should not have been in the hand with, oh well, It all ended well.

 

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 797267
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $25.35
UTG: $8.20
MP: $17.77
CO: $23.34
Hero (BTN): $45.11
SB: $35.18

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with 5 7
2 folds, CO calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB raises to $1.65, CO calls $1.40, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $1.40, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.20) 9 8 2 (3 players)
BB requests TIME, BB bets $3, CO folds, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($11.20) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8.25, BB raises to $20.70 all in, Hero calls $12.45

River: ($52.60) Q (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $52.60
BB shows K K (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows 5 7 (a straight, Nine high)
Hero wins $49.97
(Rake: $2.63)

Pot Limit is easier to win at… the learning players call to much when out of position. Pot Limit by nature requires more betting in order to get stacks in by the river.  So in PL we play a style that can be exploited, we bet, raise, 3bet and check raise with big hands and call with medium hands. 

If possible position is more important in Pot Limit then No Limit, because the raising and 3betting that takes place. Being the last to act is important in pot control.  A player in early position cannot open shove or over bet the pot for obvious reasons.

Pot Limit is often played multi-way, so the learning players feel that 3rd pair is the nuts and will often stack off.  It appears to me that PL is more about hand strength, because players have a tendency to mash the pot button causing pots to get ridiculously big.  I have seen several $100+ pots at $25PL.

The other thing is when you are at a Pot Limit table with players that are better then you.  You can pot control when in position.

You need to be prepared for the use of the check raise. You get check raised a ton more in PL, it is the easiest way for good players to build pots when out of position, for me it has had an impact on both NL and PL.  I check back medium hands more then I use to in an effort to avoid the check raise.  I also use the check raise more and more to build pots as well.

Tilt factor… PLHE like PLO can cause you to tilt, since it is less expensive (on average) to see a flop, it makes it more correct to see more flops, which means people make nut hands out of non-premium starting cards. This makes it more important for you to be able to get away from premium 1 pair hands when faced with too much pressure.

I played a little bit of everything this weekend. Rush, FR and 6 max. I was successful and unsuccessful at all.

Want to know what I discovered? It’s about focus. In particular 6 max is about really paying attention to the other players. You have to pay attention to their tendencies and play off of them. I did discover that when I pay attention, I mean really focus, I could pretty much figure out how strong they were and react accordingly. The challenge is when the focus goes so does the money. For me it is more important to realize how I am playing as opposed to the others. If I am not playing my “A” game I need to do something else.

Full Ring at the micros you can be successful in only playing your cards. You do not make a move, or do anything fancy. Just play enough tables and grind out a nice bankroll.

With the rake as high as it is I still think the best way to build a bankroll is playing Full Ring, more tables, tighter play, play less pots, pay less rake and on average win bigger pots.

In truth its more comfortable for me to fire up a lot of tables and fold your way to big hands and hope they hold. For me right now 6 max is more fun, trying to figure out the players. Of course I do not play as many tables of 6 max 2 to 4 tables is all I can do, as opposed to 10 FR tables.

Having written this I will probably get destroyed tonight.

How do I play poker? Well I average playing 10% to 12% if my hands and raising 8 to 10%. When I get too far outside of these numbers I get crushed. (Full Ring)

Playing poker we make money 3 ways:

• Big Hands
• Trapping
• Making others fold the best hand.

The people we call donks are the players that are trying to make us fold the best hand, my guess is they are successful more often then not, because we miss the flop and fold, or fold to a big bets on later streets. If you are employing this style, all you need is two cards and the balls to bet.

The easiest way to make money is big hands, in Full Ring play you sit and wait and then play them fast and hope to play a big pot and hope it holds.

Math is math and they do hold most of the time, and you do win 80%+ of the time with the hand, what I am curious about is how often you win a big pot vs. how often you lose a big pot (get rid of all the raise it and take type scenarios) my guess is by percent you lose more big pots then you win.

The other way to win a lot is flopping a big hand that is disguised (set) and stacking someone with a big hand. This is why players play the 78 suited and 10 8 etc. It makes sense to play these cards in late position only, (other then medium + pocket pairs), for fear of being 3bet off of the hand, or worse make a bad call and have to fold to a cbet when you miss (and you do miss more then you hit).

The more players limping to see a pot the more it makes sense to limp in position and see a flop. Conversely, if you see players limping especially if they traditionally raise, it makes sense to 3 bet with almost any two cards and force the weaker hands to fold, if you are in the blinds and you do this you need to follow up with a strong C-bet with any dry flop.

In Full Ring, you are out of position more often. It is not smart to try to see cheap flops for reasons stated above, also if players are raising from up front it not unreasonable to assume a quality hand. In that case if you play non-premium cards you have to have a nut draw (hard to do with T 8) or 2 pair + to continue in the hand.
So the Full Ring dilemma is you have to wait for a big hand, you have to play it strong and hope it holds, or you have to hope for a big flop and you get paid, or you are spewing. Good players can get away from AK on a T98 board and you bet.
In 6 max you simply have less people to go through. So the value of any hand goes up, draws are more important to bet, etc.

The biggest challenge I have had playing 6 max is that I am feel lost at times, why is that? Because I assign the same hand requirements as Full Ring, for me I have a hard time understanding that KJ is a lot better hand in a 6 max game then it is in a Full Ring.

As an old school player, I am programmed to sit and wait for a hand and then bet it strong, and get pissed when some donk less skilled catches and beats me. In truth in any unpaired hand I am never that far ahead or behind, it is me that projects hand strengths of villains based on my own tendencies versus theirs. When I catch them playing bad cards, then I make the adjustments.

Ultimately what makes you a better poker player, playing a lot of players and waiting for a big hand and hoping it holds or playing the players tendencies and betting them off the hands, or extracting value?

There is a reason why the best players in world are suppose to be the HU players then the 6 max players and finally Full Ring, why is that? How is playing a 10/8 style skill or is it just being patient?

Why are the videos and training sites, forums more geared to 6 max then Full Ring? The reason is it’s not hard to teach someone to sit and wait, you can teach a dog that.
With all that said, I really feel that I need to take a few steps back to go forward. I feel that better developing my 6 max game (with my new understanding) is going to be in the long run the best course of action. I know that in the past I have talked about it, but I honestly think this is the proper course of action for me.

Full Ring is the best way to go for bankroll building, the long slow grind with less variance, because at $10NL you should only play premium hands. I have a bankroll and I am willing to invest some of it in making myself a better overall player.
Would love your thoughts!

A few things about me, I have been a member here for a long time, I have a blog on blog spot but thought I could also post here. I think its time for me to become more active in the DC community.

A little about me; I am old. (Over 40) I fall into many of the stereo types that older players have… namely a nit.

After years of playing SNG’s and MTT’s I decided to play cash games and I lost. I played mainly 6 max. I would win $400 and lose $300, all at $25NL.

In Sept 2009 I had ~$200 in my Full Tilt account and switched to $10 nl Full Ring, with tight bankroll rules (20 buy ins) by the end of October I had $1300 (I had been at $800 in cash and had a $500 MTT score) my bankroll and I moved $50NL, I had many ups and downs, I ended the year at $1600 from a high off $2400. I was able to End January at $2600 (note rake back is added into the number) all playing Full Ring and very nitty.
I am going to play primarily FR but want to work on my 6 max game. So I dropped back to $25NL for 6 max. Why? Because I am not sure playing a 11/9 style is making me the best poker player.

I now have the bankroll to invest some money into learning 6 max. I want to use this blog to help me talk about 6 max play.

I plan to make a video of me playing 6 max and I will post it to the member’s video section.

It is time to really go after the big bucks.