6-Handed Ring Games

This is a reply to Jonathan's blog. He talks about 6- handed Sit' N Go's but I want to talk about 6-handed Ring Games. The SnG strategy will be a bit different because you basically have a time limit to make chips where a ring game is all about patience.

6-Max Ring Games

I've been playing around with 6-handed ring games. I recently read strategy article that talked about the types of players that play the different types of games. Players that prefer the 6-handed games are the ones who are looking for action. These players are more likely to be Loose-Aggressive (LAG) and also like to bluff at a lot of pots.

Pre-Flop
Pre-flop you have to play hands that are going to generate monsters. Since you're playing players that might be playing anything, they also might hit anything on the flop. They can bluff you out of a lot of pots that you've invested money into. You need to play hands that can generate straights, flushes, or a set. Suited connectors are your best friend for obvious reasons on a 6-handed table. Small pocket pairs are also nice because you have a 1 in 7 chance of hitting a set. A small pocket pair also leaves the higher cards out there for your opponent to hit a big pair while you own a set. Play passivly but play often preflop. To mix it up a little I play almost every pair or suited connector in late position but only play big hands in early position. My opponents can never get reads even though I'm playing exactly the same cards throughout my session.

After the Flop
Now that we've covered pre-flop play, what about after the flop? Well it's really easy, fold if you don't hit. If you miss the flop play the odds. I don't usually count high cards as outs because top pair isn't a sure thing unless you hold a big kicker. The only time I try to draw top pair is if I'm holding AK AQ AJ KQ and sometimes KJ on a really loose table. You want to draw to the top end of straights and to 9 high flush or higher.

If you hit the flop then you need to be agressive, EVERY TIME! Sure your opponent will see this, but he'll still pay you. He'll think to himself, "There's no way this guys that lucky", or ,"Look at this donk playing almost anything". Are you getting lucky or being a donk? Heck no, you have a solid strategy and you're sticking to it. Now your opponent has a mis-read on you. YEA-HAAAAAA!!!!!!!! That's when he' going to pay you.

My Stats

So far I've only been playing around with this strategy on the 0.01/0.02 NL tables on PokerStars and I haven't spent much time on it but it is paying off nicely.


(updated 2/20/08)
4,400 Hands
32.50 VP$IP
about 40% flops seen (give or take 5%)
5.23 Preflop Raise

$23.39 Won

26.58 BB/100 Hands

I'll keep my stats updated for you to see how it goes. I'm hoping to start playing the 0.05/0.10 NL tables soon.