Well my feeble attempt at writing my thoughts on poker and the 6-max game. In no way will these be as in depth as they could be. What I write isnt absolute either. There are many other ways to play. Please do ask questions if you have any and check back frequently as I will be writing a daily piece till all streets are covered. aftyer that I will dive into concepts and theory.
Poker by street
To really get in depth on the game of poker you have to start to think about your action on every street and why you take it. I don’t think many consider pre-flop to be a street but is the driveway leading to the streets. This is where you decide what car you will take out of the garage and drive down the street. Certain vehicles will serve you better on certain days. OK enough with the metaphorical thinking.
Pre-flop
Pre-flop: This is a loose guideline to pre-flop play. The biggest thing to consider pre-flop is your position and next your hand strength. The hands I outline are strictly for being 1st in as well as isolating weak limpers. Your 3 betting range whether it be 3 betting or calling a 3bet will be drastically different. All discussions from here on out pertain to 6-max strategy. I don’t feel a lot needs to be said about pre-flop strategy but I will touch upon the most important. Position is number one. Everyone knows this yet few utilize it to its fullest potential.
UTG and UTG+1: In order to get action and loosen up your image from these two spots opening all PP’s is quite effective. It is nice to mix in a random SC as well but not entirely necessary. Yet I think I rather raise 87s here then QJs because it is easier to play post flop OOP. As for non pairs Ajo+ and Kqs+ work well for me. If my table is tight and my image is well I will expand upon this range.
CO: This is when my range begins to open up as I will more times then not end up with position post flop and will be able to play my hand profitably against my opponent. Our range is all of the UTG & UTG+1 range plus SC down to 65 and off suit connectors down to 89. Also A9o+ and Kto+. This is where we can begin to utilize HUD number as well. If the BTN and blinds are tight we can open our range up more.
BTN: This is the whore of position. She spreads her legs for any two cards. Due to your position sometimes your cards are irrelevant. This is where good hand reading skills and shear aggression will win you the pot 9 times out of 10. You can raise a lot of suited junk here as well as any Ace as long as the blinds arent 3 betting you often.
3 betting: This is by no means the know all end all on 3 betting but rather some observations of my own. If you look at the range of hands I just said we should be raising from the CO and BTN position it is obvious that the majority of them cannot withstand a raise. Therefore I think 3 betting from the blinds is something that isn’t being done enough by the average player, including myself. The toughest thing about 3 betting from the blinds is it goes against the idea of position. This is again a spot where we can use are HUD numbers. If the PFR has a high attempt to steal which I believe is 20+ then we should be 3 betting lighter from the blinds. The majority of the time we should take the pot down pre-flop. Also if called we can C-bet and show a profit as well but I do believe our c-betting frequency should decrease in 3 bet pots when OOP. When 3 betting IP I think we can stick to a pretty tight range depending upon our villains numbers. If villain looks tight then we shouldn’t be 3 betting light. If villain is loose then we should. Also you should be more apt to 3 bet a CO raiser light then a UTG or UTG+1 raiser due to the ranges we have discussed. With hands that flop well I tend to call IP against tight players rather then raise and open the door up for them to blow me off my hand. Calling IP also allows you to make moves post flop. Again HUD should show you villains c-bet number and if it 70+ we know that this villain is betting with air here often enough that a float or raise will show profit.
Flop play
This where poker begins. You can study starting hand charts but if you cant play your hand profitably post flop you will not be a winning poker player. The variables of post flop play are endless and to generalize isn’t easy but I will try.
HU to the flop: Whether in or out of position for the most part you want to c-bet on the flop. Flop texture and villains tendencies are something to take into consideration the times you feel a c-bet will not have success. As you move up the stakes villains are going to become a little more tricky and begin to float and play back at you. Experience will guide you in these times. If the flop texture is horrible and you feel the villain will not fold the majority of his PF calling range a delayed c-bet can be a profitable alternative. The profit in a c-bet is in its success overtime and the fact that it will help your image and increase the likeliness that you receive action when you flop big. I suggest varying your c-bet sizes at random by one more or one less bet every now and again so to not be robotic. I don’t recommend adjusting strictly based on your hand strength but rather on flop texture and the perceived skill level of villain. It goes without saying the cheaper the c-bet the less successful it has to be to show a profit. C-betting is so well known and expected these days that slowing down isn’t horrible. This doesn’t mean completely giving up when you miss a flop but rather trying to find a different line to take the pot down.
If led into in these situations you have three choices, fold/raise/call. I feel raising is actually over used. Yes a lot of the time you are going to raise and villain will go away and you take it down. This is great when you have air but what about when you flop MP or a draw? If I have air in these spots with no real outs I think giving up isn’t horrible. It allows villain to create an image in his own mind. I imagine that image of one who is raising loosely and is easily pushed around post flop. Good image to have? Yes and no. Another option in these spots is to take your draw cheaply and look to hit and then extract value. I don’t mind this line if you feel villain is capable of 3 betting you off your draw. If he is more passive raising is your best line. You build a pot for when you do hit, give yourself a chance to take it down without getting there, and lastly if you miss the turn you typically can take a free river. The spot I think that most people over look is when you flop a marginal hand like MP. Lets say I raise it up from the BTN with 89 and the flop comes down 479r and villain fires 2/3 pot into me. Raising here is wrong. Yes you have top pair and there are a ton of possible overs but those arent always bad for your hand. Villain is leading out here with such a wide range that you mosty likely are best. This is a perfect spot to take a passive line and call down. Yes you will get drawn out on occasionally or face to much heat on the turn or river to call but this is where hand reading will become key. I think more times then not by knowing your villains tendencies you will be capable of extracting quite a bit of value from aggressive opponents who have you on overs. These guys simply don’t know how to give up on bluffs. The 89 hand is just and example. There are times where I will make this play with AK when I flop TPTK. Aggression owns but being the aggressor isn’t always the best possible way to extract value.
