Dear Owen,


Well, the good news is that, all other things being equal, you’ll win more since you play more pots and have more winning decisions. However, all other things are likely not to be equal, which is why we don’t all switch to heads up the moment we have a winning month.


Things to watch out for? Remember that people play six-max out of choice. In some cases that’s because they are good players who happen to make more in 6-max. In the remainder of cases they’re losing players who find six-max more gratifying than full ring. This means that the people you are hoping to make your money from like action, and when they make mistakes these are more likely to be bets than folds. It’s up to you how you capitalise on that, but, once you’ve identified the losing players, gear your play around inducing a poor bet or raise.


You can expect things to be reliably fruity in the button and blinds area since all raises come from at least mid-position and basically look like steals. Regarding starting values: You can worry less about reverse implied odds, for example on iffy aces. Unlike full ring, there aren’t going to be rocks sitting around who will never pay you for A-J, just punish you. A-J becomes the hand A-Q is in full ring.


Generally, values are much wider, and so, if it’s less about the cards it must be more about the players. Know your enemy – i.e. get tracker software.


Tom