Todayโs question comes from Saki G and they say, โIโm new to online poker and really confused between choosing a 6max or a full ring table. What are the pros and cons of each and what would you suggest for a beginner player?โ
This is a great question, one of those questions that every single online player is going to have to answer for themselves at one point or another. For those of you that arenโt really fully aware of it, a full ring table seats either 9 or 10 players, and a 6max table seats at maximum 6, so usually somewhere between 3-6 players will be at that table at any given time.
As far as which one you want to play, itโs definitely going to be a personal decision and youโll find out later on that your own strengths as a player, strategically speaking, will also help influence which way you decide to go.
As far as the cons and the pros of each, well, the pros of each is that if youโre playing full ring, the games are inherently usually a little bit tighter. More players means that oftentimes players are going to be a little bit on the tighter side of the spectrum, which can be a good thing or a bad thing for you, depends on how you look at it. Obviously in a 6max game, there are going to be fewer players.
When there are fewer players, it means that if thereโs a fish in the game or maybe multiple fish in the game, itโs much easier to get that fish. Whereas if youโre playing in a full ring game, also thereโs a lot more players contending for that same individual and thatโs obviously going to create a little bit of a problem when it comes to who is going to get them first, especially if theyโre only going to buy in for one bullet, definitely something that you want to keep in mind.
The other thing is when youโre playing 6max, 6max games inherently are a little bit looser and a little bit more aggressive. When youโre first starting out, maybe thatโs not a good thing for you. Maybe youโre not really sure how to 3-bet yet, youโre not sure how to face 3-bets yet, youโre not sure how to face extra double and triple barrelsโwhat does that mean, is that light, is that heavy, what do I do with it?
So there are a bunch of things to keep in mind. Full-ring games tend to be a little bit more straightforward, a little bit less aggressive, and obviously that can be a nice transition getting used to playing online poker, versus jumping right into a place where youโre going to play looser, going to play more aggressive, and maybe youโre not prepared for that yet.
Which would I suggest for a beginner player? Iโd usually suggest a beginner player start at full ring, simply because in full ring games youโre inherently going to play a little bit tighter, your opponents are going to play a little bit tighter as well, thereโs going to be less aggression, which means youโre not going to have to face as many 3-bets or anything, which can be a lot more comfortable when youโre first getting started and getting your footing in Holdem cash games as a whole.
I would usually suggest playing full ring to get started until you get comfortable and then once youโre comfortable, then I would start trying to make the transition over to 6max games. Again, 6max games are more aggressive, players usually tend to be a little bit better but thereโs a lot more upward mobility in 6max. 6max games you can play much, much higher up, you can play it into 600NL, 1,000NL, etc.
Does full ring training apply to 6max and/or vice versa?
Full ring games online, especially tend to die off, especially closer to like 200NL, 400NL, they kind of start really capping and fading off. Whereas 6max youโre going to get a much higher potential, which is really important if youโre thinking about making this a full-time profession, thinking about upward mobility and where does my game cap out versus where does my game maybe not cap out or not cap out so quickly, anyway.
Again, beginner players, I would suggest full ring. Itโs a little bit easier, itโs easier to get started in terms of hand reading, because again, people play a little bit tighter, easier to get comfortable with it. Then you can just loosen up and extrapolate as you move into 6max.
I just think full ring is going to promote a lot of good fundamentals. Itโs going to promote you to play a little bit tighter, which is the biggest transition going from being a new player to being someone who can win in this game – learning how to get rid of junk, learning when to make folds pre-flop, that sort of thing. I think if you play a little bit tighter in a full ring game, get used to it, eventually amp your game up till maybe being a LAG at full ring and then start transitioning over to 6max. I think thatโs going to be a really comfortable path to walk.
