4 comments Sunday 5 Jul 2009 09:00
Tags:
Hold' em, Intermediate, Poker Clinic, Ring games
Position is paramount in six-max. The cut-off and the button are the positions from where you will make the majority of your winnings.
Objectives from this position are to steal blinds, isolate limpers and isolate bad players that open before you. Because you have position throughout the hand you can open a very wide range of hands. If you raise, you will be playing a raised pot in position, which is a sure fire way to make money. A good continuation betting strategy will also ensure you a lot of winnings without a showdown. People generally play worse against aggressive opponents in raised pots when the opponent has the initiative. They make big errors like running huge dumb bluffs, let their opponent control the pot size and often fold the best hand.
The button and the cut-off should be played aggressively provided the right conditions are in place. Firstly, the table cannot be full of bad players. However, the button can be abused when you are playing weak-tight regulars at 100/200 no-limit, who won’t give you too much grief post-flop and have easily identifiable betting patterns. Be wary about playing too loose on the button if the blinds contain good aggressive players who will three-bet with a very wide range. From the cut-off, be especially wary of opening a wide range if the button is a good aggressive player who abuses position. Playing against a regular three-bettor out of position is a real headache.
Soft table range
The following gives a rough idea of a decent range at a soft table. By no means is this the type of range you should have 100% of the time. You should identify the player types and tweak your strategy based on the various factors in play.
You should be looking to play all the hands you would open in early position from this stronger position as well as A-x suited, K-x suited, Q-x suited and occasionally any 2 suited cards. Suited hands allow you to put pressure on weak tight opponents. Often you will flop hands with reasonable equity with which you can apply pressure. You would also be looking to play all Broadway hands, most suited connectors and gapped suited connectors from 4-6 suited and higher. Your range should also include most decent connecting cards from 8-9 offsuit and above.
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