6-handed No Limit Basic Strategy (by dustin)

If you open up the CDPoker software, you will notice a large predominance of 6-handed NL games. Therefore, in the best interest of helping YOU become a better player, I have put together some basic guidelines for what I consider solid 6 Max strategy.

1. Except when in early position, if you are the first person to enter the pot, you should raise any hand that you intend on playing. This means raising with 87s, 55, AT, KJ, 97s, etc. There are several advantages to this including a) gaining position and b) representing a strong hand.

2. When you raise preflop and have last to act on the flop, you should bet the flop 2/3-3/4 of the pot, 80-90% of the time, even if you miss entirely. I do not normally use this strategy if there are 4 people in total to the flop as the odds of someone having a hand that allows them to call my bluff are high.

3. Maintain an adequate bankroll. I personally recommend at least 25 buy-ins. While there are no rules governing how large your bankroll should be to play a given stakes, it should be noted that at short-handed games, the variance is much higher than at a 10-handed table. It is NOT unheard of to lose 10 buy-ins over the course of a couple days playing short-handed.

4. Always buy-in for the maximum amount. If you don’t have the bankroll to play at a given stakes, then move down stakes. When you play short-stacked, you commit yourself to tenuous hands more easily as well as give larger stacks the advantage of being able to lose to you multiple times and still wind up with your stack in one hand.

5. Don’t be afraid to re-raise with premium hands when you have position. A lot of times, I will re-raise an opponent I suspect of making a raise with a non-premium hand. I consider 99-AA, AK, and AQ hands with which a re-raise pre-flop is acceptable. Be sure to re-raise at LEAST 2X the amount to you. Example: Someone raises to 40 in a 5/10 NL game. You should re-raise to at least 120 and more likely 140-160.

6. Don’t be afraid to call a raise pre-flop when you have position with suited connectors and pairs. On the other hand, here are hands you should generally not consider calling a standard 3x raise with pre-flop: AT offsuit, J9 offsuit, 85 suited, A5 suited. Hands similar to these will likely, in the long run, put you in a situation where you are dominated or your odds do not justify the play. Also, it is important to note that having position on the raiser is of extreme importance.

By playing aggressively with all of your hands, you will fare much better in a short-handed NL game. I would also like to share some ideas on what I consider decent starting hands for a short-handed NL cash game. Hands I like to play are a) all pocket pairs, b) suited connectors and gapped suited connectors from 54s and 64s to JTs and J8s, and c) two face cards. Good luck at the tables!