[terp]

for all of you guys who deviate from the full ring stereotypes of nut-peddling, playing ultra-tight styles, having difficulty valuebetting thinly, etc., you will almost certainly enjoy 6max more.

if you are a good player, you profit because you make decisions better than your opponents. being able to play more hands against opponents over whom you have an edge is a huge advantage! if you enjoy "poker" you will really enjoy shorthanded play.

a bit about me:
i have played 6max mostly exclusively since may 2006 (i have probably logged <100 hands of full ring NLHE in that span). i had played FR online between december 2005 and then and hadn't really played poker prior, except occasionally live. when i began playing online, full ring seemed like the natural setting: live poker was nine-handed, so why wouldn't i play the game i knew?

i pretty much crushed online FR during that time, so i saw little reason to try anything else. i don't have those databases anymore, but IIRC i was ~10ptbb winner lifetime at 100 and 200nl on party playing about 16/9. maulik, a college friend and 2+2er, had been nagging me to try 6max the whole time, and i finally did.

everything seemed insane. people were playing a ton of hands. people never folded. people would bet as soon as you checked. my god, this was insane! they didn't always have sets, did they?

i actually broke even for pretty much an entire month while i tried to figure things out. i was determined to learn to play shorthanded because it was interesting, challenging and seemingly very profitable. i could tell people were playing exploitably but i did not know 1) how to exploit their play adequately 2) how to avoid playing so exploitably myself!

in july, things skyrocketed. i started "getting it" and i began to win like nuts. i probably won close to 70 buyins at 100nl that month on party poker playing a few hours daily. yes, this was party poker pre-UIGEA, but these were still remarkable results. i began playing 200nl and was a lifetime 16ptbb winner there for 50-60k hands before finally jumping to 2/4 and 3/6. then, they took my baby away [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

i've rambled, but i hope this entertains and provides some insight into the 6max v full ring debate for you guys.