6 Man Tables -vs- 9 Man Tables

29 Jun, 2009 - Posted by Dan Brown in Poker Tips

There is a lot of debate between players about what kind of tables are the best to play in both SNG’s and Ring games. It all really comes down to what type of player you are and how much you want to be in on the action. Each of these tables presents their own sets of challenges and skill sets to be successful.

SNG’s

When you are looking at SNG’s, you are taking a much larger risk to play in the 9 man tourneys than you are in the 6 man tourneys. It takes you longer to fight your way to the money and you also are adding an additional 3 players to get through. Together this means that your cards are going to have to hold up longer in order for you to cash and you are going to have to have much better hands early on in order to stay alive.

When you are playing a 6 man table, you only have to get past 4 players as compared to 6 in order to make the money. The main concern here is that you are creating the extra traffic to merely get your entry fee back in a 9 man tourney. The payoff for making the money in a 6 man tourney is usually significantly higher than it is in the 9 man tourneys.

Ring

This is much more difficult that SNG’s. This truly comes down to playing style. A lot of players are not comfortable playing a lot of hands. When you are in a 9 man game, you can use all of your live skills at the table. You can be very selective in your starting hands and not mix it up so much unless you are playing a monster. This is the style of a lot of players as they do not like to get in there with small starting hands and take a shot. You may have one or two players on the table that are like this, but for the most part they are going to play very tight.

A 6 man table is the total opposite of that. You are already starting out short-handed and when someone gets up from the table, the game really opens up. Your starting strength goes way up on hands that you would not even consider playing were you on a 9 man table.

Another factor that scares a lot of people when they are playing a 6 man table is that the blinds come around much more frequently. This means that there is the potential to go through a lot more money when you go card dead as you are facing 3 rounds of blinds to every 2 at a 9 man table. When you do the math, you can see how quickly this can add up.

In all, you would have to think that playing 6 man SNG’s is a much more reasonable move. You have to fight through less people and the payouts are more rewarding. For a cash games, it is a matter of preference. If you are a tight player, stay away from the smaller tables. If you like to mix it up and play a wide variety of starting hands, you are the ideal player for a 6 man game.

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