Differences between 5-card and 6-card
I feel like I’ve been traumatized by 6-card hi-lo and it impacts my playing style.
I am not sure I even like 6-card because it brings so much more variability into the game. Any card that doesn’t help you, hurts you.
Should we be more conservative pre-flop? What are the key adjustments?
8 Replies
It's a pre-flop game i.e. just like any other poker game. Stop limping.
I feel like I’ve been traumatized by 6-card hi-lo and it impacts my playing style.
I am not sure I even like 6-card because it brings so much more variability into the game. Any card that doesn’t help you, hurts you.
Should we be more conservative pre-flop? What are the key adjustments?
Interestingly, equities actually don't run as close in 6 card hi/lo as they do in 6 card high only. A really good starting hand like AA23xxds has higher equity against a random hand than a hand like AAKQxxds has in high only. So, no, you shouldn't be conservative preflop and should actually push your equity edge more.
The main difference is that you have one more card in 6 card.
Spoiler
What exactly would it mean to be conservative pre-flop? Not put in a lot of money with good hands, but rather see the flop with a lot of hands? It's a recipe for disaster.
Understand what hands are good and try to get in as much money as you can with the best hands. That's just how poker works, no matter what street, what game.
Understand what playability is. Does a certain hand play well with SPR 2 or SPR 10?
What exactly would it mean to be conservative pre-flop? Not put in a lot of money with good hands, but rather see the flop with a lot of hands? It's a recipe for disaster.Understand what hands are good and try to get in as much money as you can with the best hands. That's just how poker works, no matter what street, what game.Understand what playability is. Does a certain hand
Yes, I am super confident with five cards since I’ve played it for years with success. Just recently started playing six card and have been struggling. The odds of getting quartered are significantly higher. A lot more variance.
I guess I just have to assume higher risk (for higher reward).
Honestly it sounds like you've just been running bad.
No, I was just playing against hyper-aggressive players who applied a lot of pressure. Every other hand was going virtually all-in. I really didn’t want to risk my entire stack on anything but the best draws which I can far easily assess post-flop.
A lot of it has been my comfort of playing Big O for years. Even that game has far more ‘options’ than four-card PLO8. The additional card, in my eyes, has made it seem more random, especially pre-flop.
In the hand you posted it's not the he applied pressure. He just had it or made a very poor bluff. If you are decent in 5-card you are decent in 6-card. If people are virtually all-in every hand they are either just 1)having it every time or 2)very bad players.
It's not (significantly) more random, you are just running worse.
