Buzzer’s top tips for SIXPAKS - Part 1

I’ve been a keen player of SIXPAKs since Betfair Poker introduced them about a year ago. I’ve played well over 10,000 SixPaks at Betfair, and will continue to add to that number as I’m still a regular at levels ranging from £60-£500. They’ve become very popular and generally fill very quickly at most limits.

SIXPACS are six handed Sit and Go`s. Each player starts with 1,000 chips and the blinds increase after every 12 hands (or 6 hands in Thunders). Play continues until one player manages to get all the chips on the table. That player is the winner of the SIXPAK and receives 75% of the total prize pool (not including fees) and the 2nd place finisher receives 25%. 3rd through 6th receive no prize money. Obviously to be successful at these, we must finish 1st or 2nd more often than not. Before I start giving out my tips, one word of caution; if you are already a winning SIXPAK player and feel comfortable with your game, feel free to ignore my advice. “There are many ways to Rome” and if yours is working, congratulations! However, those of you who have been struggling with the format may well find some clues here to improve your game and results.

This month I’ll be outlining my first three tips for success at SIXPAKS.

Buzzer's Top Tips for SIXPAKs:

Slow Early

Avoid playing marginal hands too early in this format. The exception would be if you are in good position (button or cut-off) and are getting good odds. Be especially wary of medium and weak aces, playing those can prove very expensive in the long run. Try and play tight early, loose late.
There are a number of reasons why I tend to play tight early. First of all the blinds are small. 7/15 means the SB and BB add up to 22 chips which is 2.2% of our stack. You want to steal 2.2% of my chips? Go ahead! I am not going to stop you stealing in level 1. It is simply not worth starting a war over 2.2% of your chips. From level 3 onwards, the chips at stake vs chip stack ratio dramatically shifts. E.g. at 50/100 with 800 chips left the blinds now amount to 18.8% of my stack and are well worth fighting for. Expect me to attack your blind more often and expect me to defend my blinds more often and more vigorously! Also I loosen my starting hand requirements a bit from a regular 9 or 10 handed STT, but only ever so slightly in the beginning levels of a SIXPAK. Basically AQ and AJ go slightly up in value as you are less likely to be beaten by a higher kicker, as well as medium pairs like 88 as you are less likely to run into an overpair. Try this for yourself at home. Take a deck of cards, remove either AQ or 88 from it simulating that those were your cards. Now either deal in 3 more hands face-up simulating a 4handed game or 9 more hands simulating a 10handed game. You will be surprised how often you’re AQ or 88 will be good 4handed and how often it will be in trouble 10handed.

One common mistake is that the (admittedly top-heavy) 75:25 payout structure traps many players into going for the quick double up early. I see many players playing and calling with marginal hands in early levels thinking they have nothing to lose. First of all, obviously they do have something to lose. But more importantly, an early double-up is far from a guarantee for prize money, let alone a win. Often these same loose early players will tighten up late and miss the money anyway, even if they get fortunate enough to double up early. And remember, you have to be in it, to win it! These points of argument will be even more true when the payout structure will be changed to 2/3 and 1/3 in the near future. If you re-think your SIXPAK approach and adopt a slow early, fast late approach, I believe you will see an immediate improvement to your game. We will discuss Fast Late further next month.

Know your players

I try and keep notes on many of my opponents and believe that you should try and keep notes as well. There certainly are many "regulars", and for the most part I don't need my notes on these players. But almost everyday there seems to be a "newbie", and so I make sure and note such things as weak/passive, bluffing tendencies, opening bet size average, etc. Since there are only six seats I try and know my opponents tendencies. I am a strong proponent of getting the most I can get out of my work so taking notes and using them accordingly is a critical part of my SIXPAK strategy. How well do you know your opponents? Perhaps now is a good time to start making sure you are taking good notes.

Be Prepared to Learn

Strange tip right? When preparing to write this article, one thing I thought about is how much I have learned in playing SIXPAKs. My game has definitely changed since I first began playing this format and I predict it will change further in the future. Short handed poker is typically more aggressive than a full table. SIXPAKs generally also feature “more play”; by this I mean that you are in the blinds more often, you will see more flops, turn cards and river cards. The pace of the game is fast and it forces you to make many difficult decisions in a short period of time. Make sure you’re paying attention to the plays that are working for you and also the ones that are not. Most of the changes that I’ve made personally have been quite subtle, but as we all know, poker is a game where one slight adjustment can make a significant improvement to our bank rolls and also general mental health . Even the very best players have the innate ability to acknowledge and LEARN from their mistakes. Pay attention and the rewards are there.

Next month I’ll bring you the second part of the article, with tips outlining how to play the blinds, win expectations and playing fast late.





See you at the tables, Buzzer

Thomas “Buzzer” Bhil is Betfair’s newest sponsored pro, and is one of the world’s elite STT players having recently been selected to the Advisory Board of the World Federation of Poker.