6-max vs. Full

So I've been reading through the Beginner's Digest and a couple times now I've seen mentioned that 6-max tables have more variance than full tables. Why is that? What else should I be aware of?

I've been playing nothing but 6-max since I quit playing with play-doh. There were a few reasons why I chose 6-max tables: Easier to find a seat, difference in pot size seems negligible, and I find it easier to understand players when there are less of them (and subsequently it's easier to steal pots).

Maybe you can knock down any incorrect assumptions and give me a real pros and cons look at 6-max vs. full tables. It's probably been covered somewhere, so a link is great too.

Thanks!

Renton covers it well here:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ng-t61621.html

I chase the fish across two sites and into and out of FR and 6max, depending upon the day and how the site is running. FR is a consistent winner for me, but at a lower win rate (~4 ptBB/100). 6max is a wild but consistent (long term) winner for me when I can find good tables (~5.5 ptBB/100).

The reason 6max is higher variance is that each player is forced to play more crap hands. The blinds act as a catapult that through you into the action with "any two." With each player "forced" to play 17% of his hands regardless of how bad they suck, you get a lot more marginal holdings entering pots.

So this should be good, right? Well, it depends. Turns out that a lot of crap hands play OK against a TAGG's range, and several fish can "school." The only way to deal with this is to bet aggressively, make them pay to chase. So cbets get bigger, semi-bluffs get bigger, etc. You just have to commit more chips to win pots by taking them down.

At FR, you can expect half the table to be weak-tight nits, which is fine. They can be run over. But it's a lot less profitable than fighting with loose passive fish at 6max.

But don't underestimate FR - the fish swim there quite often, and when you find a FR table with 42% see-the-flop stats, you will very likely enjoy the game immensely

You guys rock. Thanks again.