Sixth Street

Usually No More Guessing

By sixth street most stud hands are telling a clear story. Either your board looks like it got there, or it looks like it missed. At the low stakes many players still refuse to believe what the table is showing them, so this is a very profitable street for straightforward poker. When your hand is probably best, keep betting. When your draw is clearly behind, save the big bet.

Value Bet the Hands People Hate Folding To

Low limit players call too often on sixth street with smaller two pair, stubborn one-pair hands, and all kinds of curious bluff-catchers. That means your made hands should usually keep firing.

Hole Cards		Up Card	4th Street	5th Street	6th Street	River

Trips up on fourth and a board that improved to a full house draw by sixth street is the kind of hand you should bet happily. You are not trying to look scary; you are trying to get paid by players who have Queens up, Tens up, or a straight they can not release.

Big Draws Need Real Equity

Sixth street is a dangerous place to continue with a draw that can only win sometimes and may still be second best when it gets there. The pot may be large, but the bet is large too. Draw because the numbers and the board support it, not because you are emotionally committed.

Hole Cards		Up Card	4th Street	5th Street	6th Street	River

This looks powerful because you have made a broadway straight on sixth street, but the visible board also shows three spades. If another player has been betting with a spade board the whole way, you should not go wild just because your hand improved. Made straights are good; made straights against obvious flushes are bluff-catchers.

When to Shut Down

If you started with a pretty drawing hand and then caught garbage twice, do not keep paying rent on it.

Hole Cards		Up Card	4th Street	5th Street	6th Street	River

On fourth street this hand was worth continuing with. By sixth street, if you have bricked twice and your opponents are still betting into you with improving boards, it is usually time to wave goodbye. Low stakes players are not bluffing nearly enough on sixth street to make hopeful hero calls a winning habit.

Remember What Your Board Says

On sixth street your hidden cards matter less than you want them to and your board matters more than you would like. If your opponent shows strength and your board looks like one pair or a busted draw, expect to get looked up when you bluff and expect to be in trouble when you call light.