How do you play pocket sixes?

Open it from anywhere and call a single raise when the stacks are deep enough to pay you off when you hit. You flop a set about one time in eight, so the plan is simple: see a cheap flop, win a big pot when a six arrives, and let the hand go when it does not. Against a raise and a re-raise it is usually a fold.

This hand opens for a raise from every position, including under the gun.

Common mistake: Falling in love with the pair on a board full of bigger cards. Sixes are easy to overplay when two or three overcards flop and you are actually drawing thin.

Quick tip: Flop a set about one in eight. The pair alone rarely wins a big pot, so set-mine with the right stacks.