Full ring cash game

Why have full ring cash game tables lost so much player volume in recent years?

It feels like 6-max and fast-fold formats have completely taken over online poker, while full ring games are becoming harder and harder to find, especially at lower stakes. Do you think this is mainly because modern players prefer faster action, or are there other reasons behind the decline?

I’m curious to hear opinions from both regulars and recreational players.

Gamblers and aggro types like short handed play . Their wide ranges don't get punished as much , and in fact may become proper stategy . The poker sites encourage that format , as the hands go by faster and they can collect more rake . I feel it's a disaster ! In a related note 10 seat SNGs are long gone , and even 9 player tables are not common . Sadly ,8 handed turbos + 6 max seem the standard now .

I liked 9 hand tables , especially on zoom , because I could see and play more hands with the same big and small blinds and the same antes more or less . I felt alsilo that they were more loose than 6 max . Now 6 max are the common poker game format . You have to adapt .I have learned some new ways to play at six max , I still learn .

I feel 6 max and all fast games are just terrible for the vast majority of the players and certainly are for newer, beginner and losing players. All those formats just make you pay more rake faster and make you make more decisions quicker. Which all only creates more variance which the majority of the players can't handle so then they tilt away more money even quicker.

I haven't studied anything to improve my game in 16+ years now I just do hand reviews to keep my game on track and too stop bad habits from forming. There's many here much more currently knowledge in poker and more currently studied. I find full-ring cash is plenty beatable in 2026. Game selection/format selection matters. It's one of the top 4-5 things that truly matter when it comes to being a winning player. Do you gotta at least double table if you're playing full-ring thou it's the only way to get a lot of volume.

Another advantage playing full-ring cash is I don't have to really adjust my game much for MTT's when I play them on weekends as most them are full-ring. I just have to adjust my game when short stack and for ICM.

Cheers!!!

6-max is more entertaining, faster-paced, and more profitable for players who study the game.
Possible reasons: More hands per hour = more rakeback + more EV.

Also sometimes you might only have time for a short session of poker (45 min to an hour). If you play at a table of 9 players you will play a lot less hands and have to wait a lot longer your turn to be on the button. So the rhythm is slower. It's also just boring when you don't get dealt any playable hands to fold and fold some more. Time passes by before you know it, and you're more frustrated that you didn't really get to play that much poker.

Yes 9max is slower, but you can just play more tables

This is not exactly something new. Even 10 years ago 6-max was more popular for cash games, and I think, the main reason is the faster action. If you sit down at a 9-max table and want to wait for the blinds to come around to you, even just that takes forever. And after that each hand takes a lot of time preflop, because 9 people need to decide, and you cant play much more than 20% of hands, if you want to be profitable.

Even online tournaments have largely abandoned the 9-max format and replaced it with 8-max or even in some cases 7-max. And frankly maybe online cash games should go the same route and also introduce a mandatory ante to punish nitty play and create a bit more action. Some sites have ante cash games already, but only as an option, and apparently people then still gravitate to the traditional non-ante tables.