6 max is all about outplaying your opponents on a majority of pots. Full rings are all about patience and recognizing the right moments to swoop in. They're different skills. It could be said that ring games are easier to beat for the unskilled player; then again, you can be an impatient, near-maniac player and turn a profit on 6 max just by betting like a bat out of hell (as long as you find the right tables). I actually have found it easier to beat 6 max tables because my default poker setting likes to semi-bluff and deploy complex bluffing strategies, like fake check-raising and so forth. I often lack patience, so I am trying to make myself play full ring games to learn to be more patient. I think there's more money to be made, more quickly, at 6 max; but then again all it takes is to land at the wrong table at the wrong time to lose half your bankroll - been there a couple times, which has yet to happen to me in a ring.

Bottom line, I don't know what I'm saying. I think both require a certain approach and set of skills to be successful. 6 max might require more betting skill, ring might require more discipline... maybe that's the easiest way to put it. I find it easier to play skillfully than to play with discipline, so I'm challenging myself right now by playing ring. I'm also playing some Omaha which seems to me even more of a patient/disciplined game than full ring hold 'em - that is, if you want to make money at it.