I am often surprised that only a minority of poker players prefer cash games to tournaments. While both have their appeal I prefer cash games when trying to make money instead of playing some tournament. I do make most of them when it comes to qualifying for some live event as there is an ever increasing number of satellites nowadays that allow you to compete for a lot of money at huge events like the WSOP, WPT or EPT for the proverbial peanuts.
With all the focus on tournament play (be it multitable or Sit & Go) I feel the “original” type of poker, the cash game, is being somewhat neglected. Here you sit at the table and play for real money. Just as you see in every mainstream wild west movie. Fortunately however you don’t risk staring into the barrel of an opponent’s gun.
When playing cash games your aim isn’t being the last player sitting at the table
nor is your evening over when you have lost all your chips (you can simply buy new ones) – it is over when you want it to be, either because you simply had enough poker for one evening or you have reached your goal (or – heaven forbid – you have squandered your whole bankroll). The chips that you receive when sitting down at the table represent the exact amount of money you used to buy yourself into the game. And the money you will receive when leaving the table is vice versa the exact amount of money represented by your chips at the table.
Be warned, playing cash games can be risky when you are new to the game and have not had any experience with playing for real money. I strongly recommend you play for play money first and handle it like playing with real money (even though some of your opponents may not do the same and play a bit wild) or play some tournaments, be it Sit & Go (I urge you to read Max’ posts on Sit & Go Strategy even if you will not play SNG tournaments as you will find a lot of tips that are generally useful for new players) or multitable tournaments as you will simply pay the buy-in and the tournament fee and will not risk losing more money than what you invested in the first place.
Ready to Rumble?
Now that you feel you are ready to play your first cash game I advise you to ease into it by playing very low limits at the beginning. Start from the bottom and work your way up slowly once you think you mastered a certain limit and manage to win on a constant basis. Keep in mind that your opponents will be tougher with the increasing amount of money that you play for. Always keep an eye on your bankroll and make yourself aware of what you can afford to lose. Nothing is worse than playing cash games with money you cannot afford to lose except maybe playing with borrowed money. This is something you should never do when playing poker – on the one hand it is simply a bad idea in general but on the other hand it is strongly frowned upon by poker players. You either have the money to play or you better don’t play at all.
If you manage to get a feeling for cash games and can emerge a winning player in the long run you can make some serious money. Looking at the amounts of money that people play for at cash game tables makes it easy to understand why more and more players who consider themselves to be better than the average player enjoy playing cash games instead of tournaments. You can make a lot of money in a short time – but you can also lose a lot of money in the same time!
Information is Key
Poker is a game of patience – and of gathering as much information as possible. Even before the actual game itself. I advise you to check and compare poker tables prior to taking a seat there. Compare the average pot, the percentage of flops seen and so on. Most poker rooms allow you to gather this information while waiting in the lobby which helps you determine whether there are many loose players or not (the higher the percentage of flops seen, the looser the game) and whether you are comfortable with the average size of the pot. Most of the poker rooms nowadays will offer you this basic information in the table overview inside their lobby.
Keep in mind that even though you are not bound to a strict time schedule as in a tournament you should not try and “squeeze” a quick cash game in if there are other matters on your mind that have to be taken care of. Take your time when playing poker or the quality of your decisions will suffer tremendously from lack of concentration. And you better focus when you play for money.
In my next post I will talk about position and pocket cards and will explain to you why you should never play KQ unless you should do so. Confused? Then there is still quite a lot that you should learn about – but don’t you worry, it is not that difficult to become a competent cash game player as long as you remember a few things and make sure to stick to your bankroll management at all times (this is something that I simply cannot emphasise enough). It helps to always have a general financial plan that decides the amount of money that you use as your bankroll – especially when playing cash games – and that you manage to slam on the brakes immediately when necessary.