Poker: Tips for Winning Cash Games.

 

This article is a free lesson in the art of being a long-term winner in poker.

 

Your first consideration on the way to your millions is to decide whether to play a cash game or a tournament. It can be a difficult choice, on the surface you would be well informed to say they are the same, both pokers after all, but the games are completely different once you dig below the surface a little. Success in cash games requires a different skill set to success in tournaments, the choice depends on which game you are most suited to, so how do you decide? ...

 

It is extremely rare, even amongst professionals, to find players who are proficient at both types of game. Most of the top flight excels at one or the other, tending to be relatively poor at the other option. It is best to avoid the game that you are weak in if you want to make money, if you just play for fun, then play on.

 

Cash Games:

 

1). Choosing the game:

 

The key difference between a cash game and a tournament, regardless of whether the game is online, or in a bricks-and-mortar casino, is that in a cash game you can choose who your opponents are to be. Tournaments you are just thrown together in a random but organised way as you make your way through the field. This choice is important when deciding which stakes to play in a cash game.

 

Firstly, ensure that you opt for a game that suits your bankroll. Choose games where you will not be under financial pressure to win each and every game – give yourself plenty of leeway with regards to stakes. On the other hand, do not choose too big a margin; you want to win pounds not pennies. If you play for pennies you will learn bad poker habits as you become lazy and non-committal, if you play for too many pounds you will learn expensive lessons.

 

So, once you have chosen the stakes, consider the players, and try to work out their playing techniques. Check for the quality of the hands they choose to play with and which positions they want to take at the table. At the showdown look at which cards they play and ask yourself if you would play those cards in the same position – if you would not have played then chances are you are facing a beginner, or a ‘fish’ and these are people to target if you want money. Go around the table and establish the proficiency of each player there.

 

Playing online is an advantage here because you can write notes as you play, if you play on the same site you can build a portfolio of the regular players so you know who to play against.

 

The amount of effort you put in to finding these things out will pay dividends in the long run. Short-term it may seem irritating, but this is the only way to truly master your opponents. In poker, the most important thing is to have an ‘edge’ over your opponents.

 

Also, be honest about your own abilities, I know this is harder for men as their egos get in the way, but try to see through that and be honest with yourself.

 

 

2) Choosing your position:

 

When taking your place at a cash game, unless you join right at the start, you will not really have an option of what position to take; you can only occupy a free space. But while playing, keep an eye on your table and other tables you can see until you find one that has a free favourable position and then swap places.

 

Knowing which seats are favourable is itself an art. In general, you want good players on your right and poor players on your left. This is because in most betting rounds the good players will play first, this way you can guess what type of hand they have, where as the poor players are predictable and you can easily pre-empt their moves – this way you will not get any nasty surprises.

 

With online cash games, the games move quickly, this means you need to keep checking everything, from game statistics, pot sizes, the number of players in, the relative percentages ... if your game starts to go downhill get out as soon as possible.

 

 

3) Discipline and patience:

 

A good poker player has a good character they are patient and disciplined. Failure to be disciplined in the way that you play is a sure way to see your bankroll diminish. When playing poker, your player type determines the way you play, but it general it is good to play strong hands from weak or early positions and play weak or speculative hands from stronger, later, positions.

 

One very important lesson in poker is patience. You will learn over time not to waste time playing hands that only have a slim chance of winning, wait for a good hand to play, one that suits you. In the mean time, take the opportunity to observe, getting a feel for the game and players.

 

Select which hands to play extremely diligently, and establish the best way to play them profitably. Ask yourself questions constantly, like “should I be in this pot?” If you do not find a reason, then you probable should not be playing it.

   

These three tips should set you in good stead for winning money at poker long-term; of course, you must also make your own observations and reasoning as you gain more experience. But these are some of the most fundamental strategies to employ when playing in a cash game.

 

So, what you need to do now is to start practising the above techniques. Practice the way in which you choose your games, remember there is strategy in choice, it is not just a random process of sitting down, and playing, the game begins before you have even sat down. Make notes on player, keep these in a notebook rather than as a mental note (although that may not be possible in a casino setting as people will tend to avoid you knowing that you are being extremely tactical and therefore likely to win). Notice who is consistently winning pots and look at how they play their hands and from which position, sometimes the best way to learn is to copy the master!

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