All-in 33: The Cash Game

Volume 33: The Cash game

I talk a lot about tournament play, because it is usually the first step people take when they set out to discover the game of poker. While tournaments are fun; the real money is made in cash games. While you have all heard of the tournament bracelets won by Phil Ivey, Phil Helmuth and Daniel Negreanu; there are multimillionaires in Las Vegas you have never heard of that spend their waking hours playing in cash games with limits so high you’ll get a nosebleed just watching. There is simply no faster way to build…or lose…your bankroll than cash games. That being said, at a lot of tournaments I play in, a cash game starts up as players bust out. Many of the players I know are more than willing to bust out of the $40 tournament early just to get over to the cash table and make some serious money.

If you want to step up your game and start playing more cash games, there are some simple rules to follow. I asked a good friend who is very successful at the cash tables both online and in live settings for some suggestions, and the following was his answer. I know how successful he is, as I’ve seen his online and live bankroll grow incredibly fast using these. And I can assure you that if you master them, they will help you too.

ARE YOU WILLING TO RISK ENTIRE STACK WITH BIG SLICK? In a tournament setting, A-K is normally all someone needs to put it all in the middle. That’s an easy decision, since the most you can lose is the buy in. In a cash game setting, the risk is far greater, but so is the reward.

DO NOT TARGET PLAYERS – IT CAN BACKFIRE. Targeting players is what happens when you perceive a player to be weak, so you make every attempt to get in pots with him because you feel you can outplay him. I know a lot of weak players that are normally good for a few hundred in losses any time they sit down at the table. The problem is; that doesn’t automatically mean that I am due for a few hundred in profit. They are simply going to lose the money, and someone is going to win it. If I make it my goal to take it from any one particular player, I am in for a long night of disappointment. Remember, player your best poker and let the chips fall where they may. Take your profit with great hands and great play; not from any one particular person.

DO NOT FORCE THE ACTION. You either have a good hand or you don’t. If you play solid poker, the action will come to you. Forcing action with questionable hands is a sure recipe for disaster.

DON’T OVER VALUE TOP OR OVER PAIR. A pair is just that…..one pair. For example, you play A-K with one caller. Flop K-J-10. You bet out, and the other player reraises. What do you do? What does he have? Remember, he called your preflop raise, so he has something. A-Q? Trip 10’s? Tread carefully. Top pair/top kicker is a really good hand, but it certainly isn’t the nuts in this situation. Always ask yourself “Why is this guy still in the hand?” Failure to answer that before you commit chips is a costly error.

POT CONTROL. A key element often overlooked by the average player. Always do your best to keep the pot size comparable to the strength of your hand. Big pots with big hands, small pots with small hands. In the example above, I would do my best to keep the pot small with all the possible pitfalls associated with that flop. If the other player wanted to get it too big, I would be more than willing to let my hand go.

Here’s a perfect example from a cash game I played the other night in a $1/$2 Hold Em cash game. Preflop I was on the button with K-K. One player limped, and I raised it to $11, which was the norm for that game. Everyone folded to the limper, and he just called. The flop came 4-6-7, with two diamonds. He checked, and I bet $25. Again, he flat called.

Now, where am I in the hand? I honestly had no idea. So, it was time to tread carefully.

The turn was another 7, and it was a third diamond. After a few seconds of deliberation, the other player shoved all in for $120. I immediately folded my K-K, face up. He mucked his hand, and made a big scene about how he would never fold K-K in that situation, and how big of a mistake I had made.

What did he have? I have no idea, and it doesn’t matter. I simply wasn’t willing to risk another $120 on the hopes that he didn’t have a 7, a straight, or a flush. Heck, he could have had a straight flush. All I had was top pair.

(On a side note, two hands later I called his preflop bet of $120 with J-J, and got that $120 from him anyway.)

DO NOT LOOK TO TAKE REVENGE ON ONE PLAYER. This goes hand in hand with targeting a player, but it is a little different. Trying to take revenge on a player is one of the biggest mistakes I see at the poker tables. A guy makes a crazy call and sucks out a big win and the losing player starts directly challenging that player in some strange attempt to get his money back. The goal is to win money, not one particular person’s money. Just suck up the loss and get back to solid poker. A bad player will eventually lose; while a good player will eventually win. What you have to realize is that even the worst players in the world sometimes wake up with good hands. You also have to realize that they’ll have these hands whenever you target them. Many good players make donkey moves sometimes just to put the other guy on tilt in the hopes that they will target the good player. It is a very profitable move. Don’t fall for it.

PROTECT YOUR PROFITS. If there was one piece of advice in this whole article that I hope you truly read and understand, it is this one. I can’t tell you how many times I have doubled or tripled up early in a session, only to slowly bleed the profit back to the table. It is a common problem in the poker world. People get a big stack, so they start seeing more flops with questionable hands. In a $1/$2 game, this can cost you as much as $10 to $20 a round if your hand doesn’t hit on the flop. Do that for an hour and all your profits are gone. Winning is important, but keeping your winnings is even more important.

PLAY PROFITABLE POTS. I know a lot of players who violate this rule. They love to bluff when I’m in the big blind, because they know I am a tight player who will fold a lot of hands. So in a $1/$2 game, they make it $20 right off the bat. Everyone folds, and they pocket a whopping $3. Then they’ll even show the bluff. I just laugh. If they want to risk that much money on a bluff, I am happy to give them $2. I am happy to do this because when I have a good hand, I get $20 in exchange for that $2 I gave him.

So the goal is to try to ensure that when you get involved in a pot, you will be playing for the maximum profit you can get out of that pot. Raise preflop too much with A-A, and everyone goes away, leaving you with $3. Raise too little with A-A, and you have too many callers, which almost guarantees you will lose the hand, and probably a giant portion of your chips.

BEWARE OF THE CHECK RAISE. This goes for both you using it, and someone else using it. Think of it this way. A player either bets out preflop with you calling, or they call your preflop bet. The flop comes with them being the first to act, and they check. What do they have? Obviously, you have no idea. You should always be wary of the check from the first player to act, because it very well could be their way of enticing you to bet so that they can raise you. If they bet out on the flop, and you missed, you will fold. If they check, and you missed, they might want to see if you will put out a continuation bet anyway, and they can then check raise you. The check raise is a profit generator. Use it sparingly, and always be aware of the other player’s usage of it.

I know one player who will check raise every time he is in the hand. And he will do it multiple times in the same hand. For example, he raises preflop, with the button his only caller. The flop comes, and he checks. The button bets, and he will raise nearly every time. If the button simply calls the check raise, it will happen again on the turn. Guaranteed. Yet the button many times will fall for it again.

PAY ATTENTION. You’re at a cash table, playing in hand after hand with the same players. If you aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing and what they do it with, it will cost you a fortune. This works even online. Every player has certain tendencies and tells. If you pay attention, you can use this information for profit. If you aren’t paying attention, you will surely keep falling for the same traps and plays. You should also pay attention to your own game. If a player keeps calling you and taking your money, review your actions and make sure you aren’t giving your hand away.

WATCH FOR BIG BLUFFS - HAS TO TELL A STORY. I have said it many times, and I will stress it here once again. Everything that happens in a poker game tells a story. Two diamonds on the flop, and you simply check and then call someone’s bet? Then when the third diamond appears on the turn, you can bet out because the story you told when you called the flop bet was that you were on a flush draw. On the other hand, if the 2 of spades hits the board and you bet out, you are not telling a story that is consistent with what is actually happening in the game. So tell your story correctly, and read the other person’s story correctly. A big bet from someone when the cards don’t equal the story he is telling is usually a bluff.

In case you are wondering; yes, these suggestions will help your tournament game too. But while they will help your tournament game, they are absolutely critical in a cash game. A tournament loss is the loss of a buy in. A cash game loss could mean everything is lost that you just spent five hours building up.