Cash Game Poker Sites

Cash Game Poker: Sites, Basics, and Strategy

In this article, we’ll examine the basics of cash game poker. We’ll analyze the differences between cash games and tournaments. Then, we’ll figure out how to beat cash game poker sites consistently and easily. Once we’re done, you’ll be ready to beat the cash games with ease!

Cash Game Poker: Chips and Buy-Ins

In a cash game, chips represent real money, not your position in a field of players. A cash game buy-in determines the amount of money in play at a table.

For example a game of $1/2 No Limit Holdem would generally have a buy-in of $200 at a cash game poker site. If you wanted to sit down in the game, you’d hand over $200; and in return, you’d receive chips representing exactly $200.

Contrast this with tournament play. In a No Limit Holdem tournament with a $200 entry fee, you wouldn’t receive $200 in chips when you bought in; you’d receive a starting stack, usually between 1,500 and 5,000 chips, representing your standing in relation to other players in the tournament.

Think of it this way: cash game chips are worth money off of the poker table, whereas tournament chips are worthless outside of the tournament itself.

Cash Game Poker: Blinds and Betting

Cash games have blinds, which are enforced bets that players must make preflop. When it’s your turn to play the blinds, you must. If you don’t post a blind, you won’t be dealt any cards. The blind structures vary depending on which poker variant you’re playing. At a cash game poker site, Holdem games have two blinds: the small blind and the big blind. In a $1/2 No Limit Holdem game, the small blind is $1, and the big blind is $2.

Unlike in a tournament, blinds don’t grow larger in a cash game. Cash games aren’t bound by time, so there are no ‘levels’ to move through. In a $1/2 No Limit Holdem game, the blinds are always $1 and $2. Same for every cash game at any limit you can imagine. At a cash game poker site, ring games don’t have set beginnings and endings. Cash games begin when there are two or more players at the table, and end when there aren’t enough players to keep betting.

Theoretically, you could play in a cash game forever (if you have the bankroll)! This is a main advantage of cash games over tournaments: you can make money whenever you choose to, and don’t have to abide by a schedule.

Cash Game vs. Tournament Poker

In sum, cash games:

• Use real money chips, which have value off the poker table.
• Have blinds that don’t increase with time.
• Have no set beginning or ending.

While tournaments:

• Use tournament chips, which have no value outside the tournament.
• Have blinds that usually increase with time.
• Have set beginnings and endings.

There’s one more important cash game feature you won’t find in a tournament: the rake.

Rake at Cash Game Poker Sites

The rake is how cash game poker sites or casinos make their money off cash games. A poker room will take a certain percentage of the money put into every pot as rake; it’s a kind of ‘playing fee’, if you will. For example, say a poker room’s rake is 5% up to $2. At this rate, the poker room would take 50 cents in rake for a $10 pot; $1 in rake for a $20 pot; $1.50 in rake for a $30 pot, and so on. This is also why it's best to play at the low rake poker sites.

As you can see, the rake could potentially cut into your cash game profit. Hence why it’s important to learn some basic cash game strategy, and to pick the easiest cash game poker sites to play on.

Easiest Cash Game Poker Sites

Most grinders think that online cash game players are a bit better than live players. So you’ll want to sign up at a site known to be soft – i.e., known to have bad players.

Lock Poker is known to be pretty soft at the micro- and small-stakes. If you’re playing limits lower than, say, $400NL, give it a try.

Bodog Poker is another option, as the player pool mostly consists of casino gamblers. That’s key – wherever there’s a casino attached to a poker room, there are most likely lots of fish. Bodog fits the bill in that respect.

5 Tips to Crush Cash Game Poker

Once you’ve found a cash game poker site you like, you’ll need to learn some strategy. Here are the 5 golden rules of cash games to get you started.

• Play tight preflop. You’ll hear this from every experienced player you meet, and read it on every basic strategy site you see. That’s because it’s the most important piece of strategy advice you’ll get as a beginner.

For now, only play the following hands at cash game poker sites: pocket pairs (22-AA), most broadway hands (AT-AK, KJ, JT, etc.), and some suited connectors (9T suited and up). Fold everything else. It might seem boring, but it’s how you win at poker.

• Play in position. When we say “position” in poker, we mean where you sit in relation to the blinds. Generally the closer you are to the blinds, the worse a position you’re in.

You can play looser from late position, i.e. the cutoff or the button (the two seats to the right of the small blind). Play much tighter from early position, i.e. in the blinds and in the positions immediately following them.

• Play aggressively, or don’t play at all. This is key. Don’t be a calling station, because calling won’t win you pots. Good hands deserve to win big pots, so when you’ve got one, pump up the value! Bet, bet, bet!

Don’t fall into the trap of slowplaying, and don’t be afraid to scare opponents out of pots. Keep this in mind at all times: your opponents are bad, and they’ll usually call your bets. That’s because they’re gambling, not playing the odds. So when you’ve got the nut hand, fire away!