The cash games are where you can find a lot of money. These games don’t get the same attention as the tournaments but this doesn’t mean that they aren’t as lucrative. In fact, you can make a lot of money on cash games if you learn to play them right. Don’t confuse cash game strategy with the one used in tournaments as they can be quite different. What does work for both cash games and tournaments is to read your opponents well and learn what their actions are telling you about their cards.
Playing Aggressive
Good cash game strategy is to play aggressive, especially at popular sites like www.pokerstars.com where players usually are weak. By having a tough attitude you can either scare your opponents to fold or simply take them down by a real strong hand. That seems simple enough but what is obvious to most is that you can’t just rely on aggressive play in all situations. You need to know just when to push it and when it might be better to take a step back.
Reading your Opponents
The best way of knowing when to play it aggressive is to know how to read your opponents. Even in one game you will have enough time to observe the other players in order to determine who is a weak player. Observation is always an important strategy in poker and you will get better at it by the time. What might be a bit difficult in the beginning is learning to spot the good players that know how to put up a façade that doesn’t immediately reveal their skills. You’ll need to recognize the pros in order to maximize your cash game strategy.
Who is Weak?
If you see that an opponent plays without any muscles whatsoever it is usually a sure sign that this is a weak player. This type of player will often limp pre-flop. If a player raises each time they meet a fold it doesn’t mean that they naturally have a strong hand. In fact, this type of play could indicate that they are playing weakly and you should take this into consideration when deciding how forceful your game should be. If you made notes on your opponents betting patterns you will be able to better determine who is making the decisions of a weak player and who might be a pro in disguise.
Managing your Bankroll
A very important strategy for cash games is to make sure to have enough money on your bankroll for all types of scenarios. You don’t want to burn a hole in your bankroll by one single game. In cash games you only bust when your bankroll stands at zero so understand to manage it well and you will have more time and victories around the poker tables.
The top poker room to play cash games is PokerStars; check out our PokerStars real money cash games guide for full details on the cash games available. |
