| NL Hold Em| Cash Games |
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To play NL cash games effectively requires you to have patience, know your table and how to play every player at the table. You can consistently make your stays at the cash tables lucrative by paying attention to certain details surrounding your play. Bank roll management Before sitting down at a table, first consider your total bankroll. That is the total amount you have allocated towards playing poker. It is suggested for No Limit poker that you have 10 times the max table buy in amount (if you are playing 100 NL Cash tables, you should have $1000 with you ready to play if necessary). The large bank roll is important for two reasons, bad beats and pure confidence. Remember, bad beats and running cold (a seemingly never ending stream of bad hands for hours at a time) happens to everyone, even the best of players. So the best way to prepare for these occurrences is to manage your bankroll in this manner. Having a large bankroll also prevents you from feeling like you have to catch up after a few bad beats because you still have 7 times the buy in with you. You should not need to use the 10th buy-in. After 5 re-buys, you should probably take a break and assess your game. Table Selection The next thing to consider for playing no limit cash is where do you sit down? Find a table that where more than 70% of the stacks are on average no more than 1 1/2 your starting chip stack. If you sit down at a table where you have a significant shortage of chips compared to the other players on the table will force you to display a pattern of calling and folding of which is doesn’t make for a profitable sitting. Betting / Hand Selection When sitting down at a Cash game table it is important that for the first round of blinds you play ultra conservatively focusing in on the players that are playing in the pots that are formed and watching their betting habits. You have to be able to point out the weaker players and target them in getting involved into pots with. If you don’t see at least two weak players on a ten seat table then get off that table. Stealing blinds is not your focus on cash play…winning betting pots is! Your play should be closer to that of when you are playing in the first stages of a multi-table tournament rather than the later stages. Playing tight aggressive poker is the name of the game when it comes to playing Cash games. Bluffing is less appropriate than playing your hand against your opponents and their betting habits. Know when to fold your starting hands. For example if you hold A Q and a player raises close to the gun that has been ultra tight the right move is to fold. Absolutely do not limp with your AA’s or KK’s except in cases you are in early position and plan to re-raise on an aggressive table. Going all in pre-flop with middle pairs isn’t recommended. Make sure that you play starting hands are respectively in relation to your position. Early positions play (seats 1, 2, & 3 after the big blind) A-10 suited and higher, limp with your low pairs, min. raise your middle pairs, and as always raise 4 - 6 times the big blind with KK and AA. Middle positions (seats 4, 5, & 6 after the big blind) play hands of QJ and higher as well as suited connectors. Late positions (seats 7 - 10) play connectors, A - ?. Remember if there is a raise in front of you and you hold a hand like A - 4, k10, is advised that you fold. If you are holding QQ and there is a raise and a re-raise in front of you should initiate a third raise to see where you are at in the hand. For instance, if the players in front of you just call you this means they more than likely holding a mid pair or an A - ? And finally, keep this thought in mind, if you can’t raise with your hand…fold it in early positions! Be careful with drawing hands. If you don’t have the pot odds to call then fold!!! It will not be profitable to continually chase drawing flops without the proper odds. In Cash games the thought of mind should be to be ahead each time you put your money into the pot forcing your opponents to try and catch their hand. Another note to make with regards to drawing hands make sure you draw to the nut hands. For example drawing to the lower end of a straight can spell disaster. Miscellaneous thoughts to consider -In tournament play your chip stack can fluctuate up and down and it is expected have swings. In Cash game play if your stack is fluctuating up and down with a great deal of consistency without incurring bad beats you are doing something wrong. -Avoid playing too many starting hands. Rather pay attention to your position paired with your starting hand. -Be careful of the dreaded Tilt. A common psychological interruption that leads to a chip stack or even bankrolls being busted is a phenomenon called Tilting. Tilting makes a player play more hands and put more chips into the pot than they normally would. Tilting can occur from a number of reasons, but the most common are running cold and bad beats. Running cold means not getting playable hands for a long period of time. Bad beats is the other most common cause of tilting. Catching a bad beat happens to everyone but sometimes it causes a player to once again play too many pots with starting hands less than desirable. For example, when after running cold or catching a bad beat a player will begin to play hole cards out of position like K(d), 7(d) or worse. A tilting player may begin calling or even raising in early position with these types of hands to “bust” other players. This typically will only get you in trouble. If you catch cold cards for an extended period of time or catch a bad beat it is suggested that you take at least a ten minute break or let a round of blinds to pass around. Sometimes it may be necessary to call it quits and play another day if you are trying to catch flops with less than desirable cards. -Drinking alcohol can make a player Tilt even sooner, so abstain from drinking or using other drugs if you intend on increasing your bankroll. -Using these fundamental to play in cash games will increase your odds that your bankroll steadily rises rather than remaining static or diminishing. |