Switching To Cash Games

Many players learned how to play poker by entering sit ‘n’ go tournaments rather than trying their arm at cash games. They do this because with the tournament format they know exactly how much they could win or lose in a given time and this is comforting.

A common question on poker forums around the world is how to play poker cash games and it is a good one to ask as they are completely different to tournament poker and require a different set of skills in order to win.

The first major difference is that in a cash game the blinds static, where as in a tournament scenario the blinds will increase after a period of time and continue to go up until the tournament is completed. With the blinds remaining the same there is less pressure to play hands so you can literally wait for premium or playable hands when in a cash game.

The second difference between cash games and tournament poker is the stack sizes. In a typical online tournament players will start with 75-100 big blinds and, unless they add to their stacks significantly, they will often find themselves playing with a stack between 20 and 50 big blinds. Compare this to a cash game where most players will buy in for 100 big blinds and if they lose some of their chips they will reload to a full stack. Playing deep-stacked poker gives you increased implied odds and better chances to fold your hand.

Something else to consider is that when you lose all of your chips in a tournament you are eliminated from the game but in a cash game you can reload your stack and continue. This means it is much more difficult to force your opponent to fold in a cash game as they know if they make the wrong decision they can carry on playing. Tournament players are much more likely to fold in order to save their tournament life.

Finally, if you are making the switch from tournament poker to cash games you should be aware there is much more post-flop poker being played at the cash tables. Towards the middle and late stages of a tournament, it is quite common for hands to be settled preflop or on the flop due to the shallow stack sizes but in cash games, where players are often 100-200 big blinds deep, there is much more scope to fire bets and raises on all three streets.