What is the best cash games strategy? Cash games, like poker at evo.io, are a popular choice among both beginners and seasoned players, and there are multiple reasons for that!
Despite its flexibility, which allows you to stop playing whenever you want, this online poker variant is also pretty straightforward. All the chips you use represent real money, and the stakes in each round are fixed. Compared to poker tournaments, cash games do not pressure you to stay until the end, automatically increasing your chances of not losing all the money.
Another reason why poker players often play these games is the opportunity to play them with cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH and so on. Registered users on our website can enjoy much faster transactions. For example, winning players can withdraw their funds within minutes and enjoy the reward pretty soon. More importantly, due to their decentralized system, cryptos ensure a much higher level of anonymity and safety.
Let’s explain what cash games are in detail and share some tips on how to be better at them. You will discover whether playing aggressively is wise or whether you should show more patience. Let’s go!
What is a Cash Game?
At the introduction of this article, we have already highlighted that poker cash games do not require you to “remain alive until the end” and grab the main prize that is determined in advance. Each chip used at the table has its own real money value. With tournaments, chips do not have any value at all, and if you remain the last player who has won all, you win the main prize determined in advance.
On the other hand, “weak players” with no experience have the freedom to leave the table whenever they want, especially if they notice that all the players at the table play aggressively. Just one round win at the table can satisfy their expectations, and they can leave the table and withdraw their funds.
Rules and requirements are, in general, identical to the ones that you have witnessed during the tournaments. You need to read opponents’ tendencies at every moment, use check, raise, call or fold options at the right moment and try to collect a very strong hand.
Unfortunately, due to a high level of flexibility and turbulent gameplay, most players do not prepare themselves properly for the game. Because of that, we have prepared expert tips that will help you be better than other players. So, let’s go!
Tips to win a Cash Game
Each tip from the list will help you in one way or another. Yet, it is up to you to determine which one suits your gambling preference the most. Also, it is crucial to come to the poker table with a clear mind because that is the only way to appropriately apply the strategy that you have picked.
Don’t bloat the pot with medium-strength hands
You will quickly notice that having medium-strength hands can put you in an uncomfortable situation. Instead of bloating the pot in those moments, you should use them as bluff-catchers for smaller pots. For example, if you have K 4, and cards that appear on the table are K 3 8, this is a solid hand, but it is not a perfect position to raise the bet, especially if you are playing against an aggressive player who always calls in these situations.
Don’t hesitate to bet a lot when you are heads up and in position
When a player is in heads-up pots, he or she should more frequently take a stab at the pot from in position. Doing so is ideal if your opponent is checking instead of raising the bet. For those who do not know, this is a so-called float bet, and it is a form of bluffing.
However, you need to figure out whether you have a weak player immediately after you start betting. These players only call and raise when they have, for example, pocket aces and other forms of premium hands. With players ready to take risks, this won’t be a good decision because they will follow you even if you make more value bets, and, that way, you can lose the money you invested.
3-bet with premium hands
What is the wisest thing to do if you have QQ or AK? In these cases, you should bet in larger pots. In other words, it is wise to put in a 3-bet. When having hands such as A2s-A5s and suited connectors, it would be wise to balance the 3-bet range by bluffing. To make things clear, 3-bet is also a wise decision if you have 76s, 65s and so on, but also suited aces, Ks, and already-mentioned Qs.
There is a scenario that we would like to imagine to help players make the right decision. It may happen that one of your opponents at the table starts raising a lot in pre-flop. If that person also rarely folds on 3-bets, we recommend changing the 3-betting range in a significant way! Don’t hesitate to raise the bet.
Bet almost always when you experience a strong hand
If you have strong hands, such as top pair or better, in most cases, the wisest decision would be to bet, since they are a big favorite to win. These are hands that show your value betting range, such as A K on K 9 5 or QQ on J 7 5. Logically, watch out for the cards that will come up next.
In multiway pots, check the flop!
Cash games often require players to be selective with the hands they bet on the flop in multiway pots. When more participants at the table see the flop, the stronger the hands you should check with. In most scenarios, the probability of your opponents hitting two pairs or something even better will increase drastically.
So, what should you do? There are three scenarios we would like to cover.
- In a pot with 4+ players, check with strong top-pairs or overpairs. These hands don’t have a high equity in 4-way pots, especially if you compare them with heads-up pots.
- If you have a very strong draw or two-pair or more, bet small. For example, a ⅓ or ¼ of the pot would be nice.
- Players at the table rarely bluff in unfavorable situations like this one. Due to that, we recommend folding with many more bluff-catchers even if you are playing with small bets.
Limpers should be used
Recognizing limpers as not as challenging as you think. Limpers are, in most cases, weak players. To isolate them, try to raise over their limp with a wider range of hands. In most rounds of cash games, if you manage to force the limper to call your raise preflop and with their weak range, there is a big chance you will create a profitable situation.
The point of this cash games strategy is to find a perfect size to put the weakest hands in their range in the toughest possible spot. A good example would be the raise bet size + one big blind for every limper at the table. So, if you most commonly raise to 4 big blinds, and there is just one limper at the table, then increase to 5 big blinds. This rule is simple, but it requires good analysis of the participants.
After defending the big blind, check-raise on the flop with the strongest hands
If you manage to defeat the big blind against a steal made by a player in position, check-raise your strongest hands is the best thing to do. If luck gets on your side, you will build up a pot and, eventually, go all in by the river.
Yet, we have an extra tip on this! You must remain conscious of the board texture when doing this. Let’s imagine that you have a bottom two pair when there are 9, 5 and 4 with different signs on the table. The check-raise option does make sense in those cases. Yet, if there is a flush or straight potential, then check-call is much wiser. It is essential to secure yourself.
Conclusion
As we said at the beginning, each cash games strategy that we shared can be valuable in different scenarios. Yet, these tactics need to be appropriately applied. You need to be calm, read the behavior of your opponents and be entirely focused all the time.
That’s why we recommend leaving the table the first moment you notice your concentration has gone down. We wish you luck and please play responsibly!
