Cash tables are very tricky and i dont recommend them for a new player. It is something that can take several years to master or basically you just have to have a natural talent for it. The biggest thing you are looking for and really the only thing you are looking for on a cash table is value! That is it, just value. This can be obtained in many ways though. I have been playing poker for 10+ years and just have recently become profitable on cash tables. This is because i was tryign to play the cards or play them as a tournament and thats just never going to work. You need to make sure first of all that you have a deep deep bankroll in order to play cash games effectively. Professionals say you should have 50+ Max buy ins in order to play correctly, i say more near 100 would be good. But nonetheless, you need to do this in order to stay in pots that otherwise you may get scared out of just because you are behind in %, but the value may be there if you are getting 4-1 or 5-1 on the call and you are only 33% or 38% to hit the hand. Say if you havea nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw and you are getting 4-1 on the call then you should always make the call. Yes you are behind but in the long run you hit the hand 1 out of 3 times and you are getting 4 -1 on the money, this means in the long run you'll be profitable with the call. Now when it comes to playing the table, you need to make sure you know who you are playing against because if you can't spot the donkey at the table, you are it. This is probably the case. Im not saying this because you aren't good, but because you are new. In a cash game you need not play against regulars, they are going to be there day in and day out looking for 1 or 2 players on the table that can make them money, many may only sit down for an hour or 2 and say ok, "ive made enough money, i'll come back tomorrow" Because lets face it, the casino isnt going anywhere and there is no need to continue to sit on a table if you aren't running good. In cash games though if you are running good you should sit as long as possible, whereas if you are running bad you should get up and come back another day, If you've struggled to make 100$ and its taken you about 5 hours, then get up and try again another day, this is what the professionals do. Now you need to make sure you know what kind of table you are playing on, If it is a tight table maybe you want to check the flop with your monster hands and let some people catch up if there are only a few to the flop, If there are a lot to the flop i suggest betting as someone is likely to have a draw of some sort and people love to throw in money where they think they can make more. If its a tight table i suggest betting with your monster hands and try to do it weakly and let someone aggressive come over the top of you, maybe you can make some good money that way. But really your problem is probably that you are playing all the cards you want to play and not taking into account your pot odds, implied odds, #of people to the flop, and the people you are playing against. You need to make sure you are going to get value if you are playing against them, so you really only want to play against a few new people on the tables, people who are inexperienced and are making massive mistakes(i.e YOU). These are the people that are going to eventually pay you off big and give you the most value. If you keep playing your suited connectors and any PP you have to the flop you arent going to be profitable if its always against a regular, they know the game and they are looking for just value. That is all that cash games are about, so really when i sit down at a $1-2 NL table, usually i spot 5-6 regulars that i know im not goign to play against much and 2-3 new people that im going to try to take advantage of with position and bet sizing. Next, im going to evaluate how these new people play, are they loose cannons, are they playing with scared money? or are they calling stations? once you know that you can adjust how you are going to play against them and what hands you want to play against them. I vary my bets according to calling stations often over betting, while when im playing with someone that has scared money i will bet 1/2 pot constantly over and over again because i know they are not going to come along unless they absolutely hit something. If they are playing very loose then i may just wait until i have a big hand andl et them overplay their top pair that they raised preflop or their overpair when i have 2 pair or a really nice draw i hit on the turn. Its all up to how the table is playing and the people on the table. Same as with implied odds, im not going to play with someone who only has say 50$ behind them with 99, i'll wait until i am playing against 2 people who have 300$ behind them and wait to hit that set cuz they are more likely to throw their money in the pot and there is more money to be made. It is all about value and where you should get your money in at when it comes to cash games. Please stop playing your cards and worrying about your bet sizing when it comes to these tables, because those are very small variables when it comes to cash games. Instead look at the players, spot the vulnerable ones, the weak ones, the scared ones, the regulars, and then play hands in good position with great pot odds and implied odds against them, this way you'll become much more profitable. Good luck at the tables.
