Hey forum,
I'm not a regular cash game player but sometimes a poker site has a challenge which includes playing some cash game hands and I sometimes try my luck in this case.
But overall, it's a minus for me.
Whenever I hit something big, I rarely get piaid but the bad beats or suckouts seem to be numerous.
This morning I got paid once with top set vs. medium set but the other sets I hit, I rarely collected some chips.
When I flop a decent hand, they often fold to my cbets.
This afternoon, I flopped the nuts several times and played it a bit more passive. Only to get sucked out as a result. 🤣
Any tips for a cash game beginner? 🤔😅
I'm far from a balanced player but when I try to have a decent 3-bet range, I get called too often and miss the flop. Now I 3-bet fewer times but this way not winning many big pots. 😪
I know that in the beginning we feel this way, that everytime we hit a monster hand either we are dead to a bigger monster or our opponent folds. It sucks a lot and there comes the self control and willpower. You gotta prepare yourself somehow, by meditating, by accepting the fact that these things happens more often than in tournaments.
I'm afraid you are more a tournament player and in this game format players tend to go with whatever hand they have but cash, even the weakest players are not going a lot of times with top pair or medium pair, medium set whatever, they fold because there is no ICM in cash games, no bubble and that changes the whole picture of poker.
One nice tip is to have a solid
bankroll, at least 40 buy-ins to begin with. I would not recommend fast tables (
pokerstars' Zoom) to a beginner, try regular tables and Full Ring ones where you will find most of the recreational ones, plus you have 3 more positions where you can play a total NIT game and still be profitable (The first eartly three position in a Full Ring table allow us to open 5-10% range).
I would recommend you to have patience, tons of patience and forget about a lot of things you know about tournaments, although they are very similar (cash and tournament), cash can be tricky and disapoint if we do not follow a very strict rule.
Control the pot and do not jam unless you have a very good hand. Try more traps, identify the tendencies of your opponents, find tables where you can have edge upon your opponents, specially if they are in the blinds.
I said that a lot of times but the sole objective of cash games is to play in position versus weak players, that increases your
odds, not the game itself. For example, you made a note that a player in the blinds is broken stack and got to a showdown with second pair, or with a set where it complete a flush, etc, take a note.
Or you noted a player that pays three barrels having a weak ace on the river. Take a note and try to exploit that player. We are not playing our skills or knowledge, we are playing the minds of those we play with, and their mistakes in the long run.
At the micros players are very unbalanced for value and not for
bluff. Do not expect too much bluff and do not try to bluff that much, and when you bluff make you bluffs cheap, either preflop or postflop.
Basically our 3-bet and 4-bet range will be formed by pure premium and value hands, we are not messing around knowing that players won't fold, for example when they have a pocket TT, or JJ, for instance.
Another good tip is to keep reading hand analysis here on the forum. Try to understand the various and variable forms of thinking a hand so you can build your own strategy and improve your game.
This is just a single drop in a vast universe that is cash games, this is only a shadow of the top of the iceberg, but if you have anything else to say or ask, please do not hesitate to ask, I'm willing to help.
You sit for a long and boring time and wait for your hand to be paid.
