Poker Strategy: Cash Games
When the value of your chips actually means something.
Tournaments may get all the TV time, but experienced poker pros know that cash games are where the steady money flows. Especially when deep stacked, cash game poker features subtle intricacies that just don’t come into play when you have only 20 big blinds or fewer. Whether you like six-max or nine-handed tables, you’ll find articles below to help you with your strategy. Learn all about putting your opponent on a range, bet sizing, bluffing, value betting, and the other considerations that today’s top players are familiar with. Our focus is on No Limit Texas Hold’em poker because it’s the most popular format, but we have articles on other poker variants too. Every improvement you make in your cash game strategy will reap rewards today and for the rest of your playing career, so don’t hesitate to improve your knowledge with the assistance of FTR.
Featured Cash Games Articles
Developing a Feel for Equities in No-Limit Hold’em Part 1: Draws in Your Range
In order to become a top No Limit Hold’em player, you need to learn to consider how different flops affect the equity of your range and your opponent’s range. It turns out that adding draws to a range on the flop doesn’t drastically lower that ranges equity.
Online Poker Tells – Online Timing Tells
By carefully observing the speed with which your opponents act at the poker tables, you can often glean valuable information about the strength of their hands. Perhaps more importantly, you should always attempt to prevent your opponents from gaining any such information about your hands.
Continuation Betting in NL Hold’em
An easily digestible explanation of continuation betting in No Limit Texam Hold’em. This article demonstrates which hands are ideal for c-bets, which aren’t and how, when and against whom a c-bet should be used to maximize winnings. It also explains how much you should bet in certain situations.
ISF’s Heads Up Cash Game Strategies
When playing heads-up No Limit Hold’em poker, you need to modify the strategies that you would use at larger tables. Remember to focus on every hand and adjust to the specific player you’re up against, because every hand you play will be against him or her.
Blind Stealing 101
A few people have been posting stats threads lately and I've seen a trend that really needs to be addressed. Most of the people I've seen stats on are not stealing blinds nearly enough, and aren't defending their blinds nearly enough. I've decided to type up something...
Most Recent Cash Games Articles
Developing a Feel for Equities in No-Limit Hold’em Part 2: Equity is Not Everything
One of the things that a lot of people have a big misunderstanding about is the difference between equity and expected value. We're going to look at a few examples in this week's article that should help players to develop some clarity on this issue. We'll start with...
Comparing and Evaluating Different Bluffing Lines
Sometimes there are different ways to try to exploit a player who folds a lot in a certain scenario, and you're going to have to decide which way will work out the best for you. We're going to look at the factors that determine how much value we're getting and look at...
The General Theory Behind Inducing Bluffs in Poker
Most people don’t understand the relationship between inducing bluffs and value betting in the game of poker.
Optimizing Your Sessions With Simple Routines
Establishing a set of routines to perform before you begin playing poker will produce long-term, positive results. By properly training your body, you’ll be able to condition your involuntary responses to make you calm, focused and ready to play whenever you want to.
Three Barrelling Bad Regs
A few months ago when I was participating in my NL50 poker challenge, it soon become apparent that there were an awful lot of bad regs at this level in both six max and full-ring, but especially six max. In any form of poker, the fewer players that there is on the...
Implied Odds Plays at 25NL and Below
Over the past twelve months, I have been observing the lower stakes no-limit games and playing in them quite extensively including around 100k hands at NL50. I have been observing the games on Pokerloco recently which is a site that is situated on Ongame. I have been...
How to Make Actual Adjustments While Playing
Talking about making adjustments to your play is easier than actually making them at the table. Read through this example of how to make an adjustment to learn how to pull them off when you’re playing. Studying examples of successful adjustments will help you learn to execute them under pressure.
Texas Holdem Starting Hands – 19 Hand Strategy
One of the biggest problems new poker players have is that they play too many hands. A simple but effective first step for new players is to learn the 19 hand strategy. This simple strategy forces the new player to exercise discipline and learn a tight game. Aokrongly...
Pointers for Micro Stakes No Limit Holdem
(This is a post I wrote a while back which I hope will be useful for newcomers to micro-stakes NL. It should be useful up to 25NL, but it's specifically aimed at the player of a few weeks' experience, who understands the basics, but doesn't know much strategy. I hope...
Playing in Tough Limit Holdem Games
As a low stakes limit Hold'em player looking to progress towards higher stakes, you are going to encounter some very aggressive games and some very strong players. There are clear indications now that value in middle limit is drying up or has already dried up. A few...
Developing a Feel for Equities in No-Limit Hold’em Part 1: Draws in Your Range
In order to become a top No Limit Hold’em player, you need to learn to consider how different flops affect the equity of your range and your opponent’s range. It turns out that adding draws to a range on the flop doesn’t drastically lower that ranges equity.
The Delicate Nature of Pot Odds and Implied Odds
We have the three major weaknesses that players have when dealing with pot odds and implied odds, but we’ll also show you how to correct them.
Exploiting Your Image
Whether you are playing live poker or online poker it really makes no difference, your opponents will still be watching how you play. If you think that low-stakes online players be it at limit, no-limit or whatever do not fit into this category then think again. They...
Using Pot Control or Not
If your head starts to swim at the thought of hand ranges and default ranges and all the rest of the technical poker jargon, then don’t worry. If you are an experienced player then you will already be used to subconsciously placing your opponents on possible...
Playing Small Pairs in NL Full Ring
There is a tremendous sub-culture of players who see small pocket pairs and get carried away with their profit potential. Personally I play pocket pairs very sparingly in full-ring NLHE games. The modern online poker environment is getting tougher by the month and...
