CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CASH GAMES

“
If you have any notions of becoming a professional
poker player… then learning cash game is essential.
“

MASTE RCL ASS

 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

cash games

SUBCHAPTERS

• ALWAYS GO FOR VALUE
• DON’T LIMP
• MODIFY STACK SIZE BASED ON
STRATEGY AND CIRCUMSTANCES
• MAINTAIN A DEEP STACK TO
MAXIMIZE YOUR EARN
• BE PREPARED TO CAPITALIZE ON
RECKLESS PLAYERS
• AVOID SPEWY BEHAVIOR • THE DEEPER THE STACK, THE MORE
IMPORTANT POSITION BECOMES
• HAND STRENGTH SHOULD
INCREASE AS YOU GET CLOSER
TO THE RIVER

TERMS

check-raise (v.): To check
postflop and then raise a bet from
another player.
deep-stack
cash game (n.): A cash game
with stacks deeper than around 200 big
blinds. (Note that the threshold for this
term can differ. Online games almost
always start with 100 big blind stacks, but
can get deep. Live games tend to start
deep because of the inconvenience of
waiting for more chips to top up.)
edge (n.): When you have more
equity than your opponent.
heads-up pot (n.): A pot with
two players.
in position (adj.): When you
act after your opponent.
leak (n.): A habit that loses you
money.
multi-way pot (n.): A pot
with three or more players.
nutted hand (n.): A hand that
almost always rates to be the best. You
can also describe a player holding such a
hand as “nutted.”
out of position (adj.):
When you act before your opponent.
overbet (n.): A bet exceeding the
size of the pot.
small ball (adj.): A style of
poker that minimizes risk by consciously
keeping the pot small unless the player
has a strong hand.
the initiative (n.): The
player who made the last bet or raise is
said to have the initiative.
the nuts (n.): The absolute best
hand possible.
tilt (n. and v.): A poor
mindset that leads a player to make costly
mistakes.
value bet (n.): A bet where you
expect to have more equity than your
opponent.

CHAPTER REVIEW

earning cash game strategy is essential if you
L want to be a professional poker player. Tournament
poker has extreme variance even when you are playing
well, but cash games can provide a steady income.
Deep-stack cash games are more intricate than tournaments
and require you to make more difficult decisions because
more chips are under threat. Often in a tournament you
will only have to make a decision preflop and on the flop
because the stacks are so short. In a cash game, you have
to consider your strategy all the way to the river with a
deep stack at risk.
Don’t assume, however, that because cash games are
all about value they’re simpler. The complexity of cash
games is in the value game. Choosing your bet sizes is a
difficult process when you’re deep-stacked, but it is critical
to extract maximum value from your opponents. In a
tournament, factors such as ICM and the bubble relieve
you of this pressure to always go for value and push your
edges.
Cash games can be dangerous for players prone to tilt.
Some players have the tendency to let their stacks dwindle
to the point that the monetary value is so small that
they make a bad decision to either pull it back or bust.
Maintaining a healthy stack size can prevent this leak.

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MASTERCLASS
 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO / CASH GAMES / DANIEL NEGREANU
If you’re the best player at the table, Daniel advises that
you keep your stack close to the maximize buy-in to
maximise your potential earnings. That way, you can win
as many chips as possible when opportunities arise.
Daniel advises against open limping preflop. Many
amateurs do this because they like to see as many flops as
possible. Skilled players only raise preflop because there
is a benefit to being the aggressor and taking the initiative,
which can allow you to win pots postflop that you
wouldn’t win if you had limped in. The person who made
the last bet or raise is said to have the initiative. Usually,
the other players still in the hand will then check to this
player on the next street, waiting to see what their action
will be. In this pattern of play, you will often be able to
take down the pot with a continuation bet.
It is important to capitalize on reckless players in a cash
game. You should try to be aware of the mental state of all
the players at your table as this affects the metagame on
a much higher level than it does in tournaments. If you
think a player is getting out of line, you have many more
options to exploit them.
UP YOUR GAME
Cash game play is all about getting value. During your
playing sessions, every time you make a bet, take extra
time to assess if you expect your hand to be the best
more than half of the time. Record your assessments in
your notebook (or smartphone) while you’re playing and
then—away from the table—check the accuracy of your
assessments by using the Equilab app.
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MASTERCLASS
If you feel that you’re in an unfavorable cash game
situation, one way to protect yourself is to buy in for the
minimum. While this is still deeper stacked play than in
a tournament, it will prevent you from being put in more
difficult spots against skilled opponents with deep stacks.
If you’re deep stacked, your average hand strength should
increase as the hand progresses to the river. Daniel’s
famous small ball strategy was successful because of this
principle. He would bluff at many small pots, but when the
decisions were most important, such as on the river in a
big pot, he would always have a strong hand.
In deep-stack games, position becomes more important.
Being out of position is always a disadvantage if you are
not short-stacked because your opponent gets to see what
decision you make before they have to make their own.
This extra information, in a game of incomplete informa-
tion, gives your opponent a big advantage. When you have
a deep stack, this the advantage amplified, so you should
play more cautiously.
Playing too loose out of position is a leak that costs
beginners a lot of money. New players tend to underestimate
how tight you must play from the blinds, particularly
the small blind. Even with the discount preflop, the
disadvantage of being out of position postflop is too great
to overcome for weak hands. Watch a cash game session
on Twitch.tv and see how tight even good players are in
the blinds. One experiment you can do is to switch to a
three-bet or fold strategy in the small blind. Calling in the
small blind too liberally can be very costly.