Players looking to make money from playing online poker are best advised to go where the money’s at a poker cash game! The clue is in the ‘cash’ — but how to cash in? It isn’t easy, but it’s possible to improve your win rate and, ultimately, to profit. Read on to learn about the strategies of the best cash game poker players and find some useful tips tailored to your specific skill level.

The Basics of Poker Cash Games

Poker cash games are the simplest and most accessible format of the game. The chips you play with represent the value of the cash you’ve sat down at the table with. You can join any time you like and leave when you like it. The blinds stay the same no matter when you join the table and if you leave with more chips than what you started off with, you’re a winner.

What’s the difference, then, between cash games and poker tournaments? The chips you win on a hand at a cash game go directly to your stack as cash, whereas in a tournament, you play for a top spot and for a payout according to a system based on eliminating other players. As a result, your poker tournament strategy will differ from your game strategy for cash games.

How to Win Poker Games for Cash

It’s easy to measure your success in poker tournaments, where you either make the money or leave with nothing after playing for several hours. But how do you measure success in cash games? Generally, the difference in skill between you and your opponents, minus the rake, is used to calculate your win rate. Since online poker deals with a lot more hands over a period of time than live poker games, it makes sense to measure your success rate accordingly. In live poker, success or your win rate is measured in the total big blinds per hour that you win, while in online poker, it’s measured in the total big blinds won per 100 hands. For the win rate to be accurate and to be able to reflect your true skill, tens of thousands of hands need to be played in order to eliminate the influence of variance.

Rake

A short note about rake: this is the portion of the pot that goes to the casino in poker games. Online poker games usually have a lower rake, which promises the possibility of winning bigger. But these games also draw some tough competition so you may end up with a lower win rate. Live poker games may have bigger rakes, but then there are many recreational players just waiting to give you all their chips and so actually, despite the big rake, live play might improve your win rate.

Strategies To Improve Your Cash Game

Cash games play differently depending on your level of skill. Here are some strategies for your consideration.

Cash Game Strategy for Beginners

As a poker cash games beginner, the best advice is to stick to the micro stakes and play it tight and aggressively. While not a strategy that always carries through onto the higher levels, playing only the best cards dealt to you would benefit you the most. These are the top 10% hands in poker and include pocket pairs from nine-nine to ace-ace, suited ace-queen, ace-king, king-queen and ace-queen off-suit. These are good hands in all positions on the table. Micro stakes are capped at 25NL (maximum buy-in is $25.) At these tables (mostly online or at home games,) you can get a feel for the game without making a significant impact on your bankroll. Have at least 30 big blinds as your bankroll for the stake level you want to play. At these tables, you’ll find other beginners and also players who have little clue, if any, of what they’re doing. These are players whose poker strategy resembles bingo — another reason to play it tight!

Intermediate Strategy

Intermediate players (those who are ready to incorporate some finer strategies into their games) can check out the low stakes, around 100NL. These are the tables with the minimum buy-ins at live casinos. This means that you’ll find the worst players here, but online can be a bit more challenging because it hosts players who have some measure of skill. Add a bit of short play by calling and checking more often with the nuts to keep players in the game and to pad the pot. Widen your range by playing with bluff catchers like small connectors or ace-high pockets to confuse your opponents. Also, on the flip side, play fast and be aggressive at times, especially when you put your opponent on a draw. Just be random at this level.

Advanced Strategy

Advanced poker players should be adept at putting their opponents on a range of hands based on their style of play. You’re familiar with the mathematics that governs the game and, at a moment’s notice, are able to calculate your pot odds and convert them to a percentage. Is the play worth making according to bet size and pot size and the equity of your hand at that point? No prizes for guessing that the next stake level, the mid stakes with 200NL to 600NL, are the tables where you’ll find pretty good players.

High-stakes tables (1000NL or higher) are the domain of 0.01% of all poker players. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not there yet. You need to have a very big bankroll and expert-level skills to play poker online for high stakes.

Play Online Poker for Real Money at Borgata Online

Register at Borgata Online and put these strategies into practice. Take part in cash games at any time, from micro-stakes to high or join one of the daily, weekly and monthly online poker tournaments. Whatever your skill level or bankroll size, you are covered. In between poker sessions, the online casino has a broad range of slots and table games to keep you entertained.