Beginner’s Guide to Cash Games – Part I – Reviews and Suggestions

Flush: Congratulations on the initiative, Sarsante.

As a suggestion of topics to be addressed, I believe that the issue of turning hands with showdown potential into bluffs would deserve a separate topic, since many cash game beginners tend to overvalue hands like JJ or AQ, for example, pre-flop, making unnecessary 3-bets that only make the villain's hands that would be dominated post-flop fold, resulting in little value extraction. In fact, I think the concept of keeping the villain's entire calling range would be interesting, such as, for example, the hero with AQ IP on an AXX flop. Discussing, in this context, the validity of a call or raise, keeping or scaring away the villain's smaller Aces.

It's just a suggestion.

Sarsante: Hey PDers, how are you?

I took the initiative to create a cash game guide, aimed at beginners. Marcelo suggested that I post the guide in parts so that you can help me make it more complete.

It is not my goal to cover advanced topics, just the basics for those who play sng or mtt and want to migrate to cash.

The idea is to have a guide (not a book) to help the beginner beat NL2 (not NL50)! 😀

After explaining the concept of the “project”, I ask that you read it and make criticisms and/or suggestions. I will post the guide in parts so that it is not a very long topic and everyone can read it and give their opinion.

Everyone's opinion is welcome, from beginners who are the focus of this guide to more experienced players who can help me. Because writing about poker is not easy, as there are so many possibilities. As Doyle Brunson says, poker is a game that takes 5 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.

Thanks!

Part II – Table Selection

Part III – Hand Chart

Part IV – Pot Odds and Draws

Sarsante: INTRODUCTION

This guide is designed for beginners who want to play full-ring cash games. It is not intended to explain basic concepts, but rather to help develop your own range and to explain some of the plays that are +EV at micro limits.

There are many truths in poker, and perhaps the greatest of them is that poker is not an exact science, and so it is common to not have just one answer to most questions.

“I have AKs, should I call or raise?” It depends!

And there are so many alternatives that some will be left out here, but basically the mental process to be carried out must go through some steps such as: what is my position? What did my opponents do in this hand? How many opponents will still speak? What is my image? What is the image of my opponents? What is the effective stack? And we would still have a dozen more relevant questions, knowing that the answer will not always be simple, or unique.

The game mode we will be discussing is fullring (FR), as it is the most suitable for beginners. Unlike 6-max, it allows for better hand selection. Playing with a tighter range will make post-flop decisions easier as the player develops his or her skills.

I thought about structuring the guide into 6 parts:

Cash Game (main differences between cash game and mtt/sng)
Table Selection
Hand Chart
Pot odds and Draws
Isolating Limpers
Set Mining

I – CASH GAME

The main differences between cash games and MTTs and SNGs are:

• There are no different stages of blinds;

• There is no award scale;

• You can sit down and stand up at any time;

In tournaments, we will usually only have 100bbs or more in the early stages, the most common game is the short stack between 10 and 40bbs. Pressured by the blinds, many hands are decided pre-flop or on the flop, as there is no stack to work on future streets. In cash games, the game is much more post-flop, as deep stacks allow you to bet on all streets, re-raise your opponents' bets and this opens up a wide range of possibilities.

Since the blinds do not increase and rebuying between hands is allowed, the strategy adopted for this guide will be the Big Stack Strategy (BSS), which means that the player will enter the table with 100 Big Blinds (bbs) and with the auto-rebuy to keep this stack at the table at least.

Another determining factor is that the prize pool is not related to reaching the final table. The payout is instantaneous, you can win a buy-in or lose your entire stack in just one hand. Good and bad decisions directly affect your bankroll, losing a pot means you will be losing part of your bankroll instead of part of the chips that the buy-in bought.

This guide suggests adopting a tight aggressive (TAG) style, playing for the opponent's stack. This means that the player should look for +EV spots to put the entire stack on the table. If the equity condition is 51% in favor, it will be +EV and therefore the player should be willing to put all the money on the table, as it will be profitable in the long run.

Since you can sit at a table at any time, you need to pay attention to the blinds. Never post the blinds OOP, because doing so will result in a loss of money in the long run. Because by paying the blinds, the player will be entitled to receive nine (or ten times) two cards to play with, and this will not happen if the blinds are posted in the middle of the table.

invictus: Congratulations on the post, I will definitely follow this guide, I will leave it to more experienced friends to give more in-depth opinions on the format and topics covered. Thanks.

Caveira: Wow, very good. In addition to the subject being very important, the text is very well written, in clear language and pleasant to read.

Congratulations!

zerko: Looking forward to reading the rest, thanks Sarsante!

bobkirst: Good Sarsante. It's no wonder when you said that his return would shake things up again!

Nice one!

Poker_Minsk: Let's go Sarsante! This is a topic that will certainly help the entire community, especially those interested in cash games ;).

Theseus: Very good initiative, I will follow all the topics. Thanks Sarsante, hugs.

Marcelo: Very cool Sarsa.

It is really important to clarify the differences for tournaments, as there are many people who do not make this adaptation when they change.

For example, you have AA on the dealer. UTG raises, MP calls. In tournaments, you will have a much greater tendency to bet very heavily to win the pot. In cash games, however, it may be interesting to 3-bet not so heavily, to attract one of the two players to the fight.

Infanato: wow, very good… I was actually thinking about taking a look at the cash game…

very good…congratulations.

Sarsante: Thanks guys, I'll soon post the final version of this first part of the guide.

Cheers

andrecunhamb: very good man congratulations!

MrsTowers: Very good Sarsante!
The reading is very easy and very enjoyable!
Congratulations on the initiative!

SraTowers: I think the moderation could fix this post by Sarsante!! It's really good and it took me a while to find it!!

Vini Souza: Objective and clear, very good description. Through training I understood that it is important:

– Simple to learn gameplay
– Standard Earnings Rate
– Flexible betting modes

LeoVitorGT: Mano Sarsante, I don't know you but I already consider you hehehe

Thanks for sharing, it will be of great value.

LeoVitorGT: I think the moderation could fix this post by Sarsante!! It's really good and it took me a while to find it!!

I agree with Towers, it deserves a place there in the Master Stick or Stay fixed in the cash games section. Exorciser

Original author: Sarsante.