Three Strategies for Beating Easy Games in Low-Stakes Cash Games

Sometimes people complain about how difficult the cash game is even at the lowest limits online.

However, if you play at some of the lesser known online sites and use some sort of table selection then you know that there are still plenty of low limit action games out there.

These games require a completely different approach to beat, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on in these separate strategies here. What follows are three ways you can beat aggressive games at low stakes cash games.

1. Practice patience, not aggression

As discussed, in order to win in the toughest games at the lowest cash game limits, you need to identify the weakest regulars and play aggressively in the right situations against them. When you are playing against a lot of calling stations (including recreational players), however, you need to employ the exact opposite strategy.

In more aggressive games, most of the time when you have nothing it is better to just fold the pot and let your opponent win it. You can put as much money into the pot as you want, but if your opponent doesn't fold a low pair, you will still lose the hand. And of course, your failed bluffing attempts will only cost you even more money.

Instead, the way to beat a calling station is to patiently wait for your opportunities. The reason is that most recreational players are only thinking about their hand. They are not thinking about what you are trying to represent.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not advocating that you wait for AA pairs before getting involved in pots. In fact, against bad players you should try to get involved in a lot of pots against them, preferably when you're in position.

Preflop, you should be raising often when they limp (an isolation raise). So most of the time you should be attacking the pot with a continuation bet. This includes any situation where you have hit the board in some way, as well as no pair/no draw, such as A-high and K-high as the highest card.

The reason you should continuation bet more often is that calling stations still fold sometimes, and if they are going to fold it is most likely on the flop. Also, when you are only betting 50/60% pot size with your continuation bet (as you should), you don't need as many folds to make a profit on the play.

The turn and river are different. If you get called on the flop, it means they hit the board in some way. They may only have a weak draw or a low pair, but they want to stay in the hand. Players like this don't like to fold when they like the hand they have.

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This is why it is very important that on the turn and river, where the pot starts to get bigger and bigger, you do not make the mistake of trying to bluff these players when you have nothing. Patience is the key to success. This usually means that you should play passively or even fold if they bet.

2. Bet big on value

Another different strategy when playing against weak opponents – as opposed to competent players – is that you need to bet much more for value.

Against thinking opponents, it doesn't make sense to value bet with bottom pair or sometimes even middle pair on the river because they will usually only call with better hands and fold with worse ones. However, against loose players they will often call with hands like bottom pair and even A-high or K-high. So while you need to be very patient against these types of players when you don't have a strong hand, you should be very aggressive against them when you do have any kind of strong hand.

I will often bet three streets with top pair against this type of player. However, I would never do the same against a competent player because there is no way to extract as much value from them. In fact, if I am facing a bad player who I believe is on tilt, I might even bet three streets with a hand like middle pair for value.

Against loose calling station players, bet big for value even when you can't think of a hand they can call with. They will come up with something.

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3. Adapt your bet sizes both pre-flop and post-flop

I stated in my first book, Crushing the Microstakes, that you should adjust your bet sizes against bad players. Many people misinterpreted this as being for all players and criticized me for it. I wasn’t referring to all players, just the category of players that this article is about. Against these players this is still the correct strategy.

What do I mean by adapting your bet sizes? I mean that you should make your preflop raises based on the strength of your hand. In a very loose, live cash game R$1/R$2, there is no reason to raise by the same amount with all your hands. Your opponents are not paying attention to the significance of your bet sizes, so you should simply raise more when you have a premium hand to build a pot and prevent too many players from calling.

The same goes for post-flop. If I'm trying to steal the pot with A-high on the flop, I'll make my continuation bet no more than 60%. If I have top pair or better, however, I might bet pot-sized or even larger than pot-sized if I know my opponent is on tilt against me.

You should never follow any kind of standard betting rule against bad players. Doing so is only important against competent players who may be paying attention to what you are doing. Against calling station players, simply bet more when you have a good hand and less when you don't.

Final considerations

The strategy for beating low-stakes cash games is actually quite simple. First, get involved with lots of hands preflop by raising whenever you can. You don’t need to wait for the nuts against players who are playing any two cards.

However, be patient if you don't hit the board in any meaningful way post-flop. The worst thing you can do is try to bluff a player whose favorite play is to call. On the other hand, you should value bet a lot with all types of made hands against these types of opponents because they will call you all the way with many hands.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to adjust your bet sizes based on the strength of your hand against bad players. A marginal increase in your bet size means very little to them if they are willing to call. However, it allows you to build a much larger pot when you have a strong hand and win their stack faster.

Article translated and adapted from the original: Three Strategies for Beating Soft Low Stakes Cash Games