Before the cards are even dealt, the rules of the Poker game being played may require that each player put an initial contribution, called an 'ante,' of one or more chips into the pot, to start it off. Each betting interval, or round, begins when a player, in turn, makes a bet of one or more chips. Cash Games Strategy – learning in the right way. It is not enough to learn poker hand rankings, understand positions, or blindly apply aggression to become a winner in today’s games.Learning efficient cash game poker strategy can take time, but it is totally worth it. A good strategy is to divide the bankroll (the amount of money a player is prepared to spend on poker) by 20, in order to find out what can be risked per game. Then divide this by 50 to get the maximum buy-in to look for. For example, if the bankroll is $500, that’s $25 per game, so $0.25/$0.50 is the right level for you.

Cash Game: Any non-tournament poker game is a considered a cash game. In a tournament players pay one fee (the rebuy) and risk only that much regardless of how much chips they lose. In contrast in a cash game, players play with cash (mostly in form of chips) and there is no limit to how much they can lose.

A cash poker game is also called a “ring” game.

Following are some of cash poker games rules and characteristics:

• Poker chips in front of players have their real value. So a $5 chip is worth 5 dollars. In a tournament a $5 chip is not necessarily worth 5 dollars as every player gets a certain equal amount of chips in the beginning of the game.
• In a cash game players can rebuy and add-on chips as many times as they want. However based on the table blind, there are usually caps on how much chips a player can buy. For example in a typical $1/$2 NL game players are not allowed to rebuy for more than $200 each time. (therefore the only way to have more than $200 chips in front of them, is to win hands)
• There is usually a minimum buy in and maximum buy in based on the blinds. A good rule of thumb is to have the minimum set at 40 times the small blind and the maximum is 100 times the big blind. For example a typical $1/$2 NL has a minimum buy in of $40 and maximum buy in of $200.
• Players don’t have to start with an equal amount of chips.
• Players don’t have to start at the same time. Any player can join and leave at any time. For example a player can win a large hand and leave the table right away. To make the game more friendly the house rules can state that a player has to call half an hour before leaving.
• Blinds are fixed. So if a game is started with $1/$2 blinds it will stay like that the rest of the game. There are two exceptions to this:

• When players decide to raise the stakes toward the end of the night.
• When the game is a “kill” game. In short, a game is a kill game when a players wins two hands in a row. The following hand would be considered a “kill hand” and the blinds would double only for that hand.

• If the winning player keeps winning the blind doesn’t quadruple. It will simply stay at double.
• A game can also have a “half kill” instead of a “full kill”. A “half kill” means that given the “kill” conditions the blinds should be multiplied by 1.5 instead of 2.

Hosting A Cash/Ring Poker Game:

• Cash games usually have more cash involved. It is important to keep track of every buy-in and add-on of the players. Also keep the cash somewhere safe.
• Count players money in front of them at the table before you.
• Ask the players to count the new chips immediatelyafter you give it to them to confirm that it is the correct amount.
• It’s always a good to have a log book noting buy-in and add-ons for every player. This comes handy from time to time. You don’t have to record each player’s name; a simple number or character is enough to represent each player.
• Keep strict house rules Ask the players to follow them and enforce it when they come up. This will make the game much more organized and make the players happy in the long run. Players might complain about certain rules, but once they see you enforce it for everybody they’ll consider it fair.
• The host can take rake from the poker game to pay for hosting costs and to make some extra money on the side. This is illegal in most of U.S. states. So check your state laws before doing so.
• Having a dedicated dealer at the game makes a lot of difference. The game goes by much faster and is managed much better. The dealer will make some money from the tips he/she gets during the game.

Cash games, also sometimes referred to as ring games or live action games, are poker games played with 'real' chips and money at stake, often with no predetermined end time, with players able to enter and leave as they see fit. In contrast, a poker tournament is played with tournament chips worth nothing outside the tournament, with a definite end condition (usually, only one player left), and a specific roster of competitors.

Free Online Poker For Cash

Rules[edit]

Players may freely buy into or cash out of a cash game between hands.^[1] However, it is normally prohibited for a player to remove a portion of his or her chips from the table. This is known as 'going south'.^[2] For example, if a player buys in for $100, then wins $100 (for a total stack of $200), the player may not remove the original $100 buy-in while remaining seated. He would have to forfeit his seat, possibly wait to rejoin the game, and buy in again for $100; however, many cardrooms prohibit the practice of buying in again unless a certain time period has elapsed before the player rejoins. Similarly, cash games are played for table stakes. If a player attempts to put additional money onto the table (from his/her wallet) in the middle of a hand, he may not do so until the conclusion of said hand.

In 'no limit' poker cash games, some cardrooms have a maximum buy-in for cash games. In limit poker games, there is seldom a maximum buy-in because betting limits already limit the amount a player can wager on each hand.

In a casino, a rake is usually taken from a pot if a flop is shown and the pot reaches certain values.^[3] Some games take a time rake instead of a pot rake. In these games players pay a seat charge every half-hour.

Ring games[edit]

While the terms 'ring game' and 'cash game' are often considered synonymous in common usage, opinion differs on the true definition of 'ring game'. For example, in the glossary of Doyle Brunson's Super System 2, a ring game is defined as 'A game with a player in every seat, that is, a full game—as opposed to a shorthanded game'.^[4] As such, the term 'cash game' may be considered a more precise depiction of the kind of game commonly found in most casinos or home venues; that is, a non-tournament game played for actual money (or chips representing actual money), without regard for the number of players seated at the table at any given time.

Comparison with tournament games[edit]

Tournaments and cash games have different basic strategies. One difference between tournaments and cash games is that the blind/ante structure of tournaments increases periodically over the course of the tournament, whereas the blind/ante structure of cash games remains constant. Another difference between the tournaments and cash games is that a tournament sticks with a predetermined style of poker, and cash game players, depending on house rules, may have the option of playing other types of card games. Some online cash games offer a variety of choices limited only by the game software.

Other differences between cash games and tournament poker are that, in cash games sometimes straddles and chops are allowed. A live straddle is a dark bet of two big blinds by the player first to act, who is then entitled to bet again if the bet is not raised. A chop is an agreement between the players in the blinds to retract their blind bets if no one else has bet. A chop prevents the casino from taking a rake from the pot. Also, cash games sometimes allow players to reduce the element of luck (often called 'variance', especially by professional players) by splitting large all-in pots. Since online platforms can instantly calculate each player's pot equity at the time they go all-in, some online cash games allow such pots to be split based on this equity. Players who opt for such an arrangement will receive a share of the pot based on his or her odds of winning (from the time all players still in the pot exposed their cards) once all of the cards have been dealt. An alternative method of reducing variance, used both online and in live games, is to run the board multiple times to ensure that the person with the best odds of winning gets the largest share of the pot more often.

Examples[edit]

An example of a cash game is broadcast on the United Statestelevision networkGSN as High Stakes Poker. The Bellagio casino's 'Big Game' is a famous high-stakes permanent cash game, featuring a wide variety of rotating poker games with and without limits.

Home Poker Cash Game Rules

References[edit]

1. ^Kinds of games: Ring games vs. tournamentsArchived February 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^Faith, Hope and Ratholing
3. ^How to Calculate the Rake in Poker
4. ^Doyle Brunson; et al. (2005). 'Glossary'. Super System 2. Cardoza Publishing. pp. 663.

Cash Game Poker Rules