Sports & Gaming

Cash Games

Daniel Negreanu

Lesson time 11:41 min

Learn how to effectively play stack sizes, maximize value, and avoid common mistakes in cash games.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: 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 • Hand Strength Should Increase as You Get Closer to the River • The Deeper the Stack, the More Important Position Becomes

Preview

If you have any notions of becoming a professional poker player or making a steady living playing poker, then learning cash game strategy is essential. We talked a little bit about tournaments. And there's a fluctuation and variance that goes with that that even sometimes when you're playing fantastically well, you know, you're not going to do so well because the blinds and antes go up and you're-- you face so much pressure that luck becomes a bigger factor-- not so much in cash games, right? If you find yourself in a cash game with, you know, a decent crew of players you should be able to mimic, for the most part, month to month, roughly around the same earn. Obviously, that's going to still ebb and flow, but not nearly as much as with tournaments. So in terms of developing a cash game strategy, you want to think about, you know, some consistency in terms of how you're mentally approaching the game, strategies that, especially if you're going be playing with the same groups of players, it's going to be very important to pay attention to history, to pay attention to, you know, how people perceive you, your table image, how you want to manipulate that. And there's going to be a lot of tools and tricks you can use in order to throw your opponents off and keep them guessing. You know, one of the beauties of cash games is the correct decision is just going to be the correct decision in a lot of situations, whereas in a tournament, you know, you're factoring in, OK, so I think I have the best hand here. But contrasting that-- and there's value in my hand. Contrasting that with, like, do I want to take the risk in this situation to, you know, put a huge dent in my stack-- that's never a concern or a worry in a cash game. If you feel like a value bet makes sense, and by value bet I mean, you know, betting so that your opponent calls with the worst hand and you can increase value, then you do it. In a tournament, sometimes you don't. Sometimes, for example, in-- on the river, if it's checked to me, I have a hand where in a cash game, I'd be like, you know what? I want to get value from this hand. But in a tournament, I realize these chips are too valued of a risk. And if he check-raises me, it's a disaster. In a cash game, you simply break down the hand, right? What range do I have him on pre-flop? Where is he at post-flop? Where is he at by the river? What value can I extract from this player? And you're always in value, value, value mode. There's never a consideration or a concern of, you know, well it doesn't make sense to play a big pot. Does it make sense to play a big pot? Well, if you have the best hand, the answer's yes, always, even if you have, for example, a situation where you have a 51% or 52% advantage. At least, that's how you perceive it. In a cash game, you always push that edge. That's not true in a tournament at all. I think this is going to hold true for pretty much any format. But one of the things that, ...

About the Instructor

Put yourself across the felt from Daniel Negreanu, the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time. The six-time World Series of Poker champion teaches poker strategy, advanced theory, and practice through hand-reviews of his winning games. Learn how to sharpen your mental game through demos on reading opponents and spotting tells. Join Daniel at the table to increase your win rate, grow your ROI, and get your game “in the money.”

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Daniel Negreanu

Join Daniel at the poker table. Learn his strategies to advance your cash, tournament, and online play.

Explore the Class
Sign Up